Overall look

Original 1928 architectural details, including decorative moldings on the walls and ceiling, uncovered and restored wherever possible. New paint scheme throughout, based on paint chips uncovered during restoration work. Walls look either gray or green, depending on the light. Accent colors include muted gold, maroon and creamy white.

Vestibule

Box office expanded and relocated to TCR’s renovated outer lobby.

First floor

New first-floor Linge Lounge spanning nearly the entire First Avenue side of the theater, with food, bar and beverages by Zins available before and after shows and during intermission. Expanded concessions area, also operated by Zins. Fed Hedges Library now fronts Third Street SE.

Restrooms

Additional restrooms on the first floor and lower level; rejuvenated restrooms in the second-floor lobby.

Auditorium

Reconfigured main-floor theater seating, using original seats set with wider widths, new backs and new upholstery; new aisle handrails and improved aisle lighting; additional row of seats, bringing total to 550, including six wheelchair locations; original chandeliers restored and mounted by the opera boxes; new stage floor with 8-by-28-foot trap door system centerstage; new fly line ropes to replace those damaged by floodwaters; new spiral staircase from right side of stage to basement; 163 new lighting instruments to replace those damaged in the flood.

Second floor

New dance and music rehearsal rooms, fronting Third Street SE; staff offices relocated to second floor, with a door opening to the theater’s second-floor lobby; additional meeting rooms.

Basement

New 100-seat Grandon Studio Theatre; relocated and renovated costume construction and storage room, laundry room, greenroom, makeup room, dressing rooms and showers; elevator access from basement to upper floors via Iowa Theatre Building entrance.

Flood mitigation

Mechanical and electrical components relocated from sub-basement to other levels, including the roof; concrete block walls in basement with minimal finishes, no more plaster or terra-cotta bricks; certified valves can shut off plumbing ­— the first floodwater came in through the plumbing; flood insurance.

Casey Prince, 32, Cedar Rapids

Managing Director @ Theatre Cedar Rapids

A 50 percent increase in yearly patrons. A 30 percent increase in the number of annual volunteers. All debt paid off. These figures speak well of Casey Prince’s three year tenure as the managing director of Theatre Cedar Rapids.

Consider too that half of Casey’s time with TCR has been as the theater first reeled, then recovered and now returns from the Floods of 2008.

As Friday — TCR’s much anticipated return to its downtown home at the Iowa Theatre Building — approaches, Casey is determined to set an example of how the arts can have an economic impact in a city’s downtown core.

“I want us to be the domino that tips downtown and accelerates things. If we’re getting 30,000 people down here in small numbers night after night, I look forward to feeling like we had an impact on other downtown businesses.”

Both before and since the floods, Casey’s role as managing director at TCR has meant he is a jack of all trades. He oversees theater operations – from hiring to fundraising. He’s also directed the occasional TCR production.

“In one moment, I’m helping load scenery. In another moment, I’m working on a grant. In another moment, I’m auditioning kids to be orphans in Annie,” he says. “There’s a surprise around every corner.”

Casey grew up in Cedar Rapids and went to Washington

High School.

“I was notorious for running to choir concerts straight from the wrestling mat or a game,” Casey says.

Theater was always part of his life, but never his priority.

“It was always theater and something else,” he says.

At Drake University in Des Moines, he played football and majored in business. Then, after graduation, he honed in on acting. Casey packed up and moved to Los Angeles to pursue the dream for 18 months.

When a sales opportunity arose in Cedar Rapids at a family business, he came back to Iowa.

“The next thing you know, I’m also the drama director at Franklin, McKinley, and Wilson (Middle Schools), and I’m a guest director at Kennedy (High School),” he says. “I fell in love with the impact that arts can have on kids.”

Those experiences put Casey in the right place at the right time. After a musical at Franklin, he crossed paths with a TCR board chairman, who asked him some questions. A few weeks later, while helping at a TCR fundraiser, a few other board members approached Casey and encouraged him to apply for the managing director position.

The board members were looking for a change as they conducted their search, and they found it in Casey.

“Unfortunately, I had to be ‘that guy,’ ” he says. “But, fortunately, I’ve developed a strong staff that’s passionate about our mission. If you focus on your mission, the people who value what you do will come out of nowhere. We’re an important story today, and we were a forgotten story a few years ago.”

When Casey was hired, it was clear that TCR was struggling and operating in the red.

“Call it adolescence; the theater was having growing pains,” says Casey. “It was in a scary place. It’s mind-numbing to look at newspaper clippings — how few we had a few years ago, and how many we have today.”

Thriving in situations where he’s told things can’t be done, Casey remains focused on his personal mission: to turn TCR around. And it’s working.

He wants to give back to the community he grew up in and where he’s now raising his own family.

“One reason I was so invested in helping the schools is because I felt like I was paying forward what I got,” he says. “In a lot of ways, I’m also paying it forward through TCR. I feel like I’ve left my 50-year mark, and that was my goal.”

— LEAH

Related stories:

• Behind the scenes at the Iowa Theatre Building
• What’s new at TCR
• Progress on other area arts venues
• “The Producers”

“The Laramie Project” is theater at its best, capturing a true moment in time, analyzing it from all angles and letting audience members react on a visceral level.

Theatre Cedar Rapids’ production at TCR Lindale allows the words and characters to make their most powerful statements by presenting them simply. Videos, news clips, re-enactments and photographs enhance and propel the story.

And by the end of Sunday’s matinee, many in the audience of about 250 had been moved to tears.

This is the final show to be staged at TCR Lindale, 4444 First Ave. NE, before Theatre Cedar Rapids moves back to its renovated home in the flood-damaged Iowa Theatre Building, 102 Third St. SE.

It is most fitting to end on such a high note with a piece perfectly suited to the interim facility. The troupe has successfully staged large-scale musicals there, but it’s really ideal for a “black box” type of show where the experience is enhanced by using minimal theatrical trappings. A black, multilevel stage gave plenty of options for creating the many settings in the show, and sheer drapery in front of the video screens added to the gauzy, surreal tone.

The play emerged from 200 interviews with townspeople and officials in and around Laramie, Wyo., after gay college student Matthew Shepard, 21, was brutally beaten, robbed and left tied to a fence to die in October 1998. The murder was characterized as a hate crime and drew international attention, all of which left a deep impact on the community.

Brian Smith served as the narrator for the show, while the other eight cast members deftly slipped in and out of multiple characters. This is truly an ensemble event, where each actor is pivotal and no one is the “star.”

Smith’s solemn, resonant voice announced the characters as they stepped into the spotlight, helping the audience keep track of whose voice we were hearing. The actors were extremely adept at changing voice, stance and mannerisms in a snap, and several key characters appeared throughout the two-hour production, allowing us to build up an affection for them.

David Morton deserves a special nod for creating the vivid, colorful town “characters” that were sometimes funny, but mostly poignant and insightful in their views.

It was rather like watching a documentary, stringing together interviews to tell a story. The opinions expressed rang of honesty and candor, as some decried homosexuality but also shuddered at the thought of such a heinous crime.

The murder was described in graphic detail and the trial scenes were heartbreaking. Even with guilty verdicts rendered, no one wins in such a situation.

Director Jason Alberty, scenic designer Bret Gothe and everyone involved in this production have staged a brave and important work.

“The Laramie Project” continues Thursday through Sunday. For details, call (319) 366-8591 or go to www.theatrecr.org

– DIANA NOLLEN, THE GAZETTE

Ari Hest
Saturday, November 21

Renegade music rebel Ari Hest is making his debut at CSPS this weekend. The unconventional singer/songwriter opted out of the record deal he had with a label in order to have more creative control over his music. That move panned out well for Hest. In his project entitled “52,” Hest wrote and recorded one song every week for a year. At the end of the year, Hest asked listeners to choose their 12 favorites and those songs became his album, “12 Monkeys.”

Ari Hest
8 p.m. Saturday (11/21), CSPS, 1103 Third Street SE, Cedar Rapids, $15 in advance, $18 at the door, www.legionarts.org

Adam Richman of “Man v. Food”
Thursday, Nov. 19

“Man v. Food” star Adam Richman will kick off his speaking tour Thursday at The Englert Theatre in Iowa City. His performance won’t include an eating challenge like the ones he has become notorious for on “Man v. Food.” Instead, he’ll talk about his travels, answer questions from the audience and through an onstage cooking demonstration will show how to use items the audience might find in their home or dorm room.
Adam Richman of Travel Channel’s “Man v. Food”
8 p.m. Thursday (11/19); The Englert Theatre, 221 E. Washington St., Iowa City; $25 for students, senior citizens and children under 12; $30 adult available at the box office or www.iowatix.com; www.englert.org

Annie @ Theatre Cedar Rapids
Friday, November 20 to Sunday, December 6

The classic family friendly musical opens in Cedar Rapids this weekend and run through December 6. In case you haven’t seen the famed Hollywood depiction in awhile (or ever) this all ages show tells the story is set in New York City during the Great Depression and follows an orphan in her quest to take down the evil caretaker of her orphanage.
Annie @ Theatre Cedar Rapids
7:30 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays and 2:30 p.m. Sundays beginning Friday (11/20), adults $20-$25, youth $15, rush $12, TCR Lindale, 4444 First Avenue NE, Cedar Rapids, www.theatrecr.org

Watch a video of Daddy Warbucks getting his head shaved for the show:

Three other things

Turkey Trot
9 a.m. Saturday (11/21)
Marion Square Park, $22 in advance, $25 the day of the race, www.uptownmarion.com

Reefer Madness-
The Musical
8 p.m. Thursday to Saturday (11/19-11/21)
The UI E.C. Mabie Theatre, Iowa City, non-student $20, seniors $15, uiowa.edu

Walking the
Wire-Monologues
@ Riverside
7:30 p.m. Saturday (11/21)
Riverside Theatre, 213 N.
Gilbert St., Iowa City, $12-$26, www.riversidetheatre.org

CEDAR RAPIDS — Let’s not beat around the burning bush: “Altar Boyz” rocks the house.

On Friday, a large opening night crowd at Theatre Cedar Rapids Lindale fell in love with Matthew, Mark, Luke, Juan and Abraham — five guys determined to save souls through the power of pop music. Directed by Casey Prince, with musical direction by Damon Cole and choreography by Lovar Davis Kidd, the production was tremendous fun from beginning to end.

Set up as the final concert on the Altar Boyz tour, the plot of the show is simple: the members of the boy band set out to salve the souls of audience members only to find they need some succor of their own.

While I had expected a biting satire of Christianity in general and contemporary Christian music in particular, the show manages to poke gentle fun at piousness without an angry edge. The members of the Altar Boyz may not live up to their carefully maintained image, but they are nevertheless committed to their collective mission.

The key to making the show work is to create a believable boy band. Zach Parker, Alex Schulte, Royce Hufford, Richie Akers and Ryan Foizey are a convincing crew. Each is a strong singer and their blend is smooth. Kidd’s choreography is perfect for the show and all five guys are good movers. Equally importantly, they have the boy band look (thanks to costume designer Joni Sackett) and attitude down pat.

Parker (Matthew) is the group’s leader and has a sweet voice and winning smile he wields seductively in the abstinence ballad “Something About You.” Schulte (Mark) is hilarious throughout the show as his character seeks to come to grips with an inconvenient romantic truth. He raised the roof on the show’s most satiric number, “Epiphany.”

Hufford (Luke) raps and struts as the band’s putative bad boy, bringing the first act to a rousing close with “Body, Mind & Soul!” Akers (Juan) is fiery and funny as the band’s Latin lover whose prayers are answered in a way he might not have preferred.

Foizey (Abraham), who portrays the sole Jewish member in a band of Catholics, was quietly thrilling as he brought the band together with “I Believe,” a lovely song with a dual meaning.

The boys are ably supported by Cole’s onstage and keyboard heavy band (note to band — we can see you; leave your shoes on) and by D. Allan Boettger, the first of three performers who will intone the “Voice of G.O.D.” Bret Gothe’s set is appropriately simple but pleasing while Derek Easton’s lighting design does much to enhance the “concert.”

”Altar Boyz” continues through Sept. 27 at TCR Lindale, 4444 First Ave. NE, Cedar Rapids.

For tickets and times, call (319) 366-8591 or go to www.theatrecr.org

– ROB CLINE, FREELANCE WRITER

Ryan Foizey of Cedar Rapids as Abraham; Alex Schulte of Cedar Rapids as Mark; Zach Parker of Cedar Rapids as Matthew; Richie Akers of Cedar Rapids as Juan; and Royce Hufford of Solon as Luke. (Spotlight Images)

Just in time for individual tickets going on sale at Theatre Cedar Rapids for the upcoming season, TCR community relations director Rob Merritt has put together a music video for “Altar Boyz.”

Performed by Theatre Cedar Rapids Sept. 11-27 at TCR Lindale, “Altar Boyz” is a musical about a fictional Christian boy band (a la In Sync or the Backstreet Boys). The video features the Boyz performing their hot new single “The Calling,” and it’s filmed entirely at Water Tower Place in downtown Cedar Rapids.

Directed and edited by Rob Merritt of Cedar Rapids, the video features Zach Parker of Cedar Rapids as Matthew; Alex Schulte of Cedar Rapids as Mark; Royce Hufford of Solon as Luke; Richie Akers of Cedar Rapids as Juan; and Ryan Foizey of Cedar Rapids as Abraham.

“Schoolhouse Rock Live” open this Thursday, July 2 at Theatre Cedar Rapids, and TCR is celebrating the last show of their 75th season and Independence Day with reduced ticket prices. Advance tickets, reserved by phone or in person, are buy one ticket, get one free. Rush tickets, available half an hour before the start of each show, are just $5 each.

Recreating the classic 1970s TV show, “Schoolhouse Rock Live” is a show for the whole family, bringing back popular favorites such as “Just a Bill,” “Conjunction Junction” and “Interplanet Janet.” The show runs July 2-12 at TCR Lindale, showtimes are Thursdays & Fridays @ 7:30 p.m. and Saturdays & Sundays at 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. (no 7:30 p.m. show July 4).  For more information visit www.theatrecr.org.

Marion by Moonlight
Thursday, June 18 @ 6 p.m.

Summer officially kicks off Sunday and outdoor concert events seem to be happening all over the Corridor. A local favorite is Marion by Moonlight. If you haven’t been, stop by Marion Square Park Thursday evening for some music, food and good company. The relaxed atmosphere and affordable entertainment (Free) make Marion a good place to unwind at the end of the week. Food vendors begin serving at 6 p.m. and the music starts at 6:30 p.m. Dogs on Skis is scheduled for this week’s entertainment. Bring your own lawn chairs, blankets, coolers and drinks and enjoy!

Marion by Moonlight
6:30 p.m. Thursday (6/18), Marion Square Park, Free, www.myfsbonline.com/community/marion-by-moonlight/

The ART of Healing
Saturday, June 19

Just after the one year anniversary of the flood, a local venue is hosting a unique healing experience incorporating art and spiritual development. “The ART of Healing” opens this Saturday at CornerHouse Gallery and Frame in Cedar Rapids. The exhibit features fractural geometry by artists Ashayana and Azahyana Deane and excerpts from their Kathara Bio-spiritual Healing Systems and their other works. The works include concepts dealing with light, color and symbols within a spiritual-science perspective. Other artists contributed their most “healing” pieces to be displayed in the gallery as well. Offering viewers a chance to explore spiritual development through art, the exhibit is not only well-suited for the Corridor, it’s also engaging.

The ART of Healing
Show open Saturday (6/19) through Sunday (7/5), CornerHouse Gallery and Frame, 2753 First Ave. SE, Cedar Rapids, Free

High School Musical
Thursday, June 18 through Sunday, June 21

Theatre Cedar Rapids is hosting a reunion of sorts this weekend. “Disney’s High School Musical On Stage” is back this summer with performances Thursday through Sunday. The show was held for three sold-out weekends last July and much of the last summer’s cast returned for this weekend’s performances. “High School Musical” was originally created as a movie musical for the Disney Channel and has since become a nationwide hit. TCR’s “High School Musical” production was had the largest box office totals in 2007-2008 season, and this year’s return is anticipated to be just as popular among teenagers and adults alike.

High School Musical
7:30 p.m. Thursday (6/18) through Sunday (6/21) and 2:30 p.m. Saturday (6/20) and Sunday (6/21), Theatre Cedar Rapids Lindale, 4444 First Ave. NE, Cedar Rapids, $20 and $25 for adults, $15 for students, $10 rush tickets at the door, www.theatrecr.org

 Three Other Things

Russian Circles with Coliseum, Black Skies
9:00 p.m. Friday
(6/19)
The Picador, 330 E Washington Street, Iowa City, $10 general admission, www.thepicador.com

Public Property
6:30 p.m. Friday
(6/19)
Coe College, 14th Street & B Avenue NE, Cedar Rapids, free

“Nature Rocks – The Concert”
7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. Sunday
(6/21)
Indian Creek Nature Center, 6665 Otis Street SE, Cedar Rapids, $25 for adults, children 16 and under free

Comedian Finesse Mitchell

Friday, May 1

Catch a few late night laughs, as comedian, actor and former “Saturday Night Live” cast member Finesse Mitchell rolls into Hawkeye territory Friday night. Mitchell, who now performs regularly at some of America’s hottest comedy clubs – including The Miami Improv, The Atlanta Punchline, ACME Comedy Club in Minneapolis, and at The Hollywood Improv, The Comedy Store, and The Laugh Factory all in LA – is also a hot commodity on college campuses across the country. He mixes wit, no-holds-bar humor and southern charm to keep audiences laughing. His show at the IMU is open to the public.

Finesse Mitchell
11 p.m. Friday (5/1) Iowa Memorial Union Main Lounge, Iowa City, $3 with UI student ID and $7 for general public in advance or $5 with UI student ID and $10 for general public at the door, http://imu.uiowa.edu/cab

Hair

Friday, May 1

If you don’t plan on making it to Broadway’s Al Hirschfeld Theatre in New York City anytime soon to catch the revival of the hit, American tribal love-rock musical Hair, never fear! Theatre Cedar Rapids is bringing this blast from the past (literally) show to the TCR Lindale stage, right here in the Corridor, starting this weekend. You’ll be transported to the age of Nixon, Vietnam, and Aquarius, of course, when Hair makes its TCR debut. It’s chock full of hippie-inspired messages, addressing the social, political, racial and sexual revolutions of the 1960s. So get out and join the “tribe.”

Hair
7:30 p.m. Friday (5/1) continuing at 7:30 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays and 2:30 p.m. Sundays (5/2 – 5/16), TCR Lindale, 4444 First Ave., Cedar Rapids, $10 to $25, www.theatrecr.org

Free Comic Book Day

Saturday, May 2

Spiderman, Batman, Wolverine, oh my! Stop by Daydreams Comics in Iowa City for Free Comic Book Day. That’s right. Daydream Comics is giving away free comics as part of a nationwide event. You’ll also have a chance to meet Jason Aaron, the writer of Marvel Comics new Wolverine ongoing comic, and Jesse Delperdang, an inker on various Marvel and DC projects. The two will be appearing between 12 and 7 p.m. Free Comic Book Day coincides with the release of the new X-Men Origins: Wolverine movie (which opens Saturday.)

Free Comic Book Day
10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday (5/2) Daydreams Comics, 21 S. Dubuque St., Iowa City, (319) 354-6632

THREE OTHER THINGS

Dan Knight in Concert
7:30 p.m. Saturday (5/2)
A benefit concert for the Janet G. Altman Music Fund for Riverside Theatre, Riverside Theatre, 213 N. Gilbert St., Iowa City, $30, (319) 338-7672, www.riversidetheatre.org

Taste of Jazz Under The Stars
5:30 p.m. Friday (5/1)
Class Act, Kirkwood Community College, Cedar Rapids, $45, www.kcck.org

Maifest
Friday, Saturday and Sunday (5/1 – 3)
Amana Colonies, www.festivalsinamana.com