Dear Strand Fan,

We started our 2023 Season!    Thursday night we hosted Shelby Feud 2.2.   This event is produced by the students of Advantage Shelby County.    The format mimics “Family Feud.”   Several teams competed.   Professor G from Ivy Tech was the master of ceremonies.   He kept the contestants and audience laughing all night.   Congratulations to the winning team, the ASC Alumni.    Below is a picture of the winning team.   

To get the theater ready several volunteers spent some monster hours finishing projects.   The women’s bathroom in the lobby did not have any plumbing fixtures as of Monday.  Our plumber Rick Rich came and reinstalled all the fixtures.    One step done.    

With the completed and level floor Bob Schlick reinstalled the partitions.   Easier said than done.   The new floor is level, the old floor was not.   The partitions had to be meticulously fitted back into place.  It took trimming and shimming to get them to fit, but mission accomplished.   You can see a picture of Bob below in the middle of the installation.

Next was Rhonda Schwegman and Steve Frazee.   They painted the entire room.   This included doing long overdue plaster repair.   The partitions have lots of parts, and Rhonda calmly painted each section.  Gone is the pink!   Steve painted the light fixture and heating vents gloss black.  They all look great.   They finished late Wednesday night. 

Finally we had to clean.  This took many people.   Rhonda and Steve took care of the bathroom and lobby.   David Finkel and Cody Veerkamp did the rest of the theater.   One area that needed attention was the dressing room under the stage.   Cody and David finished putting carpet on the stairs, painting, and hanging mirrors.  Cody installed our makeup lighting and mounted our internet access point.    All the work finished on Wednesday night.  It was close but we made it.

Thank you to all the volunteers who helped throughout the month.   We had teenagers and old men like Bob!    It was a fun month and the upgrades were needed. 

Time to get into the rhythm of what the Strand is here to do, provide a venue for the arts to flourish.    Next week we welcome the Shelbyville High School Music Department to the Strand’s stage.   SHS BAND MID-WINTER CONCERT performs on Wednesday February 8.   The concert is free and starts at 7pm.   JWO Breck auditorium is in the middle of some renovation and maintenance.   We are thrilled to host this event for the band.   

Way back in 2007 we were renovating the Strand.   We had 200+ seats in the balcony to repair and paint.  How were we going to do that?  In steps Russell Smith, band director at SHS and about 60 of his students.  Boom!  Project accomplished.   We have had a long and prosperous relationship with our county’s music students and always look forward to their performances.

Our first film event of the year is next Friday February 10.  We kick off the 2023 Friday Frights Film Series with the Covid delayed “UNIVERSAL MONSTER FILMS” presentations.   Universal studios was the leader in monster films, and we start the year with the 1931 Bella Lugosi film DRACULA.  The movie was censored and edited in 1936.   We are showing the original 1931 version.

Each month we will highlight a movie from Universal Studios.   These are films that are not often shown on the big screen.  The experience is authentic at the Strand.  We showed the film when it was released in 1931 and you can STILL sit in the balcony and watch the movie!  Showtime is 7:30pm and tickets are available at the door.

Next week is MARDIS GRAS IN SHELBYVILLE and COSTAKI ECONOMOPOULOS.  It will be a great week.   

Thank you for the support.  It was nice to welcome 245 patrons to the Strand on Thursday night.  We look forward to having a great season.  See you at the Strand!