Long Island theaters: Renovations breathe new life into arts

There were moments when Tony Leone thought the show might never go on.

Getting Strongbox Theater up and running was an exercise in perseverance for Leone and his wife, Marla D’Urso,  after construction delays tied to the transformation of the long-abandoned East Rockaway National Bank and Trust Company into a theater lasted nearly six years.

What kept him going? "Stubbornness," Leone said. "It was really an exercise in endurance." The East Rockaway theater opened in June with a one-act festival and its first full-length play, "Over the River and Through the Woods," goes up Friday.

Across Long Island, others feel Leone’s pain as they work on renovating old buildings to create up-to-date arts centers and performance spaces. Natalie Weinstein, who heads the Celebrate St. James Center for the Arts, is sweating the deadline on its ongoing update to bathrooms and the HVAC system.

The Malverne Cinema & Art Center is hoping for a ribbon-cutting mid-September, said Maria Dente, one of the project’s partners. And in Lindenhurst, the Babylon Citizens Council on the Arts recently finished an expansion at the BACCA Arts Center.

The addition at BACCA includes a new multipurpose room that can be used for rehearsals or classes, said Shawn Cullinane, vice president of the council. "It basically doubles our space," he said, noting that the project also included an expanded green room, updates to the lighting system and the addition of storage space. "We just have more flexibility for the four theater groups that regularly use the facility," he said, "as well as our own art shows and the annual Bluegrass Festival." Next up at BACCA is EastLine Theatre’s production of "Yerma," opening Sept. 19.

Once the Malverne Cinema opens, the space will be used for both movies and live performances, Dente said. Renovations at the former movie house include the addition of a bar and "knocking down walls to expose a stage that had been there since 1947," she said. Her organization, Dente’s Dreamers, will put on live shows with performers of all ages and abilities. There will also be classes focused on other aspects of theater, like costuming and set design.

Leone is hopeful that Strongbox will become a neighborhood hangout for the community. "The village of East Rockaway has been so supportive," he said, noting that already the bar is becoming popular with residents who stop in even if there’s no show on the schedule. He also hopes to bring in other events. A four-night comedy festival just concluded and he has plans to bring in performers doing original music and book signings.

A competitive spirit

Leone recognizes that to compete on the Island, the theater needs high-quality shows and he hopes to draw talent from Brooklyn and perhaps Manhattan. And he wants to challenge audiences, so although he thinks the multigenerational comedy "Over the River" is a safe bet, he recognizes that the next show on the schedule, Sam Shepard’s dark comedy "Buried Child," might be a risk. "It’s a theater person’s piece of theater," he said, adding, "I always want audiences to be surprised."

The theater is a wonderful place to work, said Bob Spiotto, who directed three of the one-acts at the recent festival. Along with the modern sound and lighting systems, Spiotto appreciates the flexibility of the space, which has about 90 moveable seats that can be set up several ways.

Centering on community

For Leone, it’s all about building community. After only a few weeks, "people are floored by how it looks," he said. "They’re walking into something really classy and elegant, but still cozy. I want people to have a place to meet and talk and get off their devices for a while."

That’s also the goal in St. James. "It’s a community center as well as a theater," said Weinstein, adding she wants to focus on the history of the building, which was once an early 20th century vaudeville house before becoming part of the Calderone movie theater chain. "It’s about the life of the community that’s been missing," she said. "The goal is to be able to promote local talent in the fields of art, music and theater ... to give people an outlet that cannot be satisfied in any other way."

"It’s a charming space," said Tony Chiofalo, artistic director of the Lighthouse Repertory Theatre Company, which opened the theater with "Anastasia" last year. He said he appreciates the intimacy, which forces him to come up with creative ways to work with large casts required in shows like "The Addams Family," scheduled to open Friday.

Work on the theater has been going on for more than a year. Earlier projects included uncovering the building’s impressive tin ceiling and opening up the stage. The theater was closed in August to allow the work on the HVAC and lighting systems and the installation of new bathrooms. Many of the historic artifacts will be moved across the street to another building that was recently donated to the organization. Solar panels are also in the plan, with the goal of making a more energy-efficient building.

"While it’s important to maintain the building’s historic value," Weinstein said, "we also have to bring it into the 21st century."