Grease is the word.   Friday night!  Our second Dinner and a Movie.   Movie tickets are always available at the door.   The price includes popcorn and a soft drink.  The joint will be a hoppin’ for Grease!

On Saturday night the Strand hosts another fundraising event.  Gingerfest will help support Melanoma Awareness.

(Warning, not tech talk, but facts and dates ahead)  The Strand Theatre Pipe Organ, endowed by the Shelby County Historical Society, has taken another step closer to rebuilding.   The Strand’s organ was manufactured by the Louisville Pipe Organ Company (LPO) in 1928.   It was one of a handful of instruments the firm made specifically for theatre use.

Our organ, Opus 531, was built in Terre Haute Indiana after LPO moved from Louisville.   It was originally built for the Sipe Theatre in Kokomo, Indiana.  The theatre never took the instrument, so it was installed in the Uptown Theatre in Louisville, Kentucky.  This organ was removed from the theatre and installed in a church in Tell City Indiana.   In 1977 it was removed from the church and placed in storage.   It remained in storage until acquired for the Strand project in 2004.

Throughout the years several pieces have been lost from Opus 531.  Since LPO built so few instruments, finding replacements has been difficult. There are only 4 LPO’s built for theatres known to be in existence.   There is an ongoing search to acquire as many items manufactured by LPO as possible.

This past week Strand Board Member David Finkel was successful in locating and purchasing the final “Uniphone”, the LPO Brand name theatre instrument.  This organ, Opus 519, was built in 1926 for the Oak Theatre in Louisville Kentucky.   With the purchase of this instrument, all the remaining LPO theatre organs are now in Shelbyville.

The other two include Opus 536 from the Dream Theatre, Indianapolis built in 1928.  It is complete and located in a private residence.    The final organ is Opus 512 from the Oriental Theatre in Indianapolis.   It is in storage and will be used to augment the Strand organ.

It is quite incredible that the legacy of this manufacture would be tied to the Strand Theatre in Shelbyville .   Through the vision of the SCHS and the Strand, our organ will be the only fully restored Uniphone in a public venue.

The Oak Theatre instrument has a piece that we need.  Of all things…the music rack.   There are several pictures and an article on our web site about what we needed and what we found.  This includes a picture from 1927 showing an LPO console with the music rack we needed.

Next week we have a really special line-up.   On Tuesday is the first of our 2010 Lecture Series.   Dennis Hodges from the Indiana High Speed Rail Association will speak about the future of high speed rail.  This is a relevant topic for Shelby County since our rail line is a federally designated high speed route.   Admission is FREE.  The lecture starts at 7:00pm

On Saturday March 20th, Smashed Productions presents Pressed in Black with special guest Caffeine.  The concert starts at 8:00pm.   Finally on Sunday March 21st, jazz pianist Dave Hepler will perform.   This Sunday afternoon concert will be great for all you jazz fans out there.   Thank you for all your support.  See you at the Strand!

We have several new readers to our weekly tell-all Strand email.   It has been awhile since we discussed exactly why we do these emails.   Here is a refresher course.  When not-for-profit Strand Theatre of Shelbyville, Inc. was formed, openness was a guiding principle.  We vowed to always tell everyone everything.  It was our hope that we would develop a community full of “experts” about the Strand.   It was decided to tell the good, bad and ugly.   As we progressed through these past few years, we have shared every exciting moment.  We too have shared the not so high points.  In the process, everyone knows what is happening at the Strand, no secrets here.   …and so we continue with what we started.

The week was a doozy.  The tickets are selling well for Grease.   We are thrilled with the response.  Our ads on WSVX are running, the ads in the Shelbyville News are being printed, our newsletter is mailed, all these good things with information about our upcoming Dinner and a Movie.   This week Gary N., who takes care of booking our movies, got a call from our film distributor.  It seems that Paramount, the studio that owns Grease, has decided to remove it from theatrical release.   What does that mean?  It means we got a call saying we no longer had the rights to show Grease.   Ouch!! (big time)   To make a long story short, Paramount has given the Strand the OK to show it one last time.   We will be the only theatre anywhere to show this film for many months.   Thank you Paramount!   We can start breathing again.

Calling all cars; Calling all cars.   If you have a 1950’s car or truck, how about bringing it to Grease and parking it by the theatre?   We need help getting into the spirit, and a few vintage vehicles would be great.   Weather permitting, come bring your ride and join us.   The date is Friday March 12, 2010.

The stage modifications are completed that we discussed last week.   We were able to construct everything from materials we already had on hand.  The only purchases were the post tops and the rope.   These modifications will be a handy addition for the future.

You might have read in the Shelbyville News that the Strand hosted its first wedding.  When the theatre is not in use, we are open to all types of uses.   In order to be fiscally prudent, we must always explore other avenues of revenue.   Things like this do not impede our mission, and help introduce a new potential audience to the Strand.   This is something that only happens on a time available basis.   It is fun for our volunteers to help.

This coming month we have quite an eclectic mix of entertainment.  We look forward to all the events.   March is also the start of our Strand Lecture Series.  The first FREE lecture will be on March 16, 2010 at 7:00.   Dennis Hodges of the Indiana High Speed Rail Association will be giving a presentation on the future of high speed rail in Indiana.   This will be an interesting and pertinent topic for Shelby County residents.

We have a Jazz Concert on Sunday March 21st.   Dave Hepler, a jazz pianist, will be performing on the Strand stage.  This will be a great chance of you jazz fans to hear some live jazz music at the Strand.   Tickets are available now.

Thank you for all your support.   There isn’t a week that goes by that someone isn’t complimenting the efforts the Strand has made.  This is your theatre and your community.  We are just a small part of what it takes to make it work.  Thank you!

This week we had a great time at the Strand.  Band Together for Haiti was a great success.   The Strand sent a check to the American Red Cross for $965.  Sara Chappela who put the show together did a great job.  In one small way we, here in Shelby County, are able to help those in need in Haiti.   Thank you to everyone who came out to the concert.

The American Indian Cultural Forum hosted by Shelby County Reads, was this past Sunday.  The Strand is a better place because of their visit.  Since part of their presentation was religious in nature, they had to bless the Strand before they started.   We need all the help we can get, and to have a Native American blessing is a good thing!   The ceremony is called “smudging”.   They did it in private, so we cannot tell you about the details.

We had new volunteers this weekend.  On Saturday night one new volunteer Pam D. was handing out programs.  The theatre phone rang.   This is the same theatre phone (with an excellent phone number 421-ARTS ) that we have had since we have opened.  In the entire time, NO ONE has ever received a phone call at the Strand.  We have plenty of calls asking questions about schedules, bookings, events….but none asking for someone specific.   There is Pam, at the doors to the auditorium, when someone from the concession area says “Pam… you have a phone call”.   She is popular.   Yet again another new thing for the Strand!

Before the concert on Saturday night our volunteers started to get the theatre ready.  The snow in front of the theatre had melted into a solid ice hump.  This ice stretched the entire length of the loading area.   We picked and shoveled all to no avail.  That ice was too solid.  Just then Kevin Black drove by in his pickup truck with a snow blade.  3 minutes later our walk was clear.  Next time you see Kevin at Grandma’s having lunch, tell him thank you from the Strand.

Is everyone busy, or is it just us?   Seems like the more we do, the more we have to do.   This goes for our volunteers as well.  This week our newsletter editor, Cindy Leahy, came to a point she was just too busy.  Cindy is the one who came up with the idea and name for our monthly newsletter.  Many of you have enjoyed your hard copy or electronic copy of the SRO for the past two years.   Cindy also produced the Strand Shorts which is mailed to all Chamber of Commerce members every month.  A big Strand Thank You to Cindy Leahy for these past two years of stewardship with the SRO.    We wish her the best and remind her the Strand stage is ready for her next production!

Speaking of the Strand stage, we are preparing for our next Dinner and a Movie.  Grease will show on March 12th.   We learned quite a bit from Casablanca, and will put some of the ideas into practice for Grease.  One of the biggest changes is that we will seat people on the stage for dinner as well as the Cabaret Area.  This will expand our capacity.  One of the several items that need to be done is changing our stage floor box covers.  Those covers have slots for electrical and sound cables.  We realized those slots would also fit a chair leg quite nicely.  Can’t have that.   We are replacing the covers with solid covers for the dinner event.  Bob S. is also going to make a removable railing for around the stage.   It will be a good addition.

The last dinner and a movie, the Strand was bailed out by our friends at the Parks Department who lent us chairs and another local not-for-profit, who lent us tables.   Anyone out there that would be interested, we could use 8) 60″ round and 4) 96″ rectangle new tables.   We need the plastic variety.  The cost is $100 each for the round tables and $75 each for the rectangle tables.   Just let the Foundation know if you want to help.

This weekend the Strand hosts the Shelby Community Band’s Mid-Winter Concert on Sunday at 2:00pm.   This concert is FREE.   If you haven’t been to a SCB concert, this would be a good time to start.  Music will range from marches, to show tunes.  The band even has a guest singer doing a few Gershwin tunes.

Thank you for all your support.  The Strand is a fun place.   Thank you for making it that way.   See you on Sunday.

OK, that was fun!

This past weekend it was just plain ‘ol fun at the Strand.  On Friday Hoosier Dylan performed:   22 musicians, 1 poet laureate, 50 songs and over 4 hours!   Wow.    On Saturday for our very first Dinner and a Movie:  Tables for 64, tickets for 76…..it was interesting, but still fun.

Learning is something we always do at the Strand.  The past week we learned a tremendous amount from both shows.   The Friday night Hoosier Dylan didn’t use any of our sound equipment.   To bring in equipment, the Strand had to have the appropriate power, space and facilities to handle it.   We passed with flying colors.   The biggest winners were Ron B., Gordon H. and Cody V. who didn’t have to move or set up anything!

On Dinner and a Movie, we didn’t quite know what to expect.   John from Grandma’s Pancake House had a great menu.   Overall things went really well.  We took notes and will tweak a few things for next month.  Everyone had a great time.   The film looked great on the big screen.  It is a great movie!

Let it snow, let it snow let it snow.  The weather outside is frightful, but my dear the Strand’s delightful….   Snow again.   We are checking every day to make sure our roof vent problem doesn’t reoccur.   So far so good, but this is something we have to remain vigilant.    The sidewalks are going to be cleared by the downtown contract, so that will be a little help to our volunteers.   We have been shoveling the snow from our theatre all the way to Hendricks Street.  It is a greater distance than you might think.

We had volunteers check out our motor generators in the attic.  They are making their plans and preparing to get them out.   They don’t think that the units will be as heavy as we think, but they are disassembling as much as possible just to make sure.   While their at it, we are going to remove the old neon transformers.  This will be done with the advise and guidance from the Shelby County Waste Management District.  We don’t want to take any chances.

The Strand is getting new bookings every day.  The interest in our theatre is very rewarding and humbling.  These requests come from near and far.  Gary N. juggles the schedule and keeps things on track.   We just booked a Jazz concert, a film premiere and a rock concert!

This weekend, on Saturday night at 7:00pm, the Strand is hosting “Band Together for Haiti”.  This is the creation of community leader Sara Chappela.  She was moved by the tragic events from the earthquake in Haiti.  She is producing this event will proceeds going to Haitian Relief with the American Red Cross.   This is the first time that Sara has attempted anything like this.  It will be a great show for a worthwhile cause.  The Strand is proud to participate in our own small way to help those whose lives have been devastated by this natural disaster.

On Sunday, Shelby County Reads hosts a very interesting program at the Strand.   The American Indian Cultural Forum will take the stage at 2:00pm.  This forum presented by the American Indian Center of Indiana, Inc. will feature drumming, dancing, flute playing, a power-point presentation, and informational tables.   This event is free.
Even with the snow, we have continued installing the sockets for the chase lights on the marquee.  We are almost finished with the north half of the marquee.  Soon it will be time to screw in 300 light bulbs… lefty loosy, righty tighty.    That is a day to which we are looking forward!

Thanks for your support.  The great audiences this past weekend help energize everyone connected with the Strand.  It should energize you too, since you are the most vital part of the Strand project.   Thanks for the support.

Were you at the Strand last weekend?  If not, you missed a great show.

An odd thing happened, we had a leak.   When we re-worked the theatre, we spent lots of time on our roof doing the best job we could.   We know that we need to do additional work.   The risk the Strand takes is damaging all the freshly repaired plaster.   A leak is not good.
Everyone at the Strand knew this day would come, we were not looking forward to it.   Saturday was that day.   The audience had just started to arrive when a patron pointed out a wet seat.   Wet?  How could that be?    Drip…Drip….Drip    Yep, it was leaking.   We put a reserved sign on the seat and hoped we didn’t have further problems.   The drip was about 10′ from the south wall in the middle of the auditorium.   Even though it was cold and snowy, Bob S. made a trip to the roof to check things out.   Verdict: we dodged a bullet.   He believes that the drip was caused by snow that blew into one of our 4 roof vents.   The very odd northeast wind is something we don’t experience often.   Bob said once the snow melted after the theatre was warm for the performance, it started to leak.   He predicted that it would go away.   Fortunately he was correct.   We really need to get some roof work done.   That is coming to the top of the to-do list this spring!

HOOSIER DYLAN this Friday.   This will be a fantastic show.  Please try to attend.  The Strand is proud to be able to not only bring this to our community, but also to have our local talent participate.   If you can’t make it to our theatre Friday night, you can hear them (along with the Shelbyville contingent) at the Royal Theatre in Danville Indiana on Saturday night.

CASABLANCA is Saturday.   Our very first Dinner and a Movie is this Saturday.   Joey G. came up with this concept for us.  We are almost sold out for the dinner.   John from Grandma’s is doing the catering.  His menu is very appropriate, Moroccan Chicken with Cous Cous, vegetable medley, Mediterranean Salad and Baklava for dessert.   Rick would be proud.   You can come to the movie only if you wish.  The ticket price includes popcorn and a drink!

(Warning, tech talk ahead)  Gary N., Michelle N., Joey G. and Bob S. spent time repositioning our projector.  The older movies, such as Casablanca have a 4:3 aspect ratio.   When we show a film in this format, the top of the film hits the ceiling.   This has been a problem since the theatre was built.   To combat this, we were able to lower the position of our projector.   New modern projectors like ours are the size of a small suitcase.  The old film projectors were huge and heavy and couldn’t be moved.   Casablanca will look great on the big screen.   Bring your sweetie and come out and enjoy one of the greatest films of all time.

Next week the Strand welcomes “Band Together for Haiti.”  This is a benefit concert for the Red Cross Haitian Relief Effort.  This is produced by Sara Chappella.  She has done a great job bringing together talented musicians for this worthwhile cause.

Thanks for all your support!   See you this weekend.

“Curtains up!  Light the lights!   ….everything’s coming up roses.”

That song is something the Strand needed to do.   Curtains up!, our valance to be precise.  Back when in August 2008 Beck Studios from Cincinnati donated a grand drape along with a matching valance.   The valance needed resized and Sew-Tec in Shelbyville reworked the fabric complete with using fireproof nomex thread.   Then the valance sat, and sat, and sat.   Seems at though the batten (pipe) that is needed to hang the valance wasn’t supported well enough for the weight of the heavy velvet fabric.   This past month during our heavy maintenance, Gordon H. decided to do something about that.   We have NO idea how he did it, but single-handedly he repaired the batten and hung that valance.   In it worth noting that the valance is suspended 22 feet above the stage!   Next time you are in the theatre, take a look.  For us, we didn’t even hardly notice because it looked like it had been there all the time.  Magical things happen at the Strand all the time.   Just for the record, Gordon isn’t talking.  We still have no idea how he accomplished the task.

Light the lights!   Need to do that too.  Our marquee work was full steam ahead until mother nature chimed in.  As soon as the weather gives us a little break we are poised to finish the job.  Cody V. has taken on the task of installing the sockets for the chase lights.  This must be accomplished before the front panels are installed.  The sockets on the north end are finished.  That translates to roughly 75 done, 219 to go.   Once the lights are installed in the marquee, Steve D. and Darin M. will bring the necessary power to run everything.  The sequencer (the gizmo that allows the lights to chase themselves around) will be programmed and viola!

This weekend will be Divas go to Hollywood.  This is a fundraiser on behalf of the Shelby County Players.  Please come support the SCP.  This is one of two fundraisers the Strand is hosting this month.  On February 20th the Strand will host “Band Together for Haiti”.   This event will benefit the American Red Cross efforts for Haitian relief.  The Strand is proud to be able help these two organizations meet their financial and fundraising goals.

Remember, the Super Bowl warm-up show is at the Strand at 2:00pm on Sunday.  It features “Divas go to Hollywood”.  What a great way to get ready for the big game.  Song and dance are always appropriate!

Soon renovation work will return to the Strand.  We have several things on our list, and it is time to get them done.  Top of the heap will be finishing our offices.  We will let everyone know when we will hold a work session.  It is guaranteed to be fun (and dirty).

We promised a little tech-talk, so here it is; consider yourself warned.   We had a group of volunteers from Wabash College help us clean out the offices.  The junk was taken to a warehouse that allows us to store our various pieces and parts.  The mess was sorted, identified, inventoried and palletized by volunteers Mike and Whitney R. (who unfortunately located to Virginia over the holidays).  They knew what they were looking at and sorted things by type.  This means we had a pallet of projectors, another pallet of lamp housings and so on.   To the Strand’s luck, our friend Ming from Chicago gave us a call.  You might remember his group bought our old junk amplifier (and paid us a nice sum).  Ming was thrilled we had our projection equipment sorted.  He took a look and decided that their were two power supplies that he wanted.  He explained that both units were from the 1940’s.  One was a Westinghouse, the other an RCA.   These items were in our “wait till the weather gets better and we will recycle them pile.”   He bought them for $100 each.   Every little bit helps.  We are pleased not only to sell some equipment that we had thought was junk, but also save some classic sound equipment for a collector that appreciates the technology of the time.   He is going to make a return visit.  I hope he has his shopping list ready.   We still have the attic to clean out.  There are treasures up there.  I know some lucky people will have a great time removing the 5 HP motor generator.   It has a very nice “modern” design, most likely from the 1930’s.   It should only weigh about 250 pounds!

Thank you for your support of the Strand and what we are trying to do for our community.   Because of you the Strand is a success.  Go Colts!

Happy 2010!!

The Strand has been home to a flurry of activity getting the theatre ready for our 2010 Season.  January is the time we schedule to do our heavy maintenance.   This is the 2nd year we have used this time for upkeep of the theatre.   It needed it!  We accomplished several things, and still have many more yet to do.   That’s OK, eventually we will get everything done, but there are only so many hours in a day…

Take a look over your shoulder.   That is 2009 fading into history.  For the Strand, 2009 was one for the history books.  We finished the year with 148 events and an audience total of over 8,000.   This is what we hoped for, and are extremely pleased our community was able to accomplish these impressive statistics.   The Strand is just a piece in the quality of life puzzle in Shelby County.   It is gratifying to know that we hosted the equivalent of 18.4% of the Shelby County population visiting the Strand in 2009!   2010 is shaping up to be even more exciting.

The Strand has worked hard to broaden our audience and the recognition that Shelbyville and Shelby County is a great place to live.  The February 2010 issue of Smithsonian Magazine has an article about living in Indiana.  In the article it quoted Scott Russell Sanders.   That is the same Scott Russell Sanders that read his essays on the Strand stage in June 2009!   This is great fun for everyone connected with the Strand.   We are appreciative that not only has our community recognized what we are trying to accomplish, but so do others around our State and nation.

We have been working on our films.  The Strand has now entered into agreements directly with the movie studios to show their content.  This is a very long and complex process.   Joey G. got us started on the path, providing insight and guidance for the Strand films.   Gary N., Steve F. and Chris N. have been working on a schedule for the next 6 months.   There will be films that will appeal to a wide range of people.  As soon as we have the dates confirmed we will let everyone know.

Coming up the Shelby County Players will start off February with “Divas”.  This is a fundraiser for the SCP.  It is important that we all support the arts in our community.  We hope you will show your support for this wonderful group and attend on either Saturday February 6th or Sunday February 7th.   In honor of the trip to the Super Bowl, the Shelby County Players have scheduled “Divas” for Super Bowl Sunday afternoon.  The performance will finish in plenty of time for everyone (including cast and crew) to get home for the pregame festivities.   It is sure to be a great event.

On February 12th the Strand welcomes “Hoosier Dylan”.  This very talented group will play the music of Bob Dylan.  The poet laureate of Indiana, Norbert Krapf,  will also be on stage to read selected poetry of Dylan.   The performers include Tim Grimm, Jennie Devoe & Jason Wilber.  They will be joined onstage by White Lightning Boys, Joyous Garde and our very own The Complete Unknowns.   This show has played in Indianapolis and received great reviews.   From Shelbyville it will be off to our friends at the Royal Theatre in Danville Indiana.   Adam K. and his band mates in the Complete Unknowns will be traveling to Danville for that performance as well.  We are thrilled to bring this show to our community and also to partner with another theatre with a similar mission to ours.

Next week we’ll have a little tech-talk as well as an update on some other ongoing projects.    The volunteers of the Strand needed this past month to catch up.  The theatre is entering its 94th year, and needs TLC more than ever.   Happily that work is behind us and we can resume what we are here to do!   Thank you for your support.

The Strand has officially finished our 2nd Season.

As we celebrate the Holidays, we are thankful for many things.   Thank you to the hundreds of volunteers that came out in support of our mission in 2009.   The outpouring of support in all aspects of the Strand’s operation is something to which we can be truly proud.    Many people helped in many different ways.  All is vital and necessary to bring us to where we are today, thank you.
We are working on our year-end statistics and will share that with you shortly.

From our Strand Family to yours, have a Happy, Healthy and Safe Holiday.