El Morro spruces up for opening weekend

Wilson Kraft, left, and Chris Tsalate install new chairs in the balcony at El Morro Theater Friday afternoon. About 520 new seats and a host of other improvements will be ready for the theater's grand reopening Sept. 30. [Photo by John A. Bowersmith/Independent]

By Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola
Staff Writer

GALLUP — Next weekend, Gallup's El Morro Theatre is slated to host several hundred guests during the theatre's grand re-opening celebration.

This weekend, however, El Morro will host a crew of workers who will be laboring steadily at unpacking boxes of chair parts, assembling them into comfortable theatre seats, and installing them inside the vintage downtown theatre.

But as hectic as that might sound, Beverly Newman believes most of the major repair and renovation work has been completed. Newman, the theatre's event facilities manager, said a new heating a cooling system has been installed, along with a new roof, state-of-the-art lighting, and new carpeting.

"All we have left are minor details," said Newman on Friday. Those details, she said, include painting work, setting up the projection room, and some miscellaneous decorating. Renovations to the concession stand will be postponed, she added.

The 78-year-old theatre has been closed for repairs and remodeling for months, and the re-opening date has been pushed back several times by city officials. In spite of that, a number of scheduled events have been held in the theatre this summer, all the while surrounded by the construction upheaval.

To celebrate the grand re-opening, city officials have planned a full weekend of events for the theatre: three performances on Friday and Sunday of "Daughters of the Desert,"a melodrama written by local drama teacher Patrick Moore, and Saturday's official VIP Opening Gala featuring the screening of an award-winning Route 66 documentary and music by The Fireballs (see accompanying schedule for details).

The City of Gallup and El Morro Theatre Friends, a community organization interested in the preservation of the city landmark, are seeking community members to volunteer as ushers and greeters next weekend. Volunteers with a sense of humor and a sense of the theatrical would be particularly welcome as event organizers are looking for people willing to dress up in clothing from the 1890s for the melodrama or clothing from the 1920s - reflecting the era when El Morro Theatre was first constructed - for Saturday's VIP Opening Gala. Audience members are also encouraged to attend in period costumes.

After next weekend, the theatre's schedule is beginning to fill up with a number of events booked by local groups, said Newman. The city will continue to rent out the facility to community groups that want to stage performances and events at El Morro, with the rental fee determined by the groups' for-profit or non-profit status and the expected income from the event.

"We've already started booking for the rest of the year,"she added. "All the weekends in December are booked up."

However, it's unlikely El Morro will continue to be a venue for concerts by metal bands, said Newman. Prior to the current renovation work, she explained, the theatre sustained "major damage" by metal concert goers. Bathroom fixtures were broken, and walls were kicked in, she said. As a result, the city will take a much closer look at what events it approves for the facility, she said.

Groups interested in reserving El Morro should contact Newman to fill out the required city paperwork.

And finally, once all the last details of El Morro's renovation have been completed and the grand re-opening weekend is over, Newman said she will begin focusing on booking out-of-town performers to the theatre.

For more information, contact Beverly Newman at (505) 726-0050.