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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
On Schedule
Friday, Sept. 29: Pre-show entertainment at 7 p.m. featuring emcee
Jake Garrity, historical vignettes of life in Gallup in 1928, and
Celtic-inspired music by The Desert Highlanders. Melodrama "Daughters
of the Desert" at 7:30 p.m. Melodrama was written by Patrick
Moore and is being directed by his wife, Michelle Moore. Tickets:
$5/adults, $3/students and seniors, children under three are free.
Saturday, Sept. 30: VIP Opening Gala with 5:30 p.m. reception,
6:45 p.m. presentation by Mayor Bob Rosebrough, 7:10 p.m. screening
of "Route 66/The Neon Road," and 7:50 p.m. concert by The
Fireballs. The 5:30 p.m. reception is by invitation only. Members
of the public can contact Beverly Newman at El Morro Theatre for complimentary
tickets to the film screening and concert. Only a limited number of
tickets are available, and only two tickets will be given out per
request. All audience members must have either an invitation or a
ticket.
Sunday, Oct. 1: "Daughters of the Desert" and pre-show
will be staged twice more at 1:30 p.m. and at 7 p.m. |
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.
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Weekend
September 23, 2006
Selected Stories:
City still hopes to
land an airline
Navajo woman denied
right to vote without ID
Basketbrawl trial begins
Monday
El Morro spruces
up for opening weekend
Spiritual Perspectives;
Called by Name
Deaths
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