Renovated Gompertz Prepares For Opening Night

Walking through the renovated , construction workers are scurrying to finish the renovation in time for its first performance in one week.

By Monday evening, the stage wasn't installed, but the seats were, leading to an Olympian feat to pull this off in time, but Jon Donk, development associate rests audiences assured, that the show will go on.

"Perfect Wedding opens next Wednesday," he said matter-of-factly. No pressure, it seams for the powerful theater on the corner of First Street and Cocoanut Avenue. 

The timeline has been a short one, as the theater can't afford to lose those seats due to construction for long. The next door to the Gompertz, and the theater itself wasn't vacated until near the end of March after the play Sophie Tucker closed, Donk explained.

"You never know what you're going to find when you're tearing up 100-year-old boards and bricks," Donk said during a tour of the renovated theater and new Hegner Theatre Wing. 

That included a floor built on top of a floor, and even some Gompertz history such as playbills and ticket stubs back from the Palm Avenue Players days. And even $18 pay stubs from long ago when the Social Security tax was printed as the "Old Age Tax."

While the renovation won't be totally complete by the time Perfect Wedding opens Wednesday, FST is asking patrons to "pardon our dust" as it works toward a grand opening on Nov. 29. By that time, theater staff hopes that the outdoor cafe and dining area will be ready along with other features.

The overall $6.7 million construction project includes the $4.2 million for the New Gompertz Theatre, complete with 237 new, wider seats, a more spacious bathroom for both men and women and more.

Some of the improvements the audience might not be aware of, but might notice improvements to audio and lighting, Donk said. That's due in part to the repositioning of the audio and lighting booth from the corner of the theater to the center in the rear where technicians will have a better angle to gauge adjustments, he said. The seats along the sides of the theater are also angled to improve sightlines, too, he noted.

The Hegner Theatre Wing includes a new cabaret theater space, which is slated to open January 2014 and the new lab theater is set to open in January 2015 while serving as the new home of FST Improv. 

For now, Perfect Wedding will be ready to be the renovated Gompertz's first production.  The play opens at 8 p.m. Wednesday. Tickets range from $19 to $36. 

The play revolves around Bill, who on the morning of his wedding, has a bad hangover and awakens to a strange woman in his bed while he tries to devise a plan to get rid of the woman or create a story before his fiancée or mother-in-law to-be arrives. 

Just like the Gompertz, Perfect Wedding is a race against time.