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Show October 14, 1981 5D FOCUS Again At The Egyptain was then the performing arts director at the Kimball Art Opera Company, Joe Musco-lino- s Little Big Band and the Park City Performers presenCenter, to research the feasibility of converting the. ting the opening, number from their upcoming perforSilver Wheel into a dinner mance of My Fair Lady. theater. . With a new coat of paint The prospect of renovating the Egyptian and creating a . on the facade (color renvital for environment for the dering by Ted Nagata) and a excited arts the wholly restored lobby, the performing director who had been a Egyptians doors will open at 7 in force Park p.m. with a champagne major creating Other restoration theafirst reception. City's community efforts will not be immeter. Upon visiting similar diately apparent but accordprojects in Boulder, Denver and Aspen, however, he ing .to Gomes, they are the concluded that dinner theathings which make a performance more effective. A ter' was not the answer. He state of the art lighting felt that as a straight, system has been installed in legitimate theater, the Egyptian would be more versatile. place of the antiquated Silver Wheel lighting. A new sound The investors decided to back Gomes decision and system will amplify the offered him the position of projection from the stage and will also provide an intercom Executive Director. Gomes monitor' for the stage direciccepted and left his position tor. The sound system is t the Art Center. enhanced by the recently The ensuing months and constructed acoustic the last few weeks on the walls, each .lave been Gomes says, "like of which will be embel-- . giving birth. Though die lished by a stained glass facility was already suitable for the presentation of plays, pharoah's head designed by Bee Hive Glass. An excellent as exhibited by the Park 35mm projection system Players' productions of "6 rms riv vu, One Flew completes the theaters first round of technical additions. Over The Cuckoo's Nest Plans for the future what the and Applause include the installation of a investors had in mind was a theater of the finest quality. balcony which would increase the seating capacity After Applause, the theafrom 350 to 600 and ter closed for extensive expansion to include the remodeling. vacant lot above the existing The Egyptian is due to building. The addition would open Saturday night with a provide space for a rehearsal gala show hosted by Hal Linden and including Tauna hall, costume and scene Hunter of Ballet West, Glade storage, dressing rooms and Peterson from the Utah possibly a second little sar-chopha-gi theater. Two days after the Egyp- tian was purchased by the Silver Mill group, Don Gomes was on a tour of inspection and heard a rattling in the attic. Moments later a scene support rope slipped from its cable. It was Don's first contact with the ghost of the Egyptian. In deference to that spirit, the renovation has been carried out with all due respect for the past. De Groot Construction carried out the majcft-parof the reconstruction under foreman Kim Boley's direction. Architect Van Ellsworth was responsible channeling the project to save the original facade while making room for much needed technical improvements. In- motional details. Don smiles about the rapidly approaching deadline and said, Ive never had any doubt we would be ready. Besides as the Rev. Holdorf says, When you don't have any choice, why worry?' In the meantime, curious onlookers have been peering inside to note the progress. Old-time- rs have grinned at of the the replacement original name and all and all Parkites couldnt wait another weekend for the reopening of their own theater. By the way, Blanche Fletcher, who played the piano to accompany the original silent movies at the Egyptian, will help to kick off the opening. t termountain Lighting and Electrical contractors tackled the formi-dibl-e task of rewiring the building. Gomes adds that sprinklers, though not required, have been installed and special care has been taken to provide access to the handicapped. As of Tuesday, the old walls of the Egyptian were happily groaning and sighing under the massaging tools of swarms of technicians and construction workers. Assistant Director Milliken and Technical Director Terry L. Coolidge, were busy clearing paths for equipment, wallpaper, rugs, painters, etc. Teri Gomes, of Communications, Friday consulted with her husband Don on last minute pro Leo-Wrig- ht De-m- ie Crews have been busy moving state of the art lighting and sound systems into the theater. i i I i |