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ClearChannel celebrates the revival of a Boston theater legend
BY LIZA WEISSTUCH
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When Jimmy Tingle was inside the Opera House about three years ago, it was just a creaky, creepy old forsaken theater. "It was so strange being in such a big place that hadn’t been touched in over 10 years," says the comedian, who this week will host the Opera House’s first performance of the 21st century. "It looked like a shipwreck, like being inside the Titanic. It was totally empty with all these great ornate designs all over the place. And there were cobwebs and dust everywhere, and old programs all over the floor. It was almost a crime that it wasn’t being used. To see it come to life will just be great. And to be a part of the re-emergence of it will be tremendous." Shuttered since 1990, the 2300-seat Opera House came under the ægis of national megaproducer ClearChannel in 2002, and it’s nearing the end of a $31 million restoration project that has been painstakingly carried out over two and a half years. It will open officially — with a bang — in July when it hosts the Boston debut of The Lion King. But Broadway in Boston, ClearChannel’s local theatrical division, wants to make sure the infrastructure is in working order. So it’s having a party, and Tingle is hosting. Two dozen area arts organizations will take the stage this Monday in variety-show style for A Hard Hat Concert — A Boston Vaudeville. The event is a throwback to the vaudeville era of the 1930s in which the theater, which opened in 1928, first flourished. It’s also a historic occasion, not just because it’s a sneak peak at the restored landmark, but because rarely are so many performers presented in such an opulent palace — for 10 bucks, no less! The "hard-hat" show is a blue-collar tradition: a performance for the people who build the theater. But in the case of the Opera House, the invitation has been extended. "Why just have a few performers get up there and sing for 400 people?" says Broadway in Boston president Tony McLean. "I’ve seen so much talent in Boston theaters. I thought, ‘Why not give people in Boston the first opportunity to get on stage and perform in the Opera House?’ It’ll be a better show for the people who worked on the theater." What McLean came up with is a bill that reads like a cross-section of Boston arts-scene players: members of landmark performance groups like Boston Ballet, Boston Lyric Opera, and the Handel and Haydn Society as well as smaller organizations like the Lyric Stage Company of Boston and Súgán Theatre Company. Also on the program are performances from Hershey Felder and the casts of Shear Madness, Menopause the Musical, Forever Plaid, and Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris. This is, of course, a dress rehearsal, not a gala opening: Broadway in Boston wants to scope out the audience traffic flow and make sure the seats, elevators, lights, and soda fountains are behaving. All the proceeds will go to StageSource, a non-profit artists-and-producers clearing house. "The theater belongs to the city, the community," McLean points out, "[so] this is a sneak peak of the theater for everyone before it’s done. There might be some painting going on here and ladders there. Will we stop and fix something? Probably. But it’s gonna be a real hoot and holler, down-and-dirty fun. Everyone comes in, takes their seat, and the curtain goes up — if we have a curtain! By the time the finale comes, everyone’s on stage together." The Hard Hat Concert — A Boston Vaudeville is presented this Monday, June 28, at the Opera House, 539 Washington Street in the Theater District. Tickets are $10; visit Bostix booths or Filene’s Ticketmaster outlets, or drop in to the Colonial Theatre box office, 106 Boylston Street in the Theater District.
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