Feature: Theatre Memphis Is Finally Ready Following $5 Million Pre-Pandemic Renovation

When Theatre Memphis decided to celebrate its 100th year of existence with a multi-million dollar building renovation back in 2019, depending on how you look at things, it was either a stroke of pure luck or pure disaster.

Who could have predicted that just a few months later every theatre on the planet would grind to a complete halt? Who would have believed that gatherings of any size would be completely banned? What's scarier than investing millions of dollars into a theatre renovation? It's spending millions of dollars renovating a theatre that no one may ever see.

Before we knew for sure that eating bats might be bad for your health, Theatre Memphis had already decided to stop all performances January through August of 2020 to renovate its lobby, bathrooms, scene shop etc. at a price of $5 million. So, when all social gatherings started shutting down in March of 2020, Executive Producer, Debbie Litch, thought to herself that if a pandemic had to come to America, it might as well happen during the construction.

Unfortunately, Theatre Memphis' plans to be up and running again by the fall of 2020 weren't meant to be. The world indeed stopped, but if there was anyone in Memphis who had the energy and gumption to take on COVID-19 with a wink and a smile, it was Ms. Litch. Plague Smague. Her interminable positive outlook for the state of theatre in general and Theatre Memphis in particular has this outstanding community theatre on the brink of a grand reveal that has this town buzzing. Her excitement for what's to come is well, in a word, "infectious."

Once it became clear that it was unsafe to be within six feet of another person, Litch sent her staff home, but then reached out to her board to do everything in her power to keep the team on the payroll. "I've known for years to not take this group or the high-quality work they've produced year after year for granted," said Litch. Fortunately, the board agreed, and she's been able to keep the gang together through unbelievably inventive ways to raise money including scraping up the 25-year layers of paint on the mainstage and turning it into sellable arts and crafts.

While the costs of producing shows were eliminated during this time (which helped with the overall operating costs), for a long time it wasn't clear when (or if) audiences would be coming back. This uncertainty didn't faze Litch, though. The construction on the building was deemed essential and it never stopped throughout the pandemic as Litch attended and oversaw the construction every single day. "Call me an eternal optimist, but I believe people were ready to get out and gather in a theatre again. They're sick of sitting home and watching tv."

This optimism has one of America's oldest community theatres now on the verge of busting opening its new doors to welcome starving audiences back into the fold with their production of HELLO DOLLY! in August of 2021. It's not known yet what form any social distancing protocols will take in the future (audience capacity, mask wearing, etc.), but Litch emphasizes that there will always be a focus on the utmost safety for the audience, staff, and volunteers.

History in America seems to be repeating itself in that a pandemic hit about a hundred years ago (Spanish Flu) followed by a fledgling community theatre in Memphis emerging to give people a place to safely gather and enjoy the arts. Now, as this century's pandemic starts to wane, Theatre Memphis' is waiting in the wings again with its grand reopening and a production of HELLO DOLLY! -- a timeless musical which is likely to have everyone (onstage and off) singing, "It's so nice to have you back where you belong."

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