Previewing an unusual restart to Meramec’s theater productions
BY: JACOB POLITTE
Managing Editor
During the pandemic, the stage at the Meramec theater gave way.
The stage that once hosted George H.W. Bush during his run for the presidency and hosts countless other events and productions for the Meramec Theatre Department every year collapsed this past April. Until the stage is repaired shows will be held in different locations and even streamed live on YouTube.
Jean “Michelle” Rebollo has been a director and teacher at Meramec since 1996 and has directed more than 50 productions at Meramec during that time, receiving the Faculty Lecture Award in 2017 for her efforts. She was also the first one to discover that the stage had partly collapsed on April 26.
When asked what might have led to the collapse, Rebollo said that the college doesn’t know for certain. However, they have their suspicions.
“[The college suspects] that during that time we had a bad period of rain and the pit took on too much water and triggered the electric cables under the stage to lift,” Rebollo said. “The center one lifted so high it came off of the spooling of the cable and collapsed between the two other lifts.”
Rebollo says that a specific timeline for the stage to be fully repaired is uncertain.
“We are looking at a timetable that is uncertain due to COVID and supply shortages in workforce and supplies,” Rebollo said. “We hope we can be back in the space next fall.”
Despite the difficulty of not having the stage that they are accustomed to, Rebello and the theater department are forging ahead with productions throughout the coming year. This week, Professor Keith Oliver’s play “A Proposal for Marriage” premieres online. The play, which is Oliver’s adaptation of Anton Chekhov’s “The Proposal,” premiered at 7:30 p.m. last night on the STLCC Visual & Performing Arts YouTube Page, and will continue to premiere daily on the page through Oct. 10.
On Nov. 19, Rebollo’s production of “All In The Timing” premieres in front of a live audience in Room 102 of the Humanities West building at 7:30pm, and runs through Nov. 21; the last show premieres at 2:00pm.
“In November, we are finally producing work for a live audience over in the Music Room in Humanities West,” she said. “They were kind enough in the Music area to be able to share the space [for the production].”
Rebollo said she wasn’t sure of the specific capacity for the room, but said she thinks it is around 50 spectators. She also previewed two shows coming this spring.
“We will be producing a small musical entitled ‘The Trail to Oregon!’ which is modeled after the famous early computer game ‘Oregon Trail’,” she said. “Our fourth show will be a showcase of Student Director’s work.”
While these shows are scheduled for the spring; specific dates and locations for them have yet to be determined.
Admission to all Meramec Theatre productions is free.
