Share your Lyric Theatre Memories

The Lyric Theatre

Just last weekend the Lyric Opera completed its final season in the Lyric Theatre with an updated production of The Marriage of Figaro that also served as a farewell to the building that had been the Company’s home for over 40 years and 180 productions.

In the lead-up to the final production Allison May, Lyric Opera Intern, sat down with some of the staff members who have been with the Company the longest and interviewed them about the memories they have of the Lyric Theatre.  You can click on the links below to read all of the memories shared by our staff.

• General Director Evan Luskin
• Artistic Director Ward Holmquist
• Director of Technical Design R. Keith Brumley
• Property Master Debbie Morgan
• Theatre Maintenance Supervisor Doug Allen
• Stage Manager Erin Thompson
• The Lyric Opera Stage Crew

We know that these people are not the only ones who have memories of the Lyric Theatre so we want to you share yours too.  Simply add your memory as a comment below and help us remember the great times had in this stately structure.

Lyric Theatre Memories Part 7

This is the seventh in a series of interviews with some of our staff members, who have called the Lyric Theatre theatre home for a number of years, by Allison May :

Backstage at the Lyric Theatre you will find the crew room; a room that is full of tools from wall to wall.  The Lyric Theatre’s crew workers are not often seen, as their work usually happens behind the stage curtains.  But during The Marriage of Figaro, the curtains will remain open during intermission so the audience can see the crew behind the magic.  Steve Cochran, James Corcoran, Ben Julius, Dan Pfitzner and Adam Tyrone reminisced on some of their favorite memories at the Lyric Theatre and on life as a member of the stage crew during a recent rehearsal.

“It’s rapid fire around here,” said James Corcoran.  “This building never stops; it’s constantly working.  Between the Kansas City Ballet, the Lyric Opera of Kansas City and the Kansas City Symphony, the Lyric Theatre has to be ready all of the time.  This building is unique…so you have to really know the Lyric Theatre to make it work.  I think the crew is what keeps this building running.”

“It’s always something new here, it’s always a new challenge,” Adam Tyrone said.  Ben Harper added that one of their biggest challenges is their schedule.  “When the real world has a day off, we’re working,” Harper said.  “It’s not a nine to five type of job.  And when we’re working during a production it is 45 minutes of calm and 15 minutes of chaos.”

Despite the long hours, the crew has had fun times together too.  Dan Pfitzner recalled when the Lyric Opera was rehearsing for the production, Faust.  “In the show, Faust is supposed to make a big appearance so we were using pyrotechnics.  We were all waiting for our cues in the back with our fire extinguishers.  According to the schedule, we still had eight minutes left.  But we suddenly heard pyrotechnics start.  Somehow, we didn’t know that the director cut out the overture – which happened to be exactly eight minutes long.  So we had to run out with our fire extinguishers as fast as we could.  Everyone was alright and we all laugh about it now,” Pfitzner said.

Steve Cochran says that it is a difficult job, but everyone stays here because they enjoy the work.  “The part of my job I like the best is seeing the final result of the set,” Cochran said.  “We initially receive the blueprint for the set and then we get to see the structure as it comes together.”

The Lyric Theatre itself is special for the crew as well.  James Corcoran, Master Carpenter, has particularly close ties with the Lyric Theatre.  “The Lyric Theatre has always been important in my life.  I graduated high school here in 1972.  I started working here in 1981.  And I got married on the stage here in 1987,” Corcoran said.  “My wife and I decided to get married at the Lyric Theatre because this is where we met.  She was working as a Production Assistant here.  I saw her walk across the stage and that was it – I just knew.”

Suddenly, the crew hears their cue and hurry out of the crew room.  “These are the 15 minutes of chaos,” Harper says.

Lyric Theatre Memories Part 6

This is the sixth in a series of interviews with some of our staff members, who have called the Lyric Theatre theatre home for a number of years, by Allison May :

Erin Thompson at her Stage Manager station during the 2007 Aida production

Erin Thompson started working at the Lyric Opera as an unpaid Production Assistant just seven years ago.  Since then, Thompson has quickly worked her way up to become the Company’s Stage Manager.  Thompson recently sat down to talk about how the Lyric Theatre has truly changed her life.

“My favorite memory of the Lyric Theatre is actually when I came to see my first opera here,” Thompson said.  “I saw Cinderella and it was the first opera I’d ever seen.  By intermission I just knew that I wanted to do this – to work in opera.”

Prior to seeing the performance, Thompson had thought that she wanted to move to New York to work on Broadway shows.  But Thompson said that seeing Cinderella changed her mind.   “Experiencing opera for the first time had a huge impact on me…and by the end of that season I was working here.  I absolutely fell in love with the building and the shows that the company was doing.”

The final production in the Lyric Theatre, The Marriage of Figaro, has special importance for Thompson too.  “The first show that I ever worked on was The Marriage of Figaro.  It wasn’t until they picked the show that the staff realized how close this show is to all of us.”

Thompson recalled how she learned to navigate the Lyric Theatre when she first began working here.  “When I first started here, they walked me through the theatre quickly, dropped me off, and said ‘Ok, now find your way back.’  It was very difficult because the Lyric Theatre is like a big maze.  But that is really the best way to learn your way around the building.  So now, every time someone new starts working, I do the same thing.  I give them a short tour and drop them off with $0.50 and tell them to find the Coke machine backstage.  Sometimes it only takes them 10 minutes to find their way back but other times I get a call saying ‘I’m lost!’”

Thompson, like the rest of the staff, will have a hard time saying good-bye to the Lyric Theatre.  “It’s going to be hard to leave the Lyric Theatre; I will miss being able to sit in the Lyric Theatre because seeing that first performance changed my life…But the thing that makes the Lyric Theatre special is that so many amazing people come together to make art here.  The creativity that happens is just incredible and this building makes all of that possible.  My time at the Lyric Theatre has been a really exciting part of my life and I’m so thankful for it.”

Lyric Theatre Memories Part 5

This is the fifth in a series of interviews with some of our staff members, who have called the Lyric Theatre theatre home for a number of years, by Allison May:

Doug Allen, Theatre Maintenance Supervisor, has been at the Lyric Theatre even longer than the Lyric Opera of Kansas City.  Throughout his forty-one years at the Lyric Theatre, Allen has acquired many memories.  Allen said his favorite memory at the Lyric Theatre is when he met his wife.  “Thirty-one years ago, she was one of two people applying for a seasonal ticket sales position,” Allen said.  “Both had interviewed well and were equally qualified.  The box office manager jokingly asked me which person I thought she should hire.  Well, shortly after Martha was hired, I dazzled her with my charm, good looks and irresistible sense of humor.  She recalls it somewhat differently, more along the lines of her trying to ignore me…Ultimately, the outer lobby proved instrumental in gaining her attention.  I believe it was there that I honed my skills for coming up with believable excuses because it was critical that I justify the inordinate amount of time that I spent hanging around the box office.”

After spending so many years at the Lyric Theatre, Allen will miss many of the aspects of the theatre.  “Most importantly I will miss being an intricate part of the behind-the-scenes machinery,” Allen said.  “Without the gallant, often thankless, efforts of every person involved the productions, the theater experience and the onstage magic could never happen.”

Allen will also miss some of the simplest details he knows so well in the Lyric Theatre, “From my time spent as house manager, I’ll miss the adrenalin rush at that exact moment just before the lobby doors would swing open; the hum of indiscernible conversations among patrons gathered in the lobbies.  I’ll even miss…seeing the chandeliers sparkle and the lobby floor shine…I’ll miss the unmistakable sound of locking and unlocking the outer lobby doors.”

When asked how he feels about leaving the Lyric Theatre, Allen replied, “I have a lot of mixed emotions and lots of tears.  Some shed already and definitely more to come later.  I’ve worked in the Lyric Theatre for over forty-one years; thirty-eight of those years have been with the Lyric Opera.  In every sense of the word, this place has truly been home to me.   When it’s all said and done though, I can stand back and smile, knowing that I’m the one who took care of this place for all these years.  I feel very proud for having done that.”

Lyric Theatre Memories Part 4

This is the fourth in a series of interviews with some of our staff members who have called the Lyric Theatre theatre home for a number of years by Allison May:

Backstage at the Lyric Theatre, Debbie Morgan has been working to finish the props for The Marriage of Figaro.  Taking a break from upholstering a chair, Morgan talked about the fond memories she has acquired from 12 years of working at the Lyric Theatre.

Morgan said she enjoys working behind-the-scenes for the Lyric Opera productions.  “All of my hard work is worth it when I get to see how much the props I create enhance the show.”

But many of Morgan’s best memories come from the people she has worked with at the Lyric Theatre.  “I’ve worked with Keith Brumley since I began here.  I love working with him because we usually see eye-to-eye on things.  Except for the one time we didn’t,” Morgan said. “We were doing the production Madama Butterfly, so we needed to make a bunch of mats.  I had already covered one in a tan fabric and had it leaning up against the wall.  Keith came in and said it was too light.  I was surprised, but I took it apart, took it home and dyed it a shade darker.  When I brought it back the next day and put it on stage Keith said, ‘Oh that’s too dark.  It looks brown on stage!’  At this point I was very confused.  So it took the fabric home again and tried to use a dye remover but the fabric turned out orange and green!  I obviously couldn’t use that, so I bought more of the original tan fabric.  When I brought it in, Keith looked at it and said ‘That’s the perfect color.’  I couldn’t believe it.  Finally, we figured out that at first, Keith was looking a mat that was covered in a white sheet for rehearsals and was against a wall across the room while I was looking at the tan one.  Once we realized our miscommunication we just started laughing uproariously.”

While Morgan is excited to have updated facilities at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, she feels it is bittersweet to leave the Lyric Theatre.  “There has been an air of excitement here about moving to the Kauffman Center for the past two years,” Morgan said.  “And I am excited for all of the new productions next year.  I have never done Turandot, Così Fan Tutte or Nixon in China.  But just the other day I was sitting here thinking about all of the good memories I have from all of the shows and rehearsals at the Lyric Theatre.  We will all miss it here.”

Memories of the Lyric Theatre

With the last Lyric Opera of Kansas City production in the Lyric Theatre just days away from opening, we wanted to share stories we have been compiling about its 41 years hosting the Lyric Opera.  Allison May, Lyric Opera intern, managed to sit down with some of our staff members who have called this theatre home for a number of years and get some stories about the building.  These stories were recently featured on the KCUR 98.3 FM Arts Blog – Sound and Glass.

From Evan Luskin
Evan Luskin began working for the Lyric Opera of Kansas City in 1986 as the Managing Director and in 1998 he became the General Director for the Company. Throughout the years, Luskin has seen many changes to both the building and the Company. Luskin oversaw two renovations to the Lyric Theatre in 1991 and 1998. Luskin recalled that during this time, “I was looking around and worrying about all of these little things that needed fixing. But a little girl came into the front lobby for a performance and said, ‘Mommy, I didn’t know it’d be so pretty here.’ And she was right; it really is a beautiful building.”
Click to read the full interview

From Ward Holmquist
The Artistic Director for the Lyric Opera of Kansas City since 1998, Ward Holmquist, admits he didn’t know much about the Lyric Opera of Kansas City when he was first considered for the job in 1997.  But he said that the Lyric Theatre was one of the most important aspects of the job for him.  “I couldn’t help but be impressed that a regional opera owned its own theatre.  That was really remarkable and very interesting to me. It was one of the first things that piqued my interest.  I assumed, correctly, that the city had a great love and support of opera.”  Interestingly, The Marriage of Figaro was the first opera that Holmquist conducted at the Lyric Theatre.
Click to read the full interview

From R. Keith Brumley
R. Keith Brumley, Director of Design and Technical Production, began working for the Lyric Opera of Kansas City in 1984.  Brumley recalled that one of his favorite funny memories occurred when he was watching a production early in his career.
Click to read the full interview