Curtain rises on new Maplewood Barn Theatre
It’s somewhat symbolic that the Maplewood Barn Community Theatre chose “Fiddler on the Roof” for its first production in the rebuilt Maplewood Barn.
Under the direction of Columbia theater veteran Molly Dodge, “Fiddler on the Roof” will play May 24-27, May 31-June 3 and June 7-10 on a new outside stage connected to a modern, 3,000-square-foot barn at the Frank G. Nifong Memorial Park at East Nifong Boulevard and Ponderosa Street in south Columbia.
Like Tevye, the lead character in the play about life in tsarist Russia, the Maplewood Barn Community Theatre has faced and conquered many challenges in its life. The most recent was on April 5, 2010, when the 133-year-old historic original barn — home to the theater since the 1973 — burned to the ground. No cause was ever determined.
Local businesses and individuals from all over declared “the show will go on.” Not 24 hours after the fire, the neighboring Galactic Fun Zone, along with surrounding theaters, offered space in its building to host performances, but the Maplewood Barn Theatre held its ground. Last year’s season was performed at Nifong Park on a temporary stage constructed out of free and reduced materials from Boone County Lumber, and at season’s end, construction began on a new barn.
“After the fire, our board got rerouted to both trying to put on theater seasons without the barn, which we did, and simultaneously moving forward with the planning and development of the new barn,” says Michael Scott, president of the theater’s board of directors.
The theater operates under a cooperative agreement with the city for the summer performances, but Mike Griggs, assistant director of the Columbia Parks and Recreation Department, says the new building will allow consideration of other uses for the facility for community groups.
“Now that we have a nicer facility that allows for indoor use, we’re looking at other options,” Griggs says. These could include small, private rental parties or meetings or even smaller productions, he adds.
Community support
As when it first began, the theater continues to attract support from the community in contributions and assistance in replacing historic records and stage assets. The theater group gave $60,000 in donated funds toward the barn reconstruction, which is part of a larger $405,861 project called Maplewood Barn and Nifong Park Improvements and paid for with $145,155 in fire insurance proceeds and $200,706 in park sales tax money.
In addition to $304,000 paid to Sircal Contracting Inc. of Jefferson City for the barn raising, the budget for the project includes such site improvements as walkways and lighting, and $50,000 for improving the Maplewood Home, which is the former residence of the late Dr. Frank Nifong.
The city has taken several measures to prevent another fire from happening again, including the use of fireproof fiber cement siding, an interior sprinkling system and an updated alarm system. “It will be a very tight and safe structure,” Griggs says.
Griggs says people looking for Nifong Park often realize they know where it is because of the theater. “It does provide a community theater experience,” he says.
Like any business startup, the theater bombed on stage a few times in the past 40 years before achieving success.
“To view the Maplewood Barn Theatre’s 1973 pilot season as an unbridled triumph in which all things fell into place magically or by clever and carefully planned design would be a serious misconstruction of reality as it unfolded,” opines the writer of a lengthy history visible on the barn’s Internet home page, www.maplewoodbarn.com.
Debates over whether the old barn should be used as a playhouse; conflicts over existing uses for the barn, such as the headquarters of Camp Cloverleaf; fears about disturbing the quiet park environment; and other issues were heard when the Theatre began, but most Columbians now accept it as part of the community and a picturesque addition to Nifong Park’s natural beauty.