Renovations wrap up as What A Do prepares for season’s first production

Actors will hit the stage at What A Do Theatre’s new location for the first time this Thanksgiving weekend on a stage that wasn’t there a month ago.

What A Do Theatre moved into their new location at 4071 W. Dickman Road the last week of October, turning a vacant, 8,000 sq. ft. office building owned by HBC Contracting into a black box theater and office space.

“When you do projects like this you need people who share your vision and share your passion in helping make this a destination location for Battle Creek,” Ed Creech, managing director for What A Do, said. “If you’re a cynic, this could restore your faith in civic leadership.”

The theater got its start in February at the sanctuary of First United Methodist Church in downtown Battle Creek.

“We weren’t looking for a home,” Creech said. “The church was undergoing renovations in their sanctuary and with a lot of groups looking to perform on the stage there, we just wanted to find rehearsal space. There were tears on both sides when we moved.”

Mike Beck, president of HBC Contracting, had supported the theater after seeing “Doubt, A Parable” in May, Creech said. Beck asked Creech if he’d be interested in the building, which was vacant.

“I talked it over with the staff and we liked the idea of turning it into a theatre and we liked the idea of not having as many space constraints on our productions,” Creech said. “We had done ‘Twelve Angry Men’ and it was hard to fit 15 people on the stage at the church.”

A 4,000 sq. ft. warehouse making up half the building has become the black box theater and parlor, while the other 4,000 sq. ft. of office space will become the box office, staff offices, prop rooms and costume fitting and storage rooms.

Lights have been added in the parking lot, a supply closet was knocked out to create a second entrance to the theatre and the stage was built Nov. 5

The group’s next step is building the theater’s risers, which will seat 99 people when completed, Creech said.

All this work comes just in time for What A Do’s first production of the season, “The Christmas Schooner,” playing Nov. 25 and 26 and Dec. 2, 3, 8-10, 16 and 17.

Currently, What A Do plans to have four shows a year, one for each quarter, Creech said, leaving the summer open for smaller shows, workshops and possible film screenings.

Creech plans to present Jason Robert Brown’s “The Last Five Years” in February and “Ten November,” about the wreck of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald, next November.

“The Palin Bunch”, a parody combining Sarah Palin and her family with the Brady Bunch, written by John Thierwechter of Kalamazoo, will make its world premier at What A Do in July or August.

Still pending is “A Few Good Men,” which Creech hopes to show next May. He also hopes “The Christmas Schooner will become an annual production.

Creech said he has a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving, including many thanks to Beck and HBC, including vice president Brian Beaver and What A Do staff members like Ted Hatton, Nancy King and Tom Koehler.

“HBC have been very generous benefactors,” Creech said. “The painting, electrical, parking lot lighting, materials and labor have all been donated by HBC. When we open on Thanksgiving weekend, I’ll have a lot to be thankful for: the cast, the crew, HBC Contracting – it’ll be a very thankful holiday.”

For more information on What A Do Theatre, call the box office at 773-744-8598 or visit www.whatado.org.