Theatrikos Theatre Company looks to rebuild after flooding

April 28-- Apr. 28--In the world of theater you learn to expect the unexpected. As they say, the show must go on. Such has been the mindset for Theatrikos Theatre Company executive director Chris Verrill.

He began his tenure with the theater company in February. Only two and a half months later Verrill is dealing with a "big, stinky problem." On the morning of April 12, a city sewer line diverted more than 4,000 gallons of raw sewage into the basement of the Doris Harper-White Community Playhouse, which has been home to Theatrikos since 1989.

Verrill had gone in that morning to work on payroll when he saw, or rather, smelt the damage.

"The news broke to me because I came into work that Friday morning. I smelled something a little bad, but I was here to do payroll and I had another meeting to get to. I was supposed to be here for 15 minutes and leave," he said. "I went downstairs and said, 'Oh my God.' You could see the flooding, you could see the water rising. I foolishly thought it was just the toilets downstairs overflowing, so I went in with screwdrivers in hand trying to stop it. Of course, that wasn't the problem."

The problem was a blockage found in the sewage line that was installed on Beaver Street last year, said Theatrikos Technical Director Larry Gould. City officials later confirmed the issue was caused by a buildup of materials that appeared to be rags. Because the flooding occurred in the main sewage line, the city is accepting responsibility and is currently conducting an inspection to ensure no additional damage has occurred.

Jessica Drum, spokeswoman for the City of Flagstaff, said in a statement, "The city is committed [to] working with Theatrikos to ensure they are able to reopen as quickly as possible. We are working together to resolve outstanding issues and will provide an update."

As far as how much everything will cost, the city and Theatrikos have yet to find out.

"We don't have an estimate on how much [the damages] will cost, but you're looking at six figures. I mean, this is not a small problem," Verrill said. "The building itself is structurally sound, these stone walls were built to withstand far more than this, but all the interior walls, the bottom two feet of all the walls is gone. Because it's just--I'm a layperson--it's disgusting. In purely health language, it's not safe to have that stuff down there.

"We're going to be dealing with the stinky mess for a long time to come," Verrill continued. "In theory, the main level of the theater is open, but it's going to be months before the basement is working again. It'll be maybe a week or month before it's cleaned, but we're talking months before it's back up and running."

The flooding destroyed a majority of Theatrikos' set pieces, costumes, props and more. It also forced the theater company to shut down production at the playhouse, which effectively canceled the final weekend of shows for "Wait Until Dark," and the TheatriKids production of Disney's "Newsies" has since been moved to Flagstaff High School.

Verrill says Flag High was one of three options after word got out Theatrikos needed a new venue for the play. In addition to the venue options, a number of businesses and restaurants such as The Peaks Senior Living Community, Salsa Brava and Blendz have organized fundraising efforts to go toward Theatrikos. Just this weekend, Flagstaff Shakespeare Festival donated 10 percent of the profits from its Friday night performance of "God of Vengeance" toward the theater company.

"I've only been in Flagstaff for two and half months, so a little bit of trial by fire, but the city has stepped up," Verrill said. "This is one of the amazing things I'm learning about Flagstaff, people are coming together."

While the city has promised to restore the basement of the playhouse to its original state, Verrill said Theatrikos is turning this negative situation into positive change. Using some of the money from insurance and a GoFundMe fundraising campaign to raise $61,000, Theatrikos plans to rebuild and remodel the basement interior. Verrill said an estimate for the renovations totals $75,000. The theater already pledged $12,000, and, as of print time, the GoFundMe campaign has raised $6,170.

Verrill said the renovations potentially include updating its storage space, adding small classrooms for TheatriKids and building a rehearsal space for other theater companies to use.

"Rather than completely rebuild exactly as the way it was, we'd like to reorganize and multipurpose our space down there," he said. "Theatrikos has long since outgrown a 30-year model. Performing arts in the city have long outgrown this...We certainly did not expect to be doing this now, but rather than blindly and unthinkingly spend the insurance money to take us back to where we were, we'd like to repurpose it and do it smarter."

Verrill walked around the basement of the playhouse, now barren and dry, while industrial-sized fans droned and workers from Superior Restoration cleaned up the area. Sifting through the debris, Verrill realized he was standing in a section of the basement that likely hadn't been seen in decades.

"It's heartbreaking," he said.

As heartbreaking and as tiring as the situation has been, Verrill said he's "cautiously optimistic" about the playhouse's future. Only a couple of months into his time with Theatrikos, he chuckled and said he'd never encountered anything like this.

"I told Al White [president of Theatrikos's board of directors], 'You know, in the interview process, I don't remember any sewage questions,'" he said with a laugh.

Theatrikos' production of "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" is expected to open on time, May 31, and at the Doris Harper-White Playhouse, according to Verrill. As for "Little Shop of Horrors," which is expected to premiere in August and requires much more technical demand, Verrill said, "It's a much more complicated show, and I'm not sure how we do that unless we've got our theater fixed by then."

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