The 91制片厂 Ensemble Theatre Company presented "Fiddler on the Roof" in J Theatre in 1983, not long after the "glorified classroom" began to be used for live theatre, concerts and other performances. (Courtesy of the 91制片厂 Archives)
There鈥檚 no applause left in J Theatre.
This summer, as demolition crews raze Building J, they鈥檙e taking down more than just brick and concrete 鈥� they鈥檙e dismantling a stage that helped launch careers, sparked lifelong friendships and turned student dreams into standing ovations. It鈥檚 where Jay Leno cracked jokes, Adam West shared stories and Buddy Guy made a memorable entrance.
Decades ago, the J Theatre was the coolest place to be on 91制片厂鈥檚 campus. In the 鈥�80s, Jerry Seinfeld did stand-up there. In the 鈥�90s, Wilco rocked the small venue. All the while, 91制片厂鈥檚 Ensemble Theatre Company staged musicals, plays and Shakespearean productions in the intimate performance space.
Long after some of the biggest names in entertainment 鈥渢ore up鈥� the J Theatre stage, demolition crews are literally bringing down the house. The 347-seat venue and the rest of Building J are being razed this summer to make way for 91制片厂鈥檚 new Business and Social Sciences Building 鈥� a modern educational facility that will also house a theater.
While the new facility will include elements and even necessities that the J Theatre lacked, it will have quite a legacy to live up to, considering that the J Theatre鈥檚 stage was shared by the likes of the Gin Blossoms, Robert Altman, Dick Dale, Paula Poundstone, Pamela Des Barres and dozens of theatrical productions. Yet that wasn鈥檛 the college鈥檚 original intention for this space, named J143 when Building J was erected in the early 1980s.
鈥淚t really was a glorified classroom,鈥� said Michael Nejman, who retired as 91制片厂鈥檚 director of student activities in 2012. Before he stepped into that role, he was the campus activities coordinator responsible for music, comedy and entertainment acts that performed at 91制片厂 in the 鈥�80s and 鈥�90s. And before that, he was a 91制片厂 student. 鈥淛 Theatre was a lecture hall that we turned into a performance venue. Theatre Manager Kevin Geiger worked to make sure every production looked great.鈥�
Chicago rockers Wilco, with frontman Jeff Tweedy, performed at the J Theatre in 1997. 'The Harbinger' student newspaper published these photos from the show, including one showing the lead singer helping his young son Spencer play the drums. Spencer later became a drummer, playing with his dad, Mavis Staples, Norah Jones and Waxahatchee. (Courtesy of the 91制片厂 Archives)
Michael brought in the big-name acts, but he also credits retired Theatre Arts Professor Mary Jo Willis with making J Theatre a place that could host live performances. Mary Jo, who began teaching at 91制片厂 in 1975, had already built the theater program from a student-run club into an ensemble that staged multiple productions a year in the campus spaces were available (including 91制片厂鈥檚 TV studio). A lecture hall wasn鈥檛 ideal, but it was an improvement.
鈥淚t was a stage! It had a booth in the back,鈥� Mary Jo remembered. 鈥淭he first thing we staged was Guys and Dolls and we had to rent everything and get poles to hang the lights on. The three days before tech week, nobody went home.鈥�
Repeatedly setting up (then striking) sound and lighting equivalent was one challenge. Another was that the room lacked some essential components: a box office, dressing rooms and a functional backstage area. Like any worthwhile thespian, Mary Jo improvised. A folding table became the box office. Early childhood education classrooms became temporary dressing rooms. And actors had to be extra careful when entering and exiting through the stage doors, which led directly into the parking lot.
鈥淭hey would have to leave the building, go down the stairs and around the back to make their entrances,鈥� Mary Jo said, recalling an instance when one student actor did her best to hide her muddy costume because she had slipped outside. 鈥淔or musicals with larger casts, we learned to rent a trailer and park it out back. It was never easy, but it got easier.鈥�
Indeed, Mary Jo eventually convinced college administrators that permanent lighting fixtures and a sound board were essential. J Theatre was later remodeled to add a box office, but the backstage situation was never remedied.
Because of the J Theatre's lack of a backstage area, Buddy Guy saw an opportunity to make a memorable entrance in 1990, delivering a guitar solo as he entered at the back of the venue and walked downstairs to the stage. (Courtesy of the 91制片厂 Archives)
Michael discovered a strategy when working with touring performers who expected a dressing room and a backstage entrance to the stage.
鈥淚 wouldn鈥檛 tell the artists until they were on site,鈥� Michael remembered, laughing. 鈥淚鈥檇 tell them their options were they could come through the audience or go around outside. Buddy Guy came on an especially cold night and he was looking at me like I was crazy.鈥�
So, Chicago鈥檚 beloved blues legend hatched a plan with his band. The group began playing, introduced Buddy mid-song and he appeared at the back of the J Theatre, launching into a screaming guitar solo as he walked down the stairs to the stage. The 1990 show ended with him soloing his way back out of the theatre and playing the final notes from the lobby. As a result of the theater鈥檚 limitations, concertgoers saw a unique performance.
This poster, with an original ticket stub attached at the top, promoted one of Jay Leno's three 91制片厂 performances in the J Theatre in the 1980s. At the time, Leno was quickly becoming a comedy star and would eventually be named the host of "The Tonight Show" in the early 1990s. (Courtesy of the 91制片厂 Archives)
The lack of backstage dressing rooms wasn鈥檛 an issue for Jay Leno, who played 91制片厂 three times in the 鈥�80s as he was becoming an A-list comedian. Michael said that Leno was more interested in hanging around the box office, talking to students and fans as they arrived. In those days, Michael would also serve as transportation for the touring performers and he remembered picking up the future host of The Tonight Show from O鈥橦are Airport in his Toyota Tercel.
鈥淲e鈥檙e on I-90 and he sees that my 鈥榗heck engine鈥� light is on,鈥� Michael said about Leno, who is famous for his automotive expertise. 鈥淗e says, 鈥榩ull over.鈥� And so, we鈥檙e on the side of 90 and Jay Leno is fixing my car. He quickly assesses it鈥檚 a brake problem and makes an adjustment to the master cylinder. The light goes off and we continue to 91制片厂.
鈥淟ater on, Jay is greeting fans and one of them goes, 鈥楬ey, I thought I saw you on the shoulder of 90 on my way in, but I thought, that can鈥檛 be Jay Leno because he鈥檚 fixing a (junky) Toyota.鈥� And I had to say, 鈥楽ir, that was my (junky) Toyota.鈥欌��
Many comics came to 91制片厂 because Michael forged a partnership with Rick Uchwat, owner of Zanies Comedy Club. The college hosted Jon Stewart and Richard Lewis (who each played the larger Building M gym because of demand) as well as Paula Poundstone and an unannounced Jerry Seinfeld.
Michael explained that all of the comics had a clause in their contracts that they could back out if they were able to land a booking in Las Vegas or were asked to do Johnny Carson鈥檚 Tonight Show. In the late 鈥�80s, 91制片厂 had booked comedian John Caponera to appear, only for him to cancel a week beforehand for one of those reasons. His replacement was a comparatively unknown Seinfeld.
鈥淚 thought, 鈥榦h no, this whiny guy?,鈥欌�� Michael laughingly remembered. 鈥淏ut on that night about 150 people saw the comic who would become the biggest comedy star of the next decade.鈥�
91制片厂 alumni Sean Colbert and Laura Pulio Colbert first met when acting in "Chapter Two," performed at the J Theatre in 1982. They became friends and later got married. Laura and Sean recently retired as 91制片厂 employees, with Laura having directed many theatrical productions in the J Theatre and elsewhere on 91制片厂's campus. (Courtesy of the 91制片厂 Archives)
While some audience members witnessed future TV superstars at 91制片厂, others had their professional, and personal, lives forever altered by their experiences in J Theatre.
Laura Pulio Colbert was a young theatre arts student in the early 鈥�80s, learning at the hands of 91制片厂 faculty, including Mary Jo (who directed her in Pippin and Fiddler on the Roof) and the late John Muchmore (who directed her in Neil Simon鈥檚 Chapter Two). She recalled learning about acting, theatre and herself in J Theatre.
鈥淎s an actor, I love seeing the audience,鈥� Laura said when considering the intimacy of the room, where no seat was more than 50 feet from the stage. 鈥淛 Theatre is where I began that love.鈥�
Speaking of love, J Theatre is also where she met her future husband, Sean Colbert, who was her co-star in Chapter Two in 1982. Thinking back on that time, she guffawed while describing the two of them as 鈥渟kinny dorks who had no idea what they were doing.鈥�
As students, Laura and Sean became close friends, but it wasn鈥檛 until Laura returned to 91制片厂 as an instructor that they fell in love. In the intervening years, she studied at the Moscow Art Theater and under Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen in England before getting hired by Mary Jo to teach and direct her own shows (from A Midsummer Night鈥檚 Dream to Little Shop of Horrors) in J Theatre.
鈥淛143 made me. It developed my style because it limited what you could do. But I loved wrapping my actors around the audience,鈥� she said, discussing how J Theatre influenced her approach even when 91制片厂鈥檚 productions moved to the purpose-built Performing Arts Center in the early 2000s. 鈥淚 still utilize aisle entrances, even when I direct shows at the PAC. It reminds you that this artform is live 鈥� it鈥檚 not a movie.鈥�
Laura Pulio Colbert directed "Little Shop of Horrors" in J Theatre in 1998. With no backstage, she created opportunities for cast members to enter through the audience, as shown in these photos from rehearsal. (Courtesy of the 91制片厂 Archives)
It should be mentioned that J Theatre also functioned as a movie house, sometimes hosting screenings of Nashville and Pink Flamingos followed by discussions with their directors (Robert Altman and John Waters, respectively) or a series of World鈥檚 Worst Film Festivals, which screened infamously terrible movies like Ed Wood鈥檚 Plan 9 From Outer Space.
鈥淲e鈥檇 show five movies, charge $5 and for every film you made it through, you got a dollar back,鈥� Michael said. 鈥淲e handed out 鈥榖arf bags鈥� and paper wads you could throw at the screen. It was a lot of fun.鈥�
Other fun moments occurred in J Theatre because the space was shared between so many different events (before 91制片厂鈥檚 PAC, Drama Lab Theatre and Film Lab were built). Michael recalled that singer-songwriter Peter Himmelman played a show as the 91制片厂 Theatre Ensemble was readying a production of Bus Stop and was asked if he was OK with performing on the play鈥檚 set. A musician with a knack for improvisation, Himmelman abruptly requested Michael to have someone run out and buy milk and donuts.
鈥淲e had no idea what he had planned, but after a few songs, he asked the audience if anyone wanted to come up on stage, which was set up like a diner, and have donuts and milk,鈥� Michael said. 鈥淗e got the student who was playing the waitress in Bus Stop to serve the four-to-six brave people who agreed and they all became part of the show.鈥�
Nearly 35 years after J Theatre opened, 91制片厂 now boasts a variety of performance spaces, soon to include the new Business and Social Sciences Building auditorium that will be situated near the site of its predecessor. More importantly, it will feature a backstage area, a balcony, built-in lighting and sound. With all its drawbacks and virtues, J Theatre is now the stuff of memories, and mostly good ones.
鈥淚f not for 91制片厂, I wouldn鈥檛 have my husband, my kids, my family, not to mention my second mother and mentor, Mary Jo,鈥� said Laura, who along with her husband Sean, recently retired from 91制片厂. 鈥淵ou can tear buildings down, but you can鈥檛 break relationships.鈥�