IRT—THE 1980S
EXCERPTS FROM FIVE DECADES OF WONDER:
INDIANA REPERTORY THEATRE BY DONNA L. REYNOLDS Armin Shimerman (later a star of TV’s Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) as jazz legend Bix Beiderbecke in Hoagy, Bix, and Wolfgang Beethoven Bunkhaus.
On October 24, 1980, IRT opened its first season in the Indiana Theatre with the world premiere of Adrian Mitchell’s Hoagy, Bix, and Wolfgang Beethoven Bunkhaus, staged by new artistic director Tom Haas. A Grand Opening Performance and Dedication began at 8:00 pm. In the audience was Hoagy Carmichael’s son, who retreated to the Hyatt Hotel across the street afterward to regale post-theatre partiers with his own piano performance. 30
The bright lights of grand opening festivities could not overcome the shadow of debt that was darkening the mood in IRT’s administrative offices. The capital campaign, launched in 1979 to fund the renovation and move, had started off well: by the end of that year, IRT had raised $3.5 million of its more than $5 million goal. The problem was that the goal was flawed. According to Managing Director Ben Mordecai, “We opened construction bids and found that all the sophisticated estimating that our architect and construction manager had been doing were $1,750,000 wrong. We were over budget that much. The first thing I did was to go to the bar.”
The OneAmerica Mainstage under construction in April 1980 (six months before opening).
Cabaret favorites Mark Goetzinger & Bernadette Galanti in Together Again (1986).
When Tom Haas arrived in Indianapolis, he brought a concept for using a 100-seat space in the newly renovated Indiana Theatre: the Cabaret. He tantalized theatregoers with the promise of “an intimate night-club setting, where our patrons will enjoy an evening of entertainment complete with bar service.” Audiences liked the idea. The cast typically comprised two men and two women, dressed in formal attire, who sang, bantered, and interacted with the audience. Clever themes, catchy music, and creative deliveries were the bill of fare. From 1981 to 1989, the Cabaret packed ’em in.
