Renovated movie palace a first-class experience

1920s glamour

2020s Comfort

2020s Comfort

Renovated Egyptian Theatre provides a first-class experience in an historic building

By: Dana Herra

Recent renovations have transformed the Egyptian Theatre, long the jewel of downtown DeKalb, into a destination that seamlessly blends 2020s convenience with 1920s glamour. Executive Director Alex Nerad can’t wait to show audiences what’s inside.

Especially the bathrooms. Nerad admits it might be a long time before he stops urging visitors to go see the bathrooms. “I’ve had people come to me over the years and say, ‘We had a fantastic experience, but we’re never coming back,’” Nerad said. “They’d say the theater is gorgeous, the parking’s free, the downtown restaurants are great, the show was fantastic, but they had to wait 20 minutes to use the bathroom. …Our challenge now is to reach out to those people frustrated by the lack of amenities in the past and let them know we’ve addressed those issues. Come give us another chance.” Before the renovation, the women’s bathroom had only three stalls. Now, there are 14 on the ground floor and another six on the balcony level. The remodel also replaced the circa1980s pink steel and commercial tile design of the ladies’ room with an elegant Art Deco motif consistent with the rest of the building’s décor. The men’s room was given a similar upgrade, with Art Deco décor in a more masculine style and color palette.

Throughout the renovation, it was critically important that renovations fit with the aesthetic of the original 1929 movie palace. Woodwork was meticulously matched, and original elements like doors and windows were reused whenever possible. The nondescript 1980s carpeting was replaced with a riotous custom pattern of scarabs, cobras, and lotus flowers. “This was a movie palace,” Marketing & Communications Director Jeanine Holcomb said. “In 1929, the carpet would have been a big pattern – borderline gauche. …We found a company that creates historic carpets. We were able to say, ‘We have an Egyptian art deco revival theater from the late 1920s,’ and they could go to their archive and create something historically accurate.” The renovations, including the long-awaited installation of central air conditioning, were completed last June. The Egyptian promptly got busy filling the summer with touring shows and children’s dance and theater performances. “Usually, we host recitals for three dance studios,” Holcomb said. “This year we had at least nine.”

Studios from as far away as Algonquin and Naperville hosted recitals at the Egyptian, Nerad said. He was delighted to introduce new audiences from the suburbs to the historic theater. More than half of the studios that hosted dance recitals at the Egyptian this year have already booked for next summer.

“We’re hoping that’s a glimmer of what the future is going to look like for the Egyptian,” Nerad said.

When out-of-town visitors attend a show at the Egyptian, they have the opportunity to discover the rest of what downtown DeKalb has to offer, which benefits the entire community. “When the Egyptian is busy, downtown is busy,” DeKalb Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Matt Duffy said. “It’s a great resource for both large events and local events.”

That the theater’s renovation coincided with COVID-19 shutdowns was a mixed blessing. The plan was to keep hosting shows as much as possible while the renovations were going on. The shutdown meant the entire timeline could be accelerated, Holcomb said. And the theater’s reopening coincided with pent-up demand from performing arts programs that hadn’t been onstage in more than a year. “It was humbling the number of parents coming up to us and thanking us for giving their kid the opportunity to get onstage,” Nerad said. “Many schools figured out how to do sports, but the arts just kind of fell to the side. So many of these kids weren’t able to do what their passion was.” Televisions built into the lobby walls thank sponsors and show coming attractions, but during a performance switch to a live feed, Nerad said. Live audio is also piped into the lobby and bathrooms so patrons who have to step out of the theater won’t miss any part of the show.

Nerad said the memory of a dance recital in 2019 drove home the importance of those high-tech touches. A mother with a fussy newborn stepped out of the theater to calm the baby in the lobby, he said. While she was out, she missed her 3-year-old’s performance. “They paid for a year of dance classes, they paid for her costume, they paid for a ticket to the performance, and the one time she was onstage, her mother missed it,” Nerad said. “I thought, ‘We’ve got an opportunity here to make sure parents don’t miss things like that.’”

The air conditioning was what truly made the summer performances possible. In the

past, the Egyptian shut down in the summer because it was so unbearably hot. Air conditioning extends the theater’s season – and revenue opportunities – from nine months a year to 12. DeKalb Mayor Cohen Barnes said the Egyptian’s extended season is a boon to the entire downtown business community. Performances at the Egyptian draw people downtown, where they also patronize bars, restaurants, and shops, Barnes said. Losing that foot traffic at the same time that Northern Illinois University students leave the city on summer break is a double whammy for those businesses.

“To maintain a business when you have revenue just go away for three to four months a year is very difficult,” Barnes said. “I think the Egyptian being open year-round will attract even more businesses downtown.”

Controlling the heat and humidity is also crucial to preserving the plaster and wood that make up a building nearly 100 years old. “Even in those peripheral months you can have some odd hot and humid days,” Nerad said. “We had a show a couple of years ago on Oct. 1 and it was so hot we had somebody pass out in the balcony. … Sometimes people would say, ‘Back in the day we didn’t have air conditioning; it’s just a creature comfort.’ But people expect it now. And it’s one thing to pay 50 cents to go see a movie; it’s another to spend $75 to see a first-class performance and sit there sweating.” In truth, air conditioning was part of the original plans for the building, Nerad said. The Egyptian was built in 1929; the stock market crash that year launched the Great Depression and forced cuts to the theater’s budget. When the building was restored in the early 1980s, air conditioning was on the table again, but the nonprofit Preservation of the Egyptian Theatre group couldn’t afford it. “This really is a project that was 90-plus years in the making,” Nerad said. The air conditioning system was carefully designed to run quietly so it won’t interfere with audiences’ enjoyment of performances. A separate system onstage cools performers under the heat of stage lights. The temperature isn’t the only thing that will keep audiences at the Egyptian more comfortable. The renovation extended the first-floor lobby, doubling the size of the concession stand and providing new space for people to mingle. Upstairs, the second floor has its own concession stand and a similar mingling space. “We’ve never had a concession stand upstairs,” Nerad said. “We’ve gone from two serving stations in the building to six; that’s huge. We also have our own liquor license now, which is huge both for the patron experience and, as a nonprofit, for the financial benefit.” When the theater hosted its first shows after reopening, Nerad said, he watched people moving freely through the lobby and wondered how the theater had made do with its previous cramped quarters for more than 90 years. Now, Nerad said, the hope is that the community will visit the Egyptian and experience the change firsthand. He’s excited to welcome back regular patrons, and possibly even more excited to welcome back those who haven’t been to the theater in a long time. “We feel fortunate that the community stepped up and supported the theater through COVID. No organization is prepared to go a year and a half with no income,” he said. “Now we’re hoping they will come out and see some amazing shows and be as excited about all the improvements as we are.”