Vanity Theater, home to the Sugar Creek Players since the early 1990s, is set for a $3.1 million renovation project. Staff photo by Nick Hedrick
Vanity Theater, home to the Sugar Creek Players since the early 1990s, is set for a $3.1 million renovation project. Staff photo by Nick Hedrick
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The Sugar Creek Players has raised the curtain on a $3.1 million project to renovate Vanity Theater, part of a master plan to improve the cultural landmark’s appearance and make better use of the space for actors and crew.

As the building ages, the board of directors scrambles to keep up with a list of needed repairs, including heating and air conditioning units that are past their shelf lives. The board recently made repairs to the basement.

“We’re really grateful for the facilities we have, however,
the buildings themselves are probably more than 100 years old,” president Michael Patton said before the board’s annual meeting Monday, where the public had its first look at the plans.

An expanded lobby would feature a large concession and merchandise area and two prominent ticket windows. A staircase leads visitors to seating in the mezzanine, featuring a catwalk with a balcony.

Plans for the stage area call for improved acoustics and upgrades to the emergency exits. Existing seating would be repaired and reupholstered, but seats are not being added.

Doors on the stage will allow cast and crew to move props from backstage more easily.

New rehearsal space, costume areas, dressing rooms and a soundproof music studio are planned upstairs. Outside, a new marquee will be installed and the front facade will be repaired.

The project also includes new restrooms and an outdoor automated ticket kiosk.

To raise the money, the board is looking to donors, local, state and federal grants and fundraising opportunities.
The theater also proposes generating revenue by selling more seats and adding workshops.

The board approved the project in June after a series of meetings about the building’s future and a major facilities survey.

Built in the 1890s as a farm implement business, the building later housed a car dealership and department store. It served as a movie theater from the mid-1930s to early 1950s. The Sugar Creek Players were in the space by 1993.

Through a Montgomery County Community Foundation grant, local architect Judi Kleine drafted the project’s design.

“I’m big on things functioning properly, that’s where we started,” Kleine said.

The board will decide whether to tackle the project in phases while holding shows or close the theater until the renovations are finished.

“We’re still in the beginning stages of formulating how that’s all going to look,” Patton said.
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