The Pearl Company exits stage right
The closing notice has been posted and it’s unlikely to ever be a performing theatre again
THERE’S SOMETHING about an empty theatre. There’s an unnatural quiet, a ghostlike feeling that hangs in the air. Sitting in the second row, talking with entrepreneurs and creative visionaries Barbara Milne and Gary Santucci, I remember shows that filled The Pearl Company with life. I remember the place alive with theatre and music.
It’s not quite over yet, but the closing notice has been posted.
Given economics, location and lack of funding, it’s unlikely to ever be a theatre again.
The Pearl and the property on each side of it is on the market as of now for a cool $2 million. Its owners would like the buyer to keep a theatre open there. That’s not likely.
When Milne and Santucci opened the doors of this creative space in 2006 they had so many dreams for its success. And in many ways the
entertainment that appeared there over the past 12 years was successful.
But attracting audiences in sufficient numbers to keep the doors open was problematic. Probably only dreamers would have chosen this space in an ignored and gritty part of the city to launch a creative arts centre.
Santucci and Milne met in 2001. They had a serious interest in the arts. Milne represented local artists, Santucci was a terrific musician who could make a guitar sing.
They bonded. The Pearl Company was their collective dream.
The space and location they discovered together at 16 Steven St., the site of an old pearl factory, was promising, but seriously problematic.
“It was considered garbage. I mean it was in a gritty part of town. Yet it had possibilities,” Santucci says.
“Well, the arts scene was arriving in Hamilton and we thought we might make a centre for that,” Milne adds.
“We made our home on the top floor and the place became a bit of a hub for musicians, dancers and actors. I said, ‘We can do this, we can make this happen.’ I mean the area was in transition and we hoped we could help make a difference,” Santucci says. “It was an area people came to when they couldn’t find a home anyplace else.”
Milne and Santucci were not welcomed by their local Hamilton city council member.
“We got under his skin,” Milne says. “He kept telling us, there’s no place for the arts in my ward.”
“We should have been celebrated, not castigated,” Santucci adds. “Well, we just kept going.”
The first play at The Pearl was by local playwright Kevin Land. Called “Whole Lotto Love,” it had been performed successfully in England. And, happily, it was a hit in Hamilton.
Over the years some astounding theatre has been performed in the tiny 60-seat theatre. Sarah Murphy Dyson was luminous in “Naked Ballerina,” an account of how tough professional dance can be. Award-winning playwright George F. Walker came to town to première his drama “Parents’ Night” in the Hamilton space. And, recently, local dramatist Stephen Near presented a superb drama worthy of Toronto — or New York — with his play “Your Own Sons.”
“There were major successes, lots of them. But there were low points too. You can’t have actors or musicians performing for two or three people. It isn’t fair,” Milne says. “And financially, it’s desperate.”
“If you can get 60 people to every performance you can meet the bills and pay the mortgage,” Santucci adds.
“You have to have marquee names to do that,” Milne adds. “I think if we had obtained a bar licence we might have made it. But you know we had the wonderful experience of having people of great intellect and stimulation in our home here. It will be sad to leave it.”
Milne, who has a history of success in the arts in Hamilton, was a driving force with the Art Bus that helped bring people to the James Street North galleries and to The Pearl Company.
“It was wonderful,” Santucci says “And I don’t really want to let go of it but we have to be practical. The profit is just not there.”
“I cried when I sent out the notice that we were closing,” Milne says. “But we have three children to look after and they must come first.”
Milne and Santucci are caring for the children of Gary’s son. They love them dearly and they are an important priority. “Running this place takes too much of a commitment, too much time, too much everything,” Milne says.
“Do I want to stop? No,” Santucci says.
“Over the years we’ve had our disagreements and this whole thing has put a great strain on our relationship,” Milne says. “It has not come out entirely intact. I mean, here we are grandparenting. We’ve become a kind of brother and sister act now.”
Both Milne and Santucci say they will survive the loss of The Pearl, but it’s rough.
“I still have tons of energy,” Milne, 76, says. “The Pearl will have a good, long goodbye. There are plays like ‘Death and the Maiden’ and Brian Morton’s ‘Under the Apple Tree’ still to play here in November and December. And I’m asking local musicians to sign up to do some amazing concerts before we close the doors for good.”
Santucci smiles. “I have to accept it’s time to go, to turn out the lights and lock the door. But it’s not easy, for so long it’s been my life, my joy. I have to say it’s hard to let go.”
Milne and Santucci do a little dance around the stage and they smile. The spunk that led them to open The Pearl Company is still there in their eyes.