Storied Denison theater to see its demise in 2018 as new arts center rises
GRANVILLE — Empty wall space is hard to find in Mark Evans Bryan’s office, which is tucked away on the west balcony of Denison University’s Ace Morgan Theatre, within earshot of stage left.
Floor-to-ceiling bookshelves fill much of the workspace of the Theatre Department chairman, but displayed prominently above his desk are framed photos of him with actors Steve Carell and Jennifer Garner, both well-known graduates of Denison.
After next school year, Bryan will pack up his books and mementos and say goodbye to the theater where he, Carell (Class of 1984), Garner (Class of 1994) and uncounted other theater graduates got their start.
The university’s plans to build a
$25 million performingarts center — scheduled for completion in the fall of 2018 — mean the curtain will eventually fall on the 200seat Ace Morgan Theatre, which will be torn down and replaced with a parking lot for the new facility.
The building has housed the Theatre Department and university performances since 1956, when actor Hal Holbrook, a 1948 graduate of Denison, dedicated the venue to his friend Leroy “Ace” Morgan, a Denison drama student killed during a World War II combat mission.
The theater was built as a progressive and experimental performance space, Bryan said, but was reconfigured in the 1980s to provide a more traditional theater setup.
“It’s an interesting building, and certainly one that we think we’ve been able to do really strong, creative things in,” Bryan said. “(But) I don’t begrudge the notion that it’ll be retired. It’s a building with a lot of challenges.”
Carell — who would go on to star in the hit TV series “The Office” as well as bigscreen films such as “The 40-year-old Virgin” and “Foxcatcher” — performed at the theater while attending Denison in the early 1980s.
A decade later on the same stage, Garner would portray Blanche in “A Streetcar Named Desire,” among other roles, before finding fame through “Alias,” “13 Going on 30” and other films. The Ace Morgan Theatre was built as a progressive and experimental performance space but was reconfigured in the 1980s to provide a more traditional theater setup.
Garner is also rumored to have run a startup scrunchie business out of the theater’s costume shop with a roommate — a favorite story of Denison theater students.
The primary home of the university’s theater students for 61 years, the venue has produced its share of stage and screen stars as well as more recent alumni “who aren’t famous yet will be,” Bryan said.
Performances will continue at the theater next school year, with demolition planned for the fall of 2018.
Janyce Caraballo, a senior theater major from Chicago, said the history that has been built on the theater’s stage makes being a part of it all the more special.
“It’s going to be really sad to see it go,” she said.
The future of theater at Denison, though, seems ever-bright.
Another alumnus of the university — Michael Eisner, former chairman and CEO of Walt Disney Co. and a 1964 Denison graduate
— is to thank for the new performing-arts center. A gift exceeding $5 million from the Eisner Foundation helped get the ball rolling on the 108,241-square-foot facility, which will benefit the estimated 40 percent of Denison students who participate in the arts.
The building, to be named the Michael D. Eisner Center for the Performing Arts, will incorporate into its design the existing Burke Hall of Music and Art and will house the Theatre, Music and Dance departments. With all three departments under one roof, faculty and students anticipate enhanced collaboration across the fine-arts disciplines.
“Having the kind of synergy of just being in a location together, where we’re seeing each other, it will just really change our lives and the way we approach working together,” said Sandra Mathern, chairwoman of the Dance Department.
Caraballo, who on Saturday took her last bow at the Ace Morgan Theatre in a play based on the Denison archives, will happily return for a show at the new center.
“I look forward to just coming back and visiting and just seeing the productions that are put on,” she said.
“You can create theater in a room with just people in it, and it can be that simple,” Caraballo said. “It’s even greater when we’re given more.
“Just imagine when you get the best.”