Circles represent wholeness, completion, unity. At Warsaw’s Wagon Wheel Center for the Arts, the well-rounded idea comes alive.
That’s because viewers gain an intimate perspective, said Artistic Director Scott Michaels. “You are immersed and transported to the time and place of the action. You are in the middle of it,” he said. “It heightens everything — the laughs are funnier, the drama is more palpable, the dance seems to swirl around you and the characters seem more real, because it is all within an arm’s length. You are never more than 10 rows away from the stage.”
Those unfamiliar with Wagon Wheel have surprises waiting. “The size of the theater is striking,” he said. “Although it looks small, it seats nearly 850 people. When we give tours, people are amazed the orchestra plays under the stage, and the pit has a secret passageway, too. We call it ‘Shawshank,’ as the only way out is by crawling through a long tunnel, resembling a drainpipe, into the scene shop.”
Round theaters are uncommon nationally and Warsaw’s own started as a vision of resident Major Herbert Petrie after he attended the country’s first theater in the round, the Penthouse, in Fort Lawton, Washington. In 1956, a tent went up over a gravel floor, an old chicken coop was used for stagecraft, costumes and dressing rooms, and canvas chairs circled the stage.
“Its long history is unique,” said Development Director Elisa Wise. “But its Warsaw location really sets it apart. It is rare to find an exceptional professional theater, with a long-standing legacy, in a small community. Donor support continues to make this cornerstone of the Kosciusko County and Warsaw communities grow and thrive.”
Lakesha Green brings fresh skills set to her new job as the theater’s first executive director with extensive non-profit and arts administration experience. She was director of youth programs at Redhouse Arts Center in Syracuse, N.Y., engaging communities and developing audiences. She spent 25 years in the Northeast, consulting, directing and strengthening non-profit organizations. At All Walks of Life Inc., she was theater arts and youth development director, securing funding for the arts and magnet programs. She has a four-year-old son, Hendrix, who really completes her “why” in life, she said.
“I believe in Wagon Wheel’s future and the community who supports it,” she said. “We want to continue elevating programming and keeping art accessible for all. As Albert Einstein once said, ‘The world we have made, as a result of the level of thinking we have done thus far, creates problems we cannot solve at the same level of thinking at which we created them.’”