![]() “There’s little we can do to reduce the line length, but we can increase the speed of the service, and that’s what this has accomplished. “We had a bunch of lines crossing each other, and so the idea behind this is to just get all patrons lining up and queuing in one direction,” Gray explained. They’ll be fulfilling that with the addition of a pair of Art Deco chandeliers in the newly redesigned, significantly more open lobby and entryway area.Īll of these renovations have been continuing since the project’s official groundbreaking in August 2021, even as Civic Center has hosted some massively attended shows, such as OKC Ballet’s “The Nutcracker,” “Hadestown,” and of course, this past month’s smash hit touring production of “Hamilton.” “So they’re actually matching the original 1937 terrazzo design and colors.”Īs a city bond project, 1% of the renovation funding was required to go toward the development and display of public art. “We’re restoring the original terrazzo floor that was previously covered up by the box office,” Gray said. Some Art Deco designs were previously covered in later years and have now been restored such as this design on the end of the rows in the Freede Little Theater at the Civic Center. That same desire to return the building’s aesthetics to their original, Art Deco stylings is evident all throughout the renovations. “And then, obviously, the things you can’t see, like all new dressing and rigging, electronics, lighting, sound. “Our main goal was to bring the space back to what it should have looked like in 1937,” Gray said. ![]() The Freede Little Theater has been a part of the Civic Center since its opening in 1937 and has largely hosted much smaller productions, often staged by community organizations such as OKC Repertory and Painted Sky Opera. We had to completely redo the ceiling because of plaster and water damage, but it’s all the exact same.” “We uncovered these little motifs, like historic light fixtures and all of the architectural detail. “It’s all completely identical to the historic detail,” Gray said of the Little Theater’s newly restored look. ![]() Perhaps most important, however, is the major restoration of the more community-oriented Little Theater on the building’s north side. ![]() The Freede Little Theater is nearing completion of its heavy upgrades including returning the theater to original Art Deco colors and design features that were previously covered. ![]()
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