The Woodstock Opera House overlooks a tree-lined cobblestone square in the center of McHenry County’s most scenic city. Built in 1890 in the steamboat Gothic style, the handsome landmark was originally conceived as a multipurpose city hall. Over the years, as municipal offices were relocated, the building gradually turned into a center for the town’s cultural aspirations: its 400-seat theater has played host to the likes of the Patti Rosa Players, a very young Orson Welles, and the Woodstock Players, whose summer-stock alumni include Shelley Berman, Paul Newman, and Geraldine Page. Lately, however, the opera house has been serving up unorthodox fare: a civic skirmish that highlights the ambivalent attitude toward cultural ambitions and urban encroachment that persists in Small Town, USA.
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Yet for almost two decades the fate of the opera house was uncertain. “In the 60s the building deteriorated badly,” explains John Scharres, the opera house’s acting director and unofficial historian. “There were plans to demolish it for a multistory parking structure. But the townspeople had the good sense to make the commitment to restore it.” More than a half million dollars went into the restoration–another half million was spent eventually–and the meticulously refurbished building opened its doors in 1977 as a performing-arts center. It has since won praise and popularity for its charming Victorian interior and its warm, intimate acoustics. Last year 240 events were presented, from lectures to concerts to plays.
Around the time it was restored, the Woodstock city council recognized the need for a professional administrator. By all accounts, the first appointee, Doug Rankin, was a respected manager who got along with most users of the facilities. Despite a limited budget and the initial resentment of other city departments, he deftly worked out a low-profile programming strategy that struck a delicate balance between local amateur productions and professional acts. In 1987, after ten years on the job, Rankin resigned to return to his native California.
Reflecting now on the charges of favoritism and elitism, Bornstein maintains, “My professional level is high–I’m not used to dealing with volunteers. The Woodstock Musical Theatre Company was most vocal about too much attention from the press on professional theaters and entertainments. I could get the Tribune and National Public Radio to cover the Mozart Festival because it had top-notch musicians. But there was no way I could get them to write about amateur groups, so these groups became very unhappy. No, you cannot compromise with artistic integrity. You must be honest with yourself. As a professional, I have responsibilities to the artists, to the citizens. I don’t care where I work or how much money I make. But I do want to be treated with respect and not be asked to compromise standards.”
Alluding to a “financial settlement with the city by mutual agreement,” Bornstein plans to spend at least one more summer in Woodstock running the Mozart Festival. “It’s the only indoor chamber festival anywhere–and it has been a sellout from the beginning,” she says with enthusiasm. “This time we will repeat the same concerts at the Midway Theatre in Rockford. Another wonderful thing about the festival is that I deal with a private board of directors. Woodstock is over. I must go on with my career, to thrive and persevere with integrity.”
Art accompanying story in printed newspaper (not available in this archive): photo/Marc PoKempner.
