Taproot Theater Forges Forward
Greenwood’s Taproot Theater is on the up-and-up. The theater has bounced back in a major way since a three-alarm fire last October caused significant damage to its 85th Street operating space in the heart of the Greenwood business district. With four adjacent businesses completely destroyed, the Taproot building was crippled by heavy water and smoke damage in the final week of the theater company’s Enchanted April production and within days of the first rehearsal of their planned holiday performance.
That Taproot was able to continue operating, despite losing its theater space, is a testament to the solidarity of the Greenwood and Seattle arts communities. Temporary homes were found for the theater’s acting studio and 2009 holiday production as well as its costume shop, scene shop, and production offices.
When we spoke with the theater’s Communications Manager in November, she emphasized one of the theater’s major rebuilding milestones: "We’re hoping that the auditorium and lobbies will be restored in time to open our 2010 season at our theatre in January, but there’s a lot of work to be done." So we handily congratulate the Taproot Theater Company, whose 2010 season tickets went on sale today at 12 p.m., ushering the season’s first production--C.S. Lewis’ The Great Divorce--into their newly restored playhouse.
In the meantime, the theater commissioned Seattle Mural Art to cover the safety fence at the space where the Eleanor Roosevelt Building stood until it was destroyed by the October 23rd arson. (Kevin Swalwell, a 46-year old homeless man, has been charged with 11 counts of arson and one count of burglary in connection with this and other fires deliberately set in the Greenwood neighborhood.) Taproot celebrated the unveiling of the mural last Thursday, a celebration of the resiliency of the neighborhood and its commitment to art and beauty. Amidst neighborhood themes like the Greenwood Car Show and history tied to the October 23rd arson (like firefighters rescuing cats from the October 23rd fire at PAWS Cat City Adoption Center) is a phoenix rising from the ashes. Congrats, Taproot.
