The State Theatre reopens

Nov. 21, 2007

Filmmaker Michael Moore is hoping that he has set forward the momentum and the necessary funds to keep The State Theatre from ever having to close its doors again. Since its inception in 1916, The State, formerly known as The Lyric, has been challenged by fires, mismanagement, and competition, which resulted in its doors being closed, presumably permanently, more than 20 years ago.
The State Theatre has now reopened under the direction of Moore with the support of his Hollywood connections, a group of his friends, and several committed residents of the region. Moore reopened the doors of The State Theatre with a sense of optimism that this time, the doors would remain opened.
“We have created a fund to sustain The State during challenging times,” said Moore. “I will not operate this theatre with a debt.”
The reopening of The State Theatre is welcome news to many, including John Robert Williams, a life long resident of Traverse City and a co-founder of the Traverse City Film Festival with Moore and author Doug Stanton. Both Stanton and Williams worked with Moore to procure The State Theatre from Rotary Charities.
“This is one of the final pieces of the puzzle for Downtown Traverse City,” said Williams. “This will bookend the City Opera House, and both venues will compliment Traverse City by creating a cultural climate to go with the culinary offerings, shopping and nightlife. It is exciting.”
One person who is happy to see that The State Theatre will not meet with the same results of the past is Merlin Dumbrille. A lifelong resident of Traverse City himself, the popular Farm and Orchard radio personality on WTCM was one of the first employees hired in 1949 when The State Theatre reopened after a fire closed The Lyric.
“I have a lot of fond memories,” said Dumbrille, whose father was a projectionist with The Lyric and The State. “My brother and I were first hired to paint the floor before it opened. In those days, they didn’t have rollers, so we had a couple of 2-inch wide brushes and we were on our knees trying to paint the whole floor. We finally went to the hardware store, bought a couple of 4-inch brushes, and taped them to broom handles.”
Dumbrille has many memories, and is a wealth of knowledge of the history of The State Theatre. He is appreciative that parts of the past were kept in the renovation process; but while the history of The Theatre is fun to reminisce about, he feels that the future is more important.
“It is fun to think back about The State and The Lyric,” said Dumbrille. “In my day, television was not really that big. The movies and the theatres (there were three during the 1940s on Front Street) were the social gathering places of the community. During WWII, they would show newsreels about the war prior to the movies. But what is important now is not so much about what happened in the past as what is going to happen in the future.”
When pressed for further comment, Dumbrille’s eyes open wide - his smile even wider - as he discusses what The State Theatre reopening will mean for Traverse City.
“Michael Moore and the others have given a huge gift to this community,” said Dumbrille. “The reopening of The State Theatre along with the film festival are going to serve as an important economic driver to this community. I believe that our film festival will soon be larger than Sundance, because here everything is within walking distance versus being spread out at Sundance. Now, The State reopening will keep what the film festival does going year round.”
Filmmaker Rich Brauer agrees. Brauer moved to Traverse City 30 years ago and started his very successful Brauer Productions; he has been making movies in Northern Michigan for years.
“For me personally, this is very exciting,” said Brauer, who assisted in coordinating a short film on the history of The State Theatre. “Having been making films here for years, it is exciting to see someone of Michael Moore’s caliber come in and breathe enthusiasm into our community. The attempts to reopen The State Theatre in recent years failed because a project of this magnitude required a person larger than life to pull it off. We owe Michael and the others a huge debt of gratitude for this.”
Brauer recently completed filming The Art Critic on Mackinac Island. The film stars Bronson Pinchot and was written, directed and produced by Brauer, who is looking forward to the film being premiered at The State Theatre.
“It should be ready by Christmas of this year,” said Brauer. “To have a theatre of this caliber for my film to be shown at is wonderful. More importantly, to see what is happening to our community in the 30 years since I came here is really fantastic. I think what people are starting to realize is that we have a lot to offer here.”
Dumbrille couldn’t agree more.
“I hope that community leaders don’t sell us short. Traverse City and Northern Michigan really does have it all with this Theatre reopening,” said Dumbrille. “When you package together The Park Place, The City Opera House, all of these great restaurants, the beaches, The Beach Bums, Interlochen and everything else we have going on, this really is a great place to live and to visit.”