Ballet beginning

Mathis Winkler

BALBOA PENINSULA -- The dancers may have climbed Bobcat bulldozers to

music from Mozart’s Requiem, but mourning was the last thing hundreds of

residents, city leaders and arts supporters had in mind when they

gathered for the Balboa Theater groundbreaking ceremony Tuesday.

“This is the start of the rejuvenation of the entire village,” said

Councilman Tod Ridgeway, who represents Balboa Peninsula.

He added that the theater’s rebirth will go hand in hand with a

$7.5-million beautification project of Balboa’s downtown, which is set to

kick off in October.

“This whole building holds so much promise,” said City Manager Homer

Bludau. “It was once a focal point and we know it can be that again.”

Theater supporters said Tuesday’s ceremony marked “the beginning of

the end” of a seven-year-long struggle to bring the former movie theater

back to life as a center for the performing arts.

“Today seems like a very surreal moment,” said Dayna Pettit, the

president of the Balboa Performing Arts Theater Foundation. “The theater

is going to be so many things to so many people. It’s a wonderful legacy

that we’re leaving to the city of Newport Beach.”

After watching the “Bulldozer Ballet” -- the theater’s first

commissioned piece performed by dancers from Mandala DanceWorks --

Michele Roberge, the foundation’s executive director, told the audience

this was just a sneak preview of what was to come.

“As they say on Broadway, ‘You ain’t seen nothing yet,”’ she said to

cheers from her listeners. “For the last 7 1/2 decades, this theater has

done one thing. It’s provided us with a place to tell stories.”

She added that theater officials would work hard to revive the mission

by putting on performances ranging from drama to dance to children’s

concerts.

“It’s a building for us, but also for our children and grandchildren

and many generations to come,” she said.

But before the theater can open its doors to patrons, supporters still

need to raise $4 million to cover the costs of renovation and secure an

operating budget for the first season.

With construction finally set to begin, raising the dollars might

prove an easier task.

Foundation members “have had so many fund-raising efforts and no

product to show for it other than the collection of funds,” Ridgeway

said. “They needed to show construction in order to get the money.”

Taking a break from their starring roles as bulldozer drivers, Trevor

Kean and Dieter Kulbe said they’d enjoyed branching out into the

performing arts.

“Other than having ballet girls” on the machines, their twist and

turns with the bulldozers hadn’t required any special skills, Kean said.

But Kulbe added that he’d only consider changing careers “if the pay’s

real good.”

Standing on East Balboa Boulevard, which had been closed off to

traffic, longtime Balboa resident Ralph Bernard said he couldn’t wait to

see the theater brought back to life.

“It gives us back a speck of class,” he said. “We’re going to get some

culture now. We need it.”