Last Updated on June 7, 2023, 7:55 AM | Published: June 7, 2023
Civic Center Music Hall is set to reopen with a bang.
Or with a twang, at least.
After nearly two full years of construction work – during which time, the theater remained open, allowing patrons the chance to track the changes in real time – the Civic Center is set to throw the doors wide for a rare free concert featuring a rare live band.
Wednesday, June 14th will see a packed house turning out for country music legends Diamond Rio.
“The concert is really meant to be a thank you to the citizens of Oklahoma City,” said Civic Center Foundation Marketing Director Dee Llanusa. “And yeah, Diamond Rio is a little bit different than what we normally have here, but we really wanted it to be fun and be pretty universally enjoyable. And Oklahomans just really love Diamond Rio.”
As part of 2017’s voter-approved “Better Streets, Safer City” bond initiative, $14.1 million was earmarked for much-needed repairs and renovations throughout the Civic Center, focusing primarily on the heavily-trafficked lobby area and the historic Freede Little Theater.
“We did a space utilization study in 2013 in partnership with the city, because we just had a lot of space that we weren’t utilizing to its full capacity,” Civic Center Foundation Executive Director Elizabeth Gray told me. “It identified five phases of construction – about $60 million – that would be really useful, and this renovation completes two of those phases.”
These first renovations are all focused on the patron experience, with extensive improvements to the entrance, bar, staircases, VIP section, and a brand new full-scale kitchen for catering, events, and performance night food options.
Perhaps most important, however, is the major restoration of the more community-oriented Little Theater on the building’s north side.
“It’s all completely identical to the historic detail,” Gray said of the Little Theater’s newly restored look. “We uncovered these little motifs, like historic light fixtures and all of the architectural detail. We had to completely redo the ceiling because of plaster and water damage, but it’s all the exact same.”
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.
Deco gem
“Our main goal was to bring the space back to what it should have looked like in 1937,” Gray said. “And then, obviously, the things you can’t see, like all new dressing and rigging, electronics, lighting, sound. Everything is all new state of the art.”
That same desire to return the building’s aesthetics to their original, Art Deco stylings is evident all throughout the renovations.
“We’re restoring the original terrazzo floor that was previously covered up by the box office,” Gray said. “So they’re actually matching the original 1937 terrazzo design and colors.”
As a city bond project, 1% of the renovation funding was required to go toward the development and display of public art. 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.
All 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.”
“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. “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’ve already seen that with a two-fold increase in services during ‘Hamilton.’”
Diamond Rio for reopening
Those improvements to the flow of patron traffic and speed of bar and restroom services will surely be put to the test on the 14th when crowds flood into the Civic Center for the already sold-out opportunity to catch Diamond Rio bringing a different-than-usual energy to the space.
“It’s kind of a nod back to what it used to be, really, because this used to be the concert spot,” Llanusa said. “So many people will come in for a Broadway show or ballet and say ‘Oh, I wish you’d just have a big concert in here again. I miss that so much.’ So this is their chance.”
The Civic Center Grand Reopening Celebration featuring Diamond Rio is set for Wednesday, June 14th, with a 10:00 AM ribbon-cutting ceremony, followed by a “self-guided tour” period from 10:30 AM to 2:30 PM, and concluding with Diamond Rio at 7:00 PM.
Tickets for the concert portion of the event are currently sold out, but you can sign up to be notified if additional tickets are made available at okcciviccenter.com.
Brett Fieldcamp has been covering arts, entertainment, news, housing, and culture in Oklahoma for nearly 15 years, writing for several local and state publications. He’s also a musician and songwriter and holds a certification as Specialist of Spirits from The Society of Wine Educators.
