Triumvirate Theatre is no stranger to taking big swings to keep community performance alive. The troupe’s newest show spotlights a production company coming together to revitalize a cultural institution, written by their own executive director in the 1990s.
“It Had to Be You” centers on the fictional Lieberman Theater in Chicago. Its owner is banking on a big show and gala to save his ailing auditorium. There are Frank Sinatra tunes and also original songs by Rizzo, Triumvirate’s executive director.
It’s a sense of community, local artists performing for a local audience, that actor Jacynne Best said gives the performance its heart.
“We all see each other in town, we’re going to know the audience,” she said. “The audience is going to know us. But when you’re on stage, you bring to life characters that they’re not going to see.”
She plays the theater owner’s daughter, chasing grant opportunities and inventive revenue streams while also pining for the company’s star performer.
But her efforts, and her advances, aren’t always appreciated by the rest of the company.
“The theater is my happy place, and that’s kind of how my character is,” she said. “She grew up here; she cares about it.”
Though the show was written decades ago, its celebration of the stage remains relevant. Raleigh Van Natta, the show’s director, said the show is “all about how important the theater is and why art is important.”
Van Natta got his start acting in Triumvirate performances. He said it's a full-circle moment to be at the helm now.
“Theater is the only real thing left as far as art goes, the only thing that you really can’t fake,” he said. “It’s people on stage interacting with people.”
Working closely with Rizzo, Van Natta said, gave him freedom to modernize the characters and themes while keeping the artistic core of the work.
“I just love music and the way that you can tell a story with it,” he said. “These songs are really fun, and I think having a kind of homegrown original musical is really fun and really special. It’s something that we don’t get on the Kenai Peninsula a whole lot.”
Revamping the script was a major undertaking, and there wasn’t even sheet music for Rizzo’s original compositions. Bob Mabrey is the band director and transcribed the songs by hand from old recordings.
Rizzo said celebrating the stage is a timeless endeavor. He said the narrative is inspired by a brush with derelict theater buildings.
“That was the inspiration for the creation of this, the Lieberman family, who have this theater in Chicago,” he said. “They’ve had it for generations, and now they’re on the verge of bankruptcy. It’s a desperate ploy to try and find some way to raise enough money to pay off the mortgage.”
And the story isn’t too far off from Triumvirate’s own comeback. The group embarked on a multi-million-dollar effort to rebuild after their playhouse was destroyed in a 2021 fire. The company’s new theater opened last year.
Rizzo’s staged his own work before. But he’s usually in the driver’s seat.
“It’s actually, honestly, been a thrill to watch somebody else’s interpretation of it.”
Triumvirate Theatre’s, “It Had to Be You” runs Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m., from Oct. 22 to Oct. 31, with a 2 p.m. matinee on Halloween instead of a 7 p.m. show. Get more information or purchase tickets at triumviratetheatre.org.
