The new Treehouse Theater space near downtown Manitowoc is nearly complete, and a select group of people were invited in to see the beautifully removed building, located at 902 Washington Street.
An emotional Karen Rohrer, the founder and Executive Director of the children’s theater welcomed guests such as Mayor Justin Nickels, members of the Chamber of Manitowoc County, and select families.
She said it’s almost hard to believe how far the Theater has come since she started it in her basement.
“It still doesn’t feel real, because this is what I have been breathing for two years,” Rohrer said. “It also got me through COVID to have this to look forward to and to work on. You have to look at the bright side.”
Rohrer told Seehafer News that the Board Members of the Treehouse Theater includes interior decorators, woodworkers, and a “vast array of talented people. That’s why we were crazy enough to take on this project in the first place. We as a group worked together…along the way, Every month at board meetings [we] updated where we were at and what we found…It’s been a really big group project, and this would never happen without a whole bunch of us involved.”
While they are just now starting to allow members of the public into the renovated space, they actually began operations on May 1st. Rohrer explained they brought back roughly half of the children they had in the show they were working on prior to the pandemic, “Once on This Island”.
“It’s a prequel to the Little Mermaid,” she explained. “We will hold the shows here, in our own studios to get more people in here and to give our kids a more intimate environment with which to do their acting. They are both excited and scared that the audience will be so close…but it’s a new challenge and we are always looking for those.”
While the capital campaign for this project was a success, Rohrer said they are still about $80,000 short. If you wish to donate, you can do so by dropping off a monetary donation inside their front door.
If you wish to view the space before making a donation, or are just curious, there are two more open houses scheduled for this week. Stop on in between 4:00 and 7:00 PM on Thursday (June 3rd) or Friday to get a guided tour by staff, students, and board members.