The following article was written by Tim Gadzinski, a Marketing Associate for the Manitowoc Public Library.
A portion of a recent Staff Development afternoon that was organized for the employees of Manitowoc Public Library included a behind-the-scenes tour of the Capitol Civic Centre. It provided us with a peek at some rarely seen (by the general public, leastwise) nooks and crannies of this gorgeous downtown gem. It was wonderful gaining new insights into a neighbor institution and the walkabout with CCC’s Executive Director, PJ Albert, was insightful, amusing, and entertaining. However, there was one element present that I hadn’t expected to encounter—nostalgia.
That may have been a bit silly on my part considering that I had spent a great deal of free time during my younger years at what was then simply the Capitol Theater—a cavernous movie house that in many ways set the bar for me moving forward of what I expected in a theater experience. I have a plethora of fond memories for events that I experienced at the Capitol.
For example, my first bike came into my possession because I won a prize drawing for it when I attended a Saturday afternoon showing of “Pinocchio in Outer Space” It was a green Schwinn and I exclaimed “I can’t believe that I have a four-wheeler!” after I chunkily sprinted to the mic that afternoon. I said “four-wheeler” because it had training wheels. I think I was 5, maybe 6-years old. I regret nothing! And part of the reason that my excitement was so unbridled that day was because I really shouldn’t have won—my entry card was the second one picked! The cards were orange, the first kid wrote his information in red ink, and the presenter couldn’t make out what it said. Hence, victory was mine!
But, for all of the solo memories I had of time spent at the Capitol heading into that staff development, what I didn’t expect to encounter were shared memories—shared nostalgia—with fellow MPL staff. I struck up a conversation with Facilities Manager, Stacey Bialek, about times that we actually may have been at the theater at the same time during our younger years:
- At one of the sugar-fueled Halloween costume contest afternoons the Capitol held on a yearly basis (he was dressed as Casper, the Friendly Ghost, I was wearing a puppy costume that my grandma had hand-sewn)
- At the last movie both of us had seen at the Capitol—“Meteor,” the 1979 sci-fi also-ran with an all-star cast that included Sean Connery and Natalie Wood
- And the soda machine that was located in a cubby off the center aisle at the back of the auditorium that had a cup drop down, followed by a small cascade of ice into the cup, then carbonated water and soda syrup. What a thing of beauty from a bygone era that was
It was so much fun talking about these things with Stacey, especially since they hadn’t been in the forefront of my thoughts in a good long time.
As we were all standing on the stage, looking out at that gorgeous house, a small wave of regret washed over me due to the fact that I never had an opportunity to perform at the CCC after it had been converted into a live-performance theater once again. Once upon a time, you see, I made a whole-hearted attempt to make it as a professional actor. And while I had been in a number of Peter Quince productions as a teenager, it was in the days when the Quince shows had been staged in Lincoln High School’s auditorium.
I did have the good fortune of being able to take to the Capitol stage to introduce Sarah Vowell—the best-selling author and voice of Violet in Pixar’s “The Incredibles”—when MPL brought Ms. Vowell to Manitowoc two summers ago to present at the CCC.
And now, another incredible opportunity for our community to spend some time in the company of an astonishing individual at Capitol Civic Centre is just around the corner. Manitowoc Public Library is delighted to present “An Evening with Temple Grandin.” The program will feature an onstage interview with Dr. Grandin, followed by a Q&A session and a book signing. Copies of Dr. Grandin’s books will be available for purchase. This event is made possible through the generous support of the Friends of Manitowoc Public Library and Visit Manitowoc. As such, entry into the event is absolutely FREE!
Globally-known for her work in autism education and animal behavior, Dr. Grandin is the New York Times bestselling author of several published books, in addition to numerous academic works on animal behavior. She has been interviewed on media outlets such as CBS, ABC, the Today Show, and was the subject of an Emmy award-winning HBO film, Temple Grandin, starring Claire Danes in the title role.
While the event is FREE, tickets will be required for entry. Head to https://cccshows.org/manitowoc-public-library-an-evening-with-temple-grandin/ to be taken to the “Evening with Temple Grandin” page on the Capitol Civic Centre website. Once there, you will find ticketing guidelines for the event and a link to get your FREE tickets.
You may be wondering why I’m bringing this up at this particular moment in time. The answer to that is extremely simple: that ticketing page on the CCC went live today, Monday, May 6, at 9 AM. We anticipate a great deal of interest in this “Evening with Temple Grandin,” so we strongly encourage everyone that’s interested in attending to head to that webpage to grab your tickets before they’re gone.
It’s going to be an unforgettable evening. We certainly wouldn’t want to see you miss out on making new memories at the Capitol.