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 Not long ago the historic Valentine Theatre in Toledo was on a wrecking ball's hit list. After a tug-of-war between powerful Toledoans who wanted to modernize their downtown and others who preferred historic preservation, the Valentine is shining once again. On October 9 the Valentine opened for the first time since 1976, following a $25-million restoration that turned the theater into a showplace for concerts, operas, ballets and other performances. Civic leaders hope the performing arts center will help revive downtown Toledo. The renewed Valentine is intimate: It has 901 seats and the last row is only 55 feet from the stage. Though little is left of the original block-long building, the ceilings, floors and a sweeping staircase from the main lobby are reminders of the past. The theater is painted in the original color scheme of brown, red and tan with plush red seats and red velour curtains. The Valentine will be home to the Toledo Repertoire Theater, Toledo Opera and Toledo Ballet. There are plans to show classic movies and present a mix of local and national acts. The Valentine, which first opened in 1895, hosted performances by great names of the American stage such as Sarah Bernhardt and John Barrymore. At one time it was a convenient stopover for performers traveling between New York and Chicago. Local residents raised $6.8 million to save the theater. The state provided $18.5 million. |
| FRENCH AND U.S. MUSEUMS JOIN FORCES Traveling Americans usually visit museums in Paris while French tourists head for museums in New York. Museums in medium-size cities in both countries often are overlooked. To show that cultural life exists outside Paris and New York, nine French and nine U.S. regional museums - including the Cleveland Museum of Art - are joining forces to raise their profiles. They have agreed to share knowledge of technology, marketing and fundraising and to start exchanging masterpieces and developing joint exhibitions. Other American museums involved are the Dallas Museum of Art, the Minneapolis Institute of Art, the Portland Art Museum, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, the St. Louis Art Museum, the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, the Yale University Art Gallery and the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Massachusetts. French fine arts museums in the program are in Bordeaux, Grenoble, Lille, Lyon, Montpellier, Rennes, Rouen, Strasbourg and Toulouse. |
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