Let us lead you through the Audi doors

By Tim Goodwin - Feb 17, 2015 | 0 comments

This is what it looks like when you watch a show from the first row of the Audi.

Wallace Pineault and Steven Meier work on the lighting for the Concord Community Players production of “The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife.”

The updated rigging system.

These are all the people who helped pay for the addition – or at least their names.

On most instances, when you see the ticket booth, there will actually be a human being in there to take your money.

Some sweet sounds are created with this equipment.

Way back when, this used to be how you entered the Concord City Auditorium, more famously known as the Audi, but after an addition in 1994 it’s now the door between the theater and the reception lobby.

It sure is nice to have friends. You know, the people you call when life’s big moments happen, the ones you watch the Patriots win the Super Bowl with and the people you text when the latest Brian Williams lie comes to light.

But odds are, your group of friends pales in comparison to that of the Concord City Auditorium. It’s more well known as the Audi, and its network of friends, appropriately named the Friends of the Audi, stretches far and wide. The Friends of the Audi began back in 1991 when there was talk of gutting the theater in favor of more office space for the city, which sounds like a logical idea to no one: tear down a place where people can enjoy a play, dance recital or musical performance in favor of more desks and filing cabinets.

“They said they were just going to close it,” said Carol Bagan, a Friend of the Audi and it’s resident historian.

It was a group of five theater-loving Concord folks, including Bagan, that got together and created the non-profit that has overseen the operations of the theater for close to a quarter century. And so far they’ve done quite well in turning it into a hot spot for entertainment at an affordable price.

“There’s been close to $2 million raised by the Friends of the Audi, and every dime is invested in this building,” Bagan said. “The lower the cost of the production, the lower the cost of the tickets. The lower the cost of the ticket, the more people that can go.”

But the history of the Audi goes way back, so let’s take a little trip down memory lane, shall we? It opened in November of 1904, after the city purchased the Green Street block two years prior to build a city complex. City owned theaters were all the rage back then – that is if anything was considered a rage at the turn of the 20th century. There was even a court battle in the process, as Benjamin White, owner of White’s Opera House, fought to block its creation. But the city won and White eventually came around, even running the joint for a short time after his opera house went up in a ball of flames.

In 1927, Concord Community Players was created and brought a homegrown theater feel to the place. The Audi survived the Great Depression and the wars, while the 1930s saw the influx of community concert associations, and the barbershop groups helped things along in the 40s.

But by the 1960s and 70s, the place was looking a little rough around the edges. How rough, you ask? They were using leftover swimming pool paint to freshen things up.

“The place was getting kind of dreadful looking,” Bagan said.

When the idea came up to eliminate it, the people who cared about the Audi’s future came out of the woodwork. At one Walker Lecture series event, more than 500 people signed up to help save the Audi. After some colorful discussions and disagreements, the Friends of the Audi took over. Along the way, a wish list was created, and things have slowly been crossed off.

First up? Repaint the place and get rid of that dreadful blue color. But, unfortunately, the cash flow was at about zero. That is until the Freese Brothers Big Band held a benefit concert. In one night, they raised $10,000 selling $10 tickets and had enough for the painting project. Using shifts of 20 people at a time, it only took six weeks to get rid of the pool paint color and turn the Audi around for good.

“The first year was to make it bright and beautiful,” Bagan said.

Everyone helps the best way they know how. Some have offered pro-bono law advice, others their architectural expertise and innate ability to make delicious cookies.

“Everyone’s a volunteer,” Bagan said. “Everybody’s got a gift and everybody gives what they can.”

In 1994, the Friends raised enough money to put on an addition, which if you’ve been to a show in the last 20-plus years, you’ll recognize as the reception area where those tasty treats we wrote about on page 19 live during intermissions. It cost around $350,000 and was once again done by raising $10 at a time.

“It was designed to compliment the existing theater,” Bagan said.

It made the building handicap accessible and upgraded the bathrooms to help with the congestion during the breaks in action.

“At the intermission, there’d be a line to Penacook for the ladies room,” Bagan said.

Over the years, about 500 of the original seats have been removed during construction projects, like when they built the second fire exit to bring the building up to code. But don’t worry, there are still about 850 seats in the place, ranging from 15 to 18 inches wide, but just watch out for certain seats.

“There are always people who sit in the same seat,” Bagan said.

They added air conditioning, a high tech sound booth and re-did the stage floor, along with upgrading the rigging system to make it not only safer for the actors on stage, but also easier for the people who run it. A far cry from when it had a flat floor, no fixed seats and glass sky lights.

“All of the decisions by the Friends of the Audi are done by consensus” Bagan said.

Right now, they’re working on transitioning all the lights to LED, and next on the wish list is to redo the seat cushions. And it’s all done with the generous donations of the people who enjoy the Audi, one Alexander Hamilton at a time.

“It’s not the city’s theater. It’s our theater, it’s the people’s theater,” Bagan said. “This theater has done much more to build this community than people realize.”