Resurgence of the Reilly

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Posted October 22, 2021 | By Susan Smiley-Height
Photography by Meagan Gumpert

Creating a great work of art or music can take years of planning and execution: The four years, for example, it took Michelangelo to conceive the concept and paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, or the nearly nine years Vivaldi needed to produce “The Four Seasons” masterworks.

The same is true in building arts and entertainment venues and developing programming that sustains a community over time.

When it was built as a Works Progress Administration project to help alleviate unemployment from the Great Depression, Ocala’s venerable City Auditorium, started in 1936 and completed in 1940, was envisioned as a focal gathering place. The auditorium met that goal by hosting school proms and graduations, dances, New Year’s Eve bashes, concerts, and even wrestling matches.

The success of the venue was, at times, hampered by its location — not close enough to downtown, some felt — and poor acoustics. Over the decades, the roof began to leak, and the grand, old building seemed to sag under the weight of declining interest. But a group of locals had a vision for a community asset that could find new life inside those greying walls.

After a $3.4 million renovation of the auditorium, which honored its Art Deco roots, the Reilly Arts Center opened in 2015. The center is named for Robert Reilly, a patron of the arts who donated $700,000 toward the renovation in memory of his late wife, Bonnie. The Reilly is the home of the Ocala Symphony Orchestra (OSO), and over the past six years, has offered a wide range of performances and programs.

And now, a $4 million expansion of the center at 500 NE 9th St. is doubling the size of its footprint, and the organization’s leadership team soon will roll out new endeavors, such as a Community Music Conservatory, to engage an even broader demographic.

Sneak Peek   

On Thursday, Oct. 21, past presidents and current board members, Bill Nassal and Jim Schneider, hosted an event called “A Special Invitation to Expand the Future of the Arts in Ocala” inside the newly added spaces at the Reilly. While attendees saw a great deal of completed work, which includes a new black box theater, studios, classrooms, and main entryway, there is more to be done leading up to the season’s opening weekend on Nov. 20 and 21.

“We are in the final stages. Now, it’s just all the finish work inside,” said OSO Music Director and Conductor, Matthew Wardell. “The last to get finished will be the lobby.”

He said the new main lobby will offer a soaring vista of glass and steel, accented by cherry-colored wood. The main wall is the concrete exterior of the original building.

“I love this kind of design where you have these harsh surfaces juxtaposed with all these glass chandeliers; it’s a really grand-feeling lobby,” Wardell said.

“Especially with that glass, with the sunlight coming in, the trees, that view right out onto our outside area,” added Reilly Executive Director, Pamela Calero Wardell, “And we will have a patio with a half wall so people can go outside with a glass of champagne (“or a Bud Light,” her husband added with a laugh). We want people to feel good about chatting beforehand and taking their time really taking in the space.”

Wardell said the new lobby is about 4 ½ times the size of the current lobby and that the two will be connected by double doors.

Work behind the scenes to enhance the guest experience has included tapping into the expertise of Adam Volpe, director of operations for the Marion Theatre, which is run by the Reilly Arts Center.

“He has a background in hospitality, mixology, and food and beverage, so as we are hiring our new hospitality team, he is putting them through a four-day training program. That will focus on how we are preparing drinks, pouring wine, presenting. He’s working to make sure it’s top notch,” Calero Wardell said. “We expect an elevation in our hospitality from the moment you get your ticket from our new box office — and you’re not coming inside to a six-foot folding table; we have a proper box office outside.”

Among the changes will be a new drink menu “that’s really well thought out,” Wardell said. “We also wanted efficiency and speed.”

A bonus of the new construction is a catering kitchen that can be used in-house or rented for special events.

“We have a jazz series that’s going to start in December in the black box theater, so we’re looking at being able to provide tapas and things like that,” Calero Wardell said. “That’s one thing we were lacking when we wanted to rent the space out before.”

Just as the Dinkins Construction team is eager to complete their work and show off the end result, the members of the OSO are avidly awaiting their return to the stage.

“We feel good,” Wardell said. “The UF Symphony recently had their first concert of the season, and it was awesome to see a live audience in Gainesville; they were really receptive. As we’ve done some things here in Ocala over the last few months, people have seemed really ready to go and the musicians are really ready to play too.”

Margaret Dixon, a longtime principal with the OSO, echoed that sentiment: “It’s great to be back, interacting with the musicians. Everyone is happy making music again.”

Broadening the Scope

Dixon, who has served as the Reilly’s personnel manager and librarian, has taken on the role of director of education and community outreach for the center’s new school of music, the Community Music Conservatory, a gift of the David & Lisa Midgett Foundation.

Dixon and Wardell said they are refining their vision for the programming and are dedicated to a mission of inclusion.

“We’re going to have a pretty wide range of programming,” Wardell offered. “Our mission is to offer diverse classes that are going to attract a lot of different types of students. It’s not just 100 kids learning to play the oboe—nothing against the oboe.”

To which Dixon added, “Oboe lessons only cater to a small demographic versus the classes we are looking at, which are broader and accessible to people who have never played music, people who don’t have instruments, people who just want to do it for fun. We’re looking at classes to get people engaged, and maybe later on, reaching out to very specific things like oboe lessons because we will need those at some point.”

“We want to create a connection between people and music, and sometimes, that starts out by classes with buckets and boom sticks,” Wardell continued. “I was really happy during a board meeting a couple of weeks ago and I was telling them about some of the plans Margaret had and things we were looking at. Our board is really good at keeping us realistic about what we can achieve, but also challenging us, so I expected questions about ‘How are you going to pay for this?’ and the first question I got was, ‘How can we do this so more kids can do it?’ We’re beginning to work on structuring some of the programs in the way schools have free or reduced lunch and things like that, so programs are available to all kids. Obviously, we won’t be able to do that for every slot, but we think we can find a way to do it for a lot of the openings in classes. We’re really excited about that, and it’s going to be a central mission.”

“I feel a very important part of what we’re doing is to make sure that music lessons don’t become a classist thing, like you can only take music lessons if your family makes X amount of dollars,” Dixon said. “I think it’s really important that we try to make sure we’re not isolating anyone or creating this divide because music really is for everybody.”

Among the offerings being considered is the Music Together program that introduces music and concepts to kids at a very early age.

“It’s not just the child doing music, but the whole family coming together, and you create this bonding experience,” Dixon shared. “It incorporates a rhythm component, so for older kids, it’s getting into drums and full body movement. It has a component for children to interact with senior citizens, and there’s a music therapy component. It’s a really cool program.”

Additional offerings may include specific classes, such as for guitar or horns, taught by members of the OSO.

The David & Lisa Midgett Foundation, founded by the longtime Ocala couple, is focused on the arts and education. Lisa Midgett said their gift of $300,000 for the music conservatory is in memory of their mothers.

“The detailed vision presented by the Reilly team made this a very compelling project, as it fulfills both aspects of our mission,” she outlined. “Both of our mothers were singers, and David’s mother was an educator as well. Our homes were filled with music. I feel that if my mother had access to affordable vocal lessons — a mission of the conservatory — who knows where her music would have taken her. For David’s mom, music and education were two of her passions. She would be thrilled with the mission of bringing music education to all.”

“We love any initiative that makes art accessible to everyone, regardless of their ability to pay,” Midgett continued. “A child’s involvement in the arts is important to all of us, as statistics have shown that a student who participates in the arts outperforms their peers from 14 percent to 20 percent in English, math, and social studies. For the next generation of leaders, the arts are a necessary part of their education.”

Dixon said the goal is for the music school to be self-sufficient, to which Wardell added, “I think we have a community that will support a program like that. So many of our sponsors say, ‘We love what you’re doing, we’re going to support it, and, by the way, do you have any programs that specifically target children around this age, or children at risk, or adults in this category, or music therapy?’ It’s the jigsaw piece to this puzzle hole I didn’t realize we had, or that I could fill, and it all kind of fits. And when you’re doing the right thing, things find a way to work.”

“When we opened the Reilly in 2015, we knew it was going to grow but we didn’t know it was going to be this serious,” said Calero Wardell. “I remember in our early board meetings I was with Bob Reilly, and he wanted to see something that brought together seniors and youth, and we’re finally to a point where things like that are visions that are starting to be realized.”

How to Help

The capital campaign for the Reilly expansion was off to a rousing start before the pandemic, and, despite the subsequent challenges, the leadership vowed to keep moving forward. In some ways, that was a blessing; for example, in procuring the bulk of the materials needed before supply and logistics issues surfaced around the world.

As the brick-and-mortar phase comes to a close, there still are many ways to support the campaign and help usher the center into a new era. Among those are naming opportunities, ranging from $150,000 to $500,000.

“There’s the new theater and new lobby, and even the main stage theater,” Wardell said. “Like most performing arts centers, each theater has its own name. The Dr. Phillips has the Walt Disney Theater, for example.”

“We’re looking for significant donations to name, but we’re also really looking for people to do investment opportunities with our education program,” Calero Wardell added. “We are seeking 25 gifts of $10,000 and above to further support the brick-and-mortar and enshrine programming for the first five years.”

There also are membership opportunities ranging from $5,000 to $15,000, which include special access and other perks.

Calero Wardell encourages people to plan to attend the season opening event and “check out our website because we are booking new shows every week. We’re working with the associate professor of jazz studies at UF to put on a six-month series. We’re trying to offer a little bit of everything. And hopefully when people buy a ticket, they donate a little bit on top — every $10 helps.”

Treasured Resource

Reilly board member Nassal clearly understands the potential of entertainment venues. His business, Companies of Nassal, designs, fabricates, and installs specialty construction for theme parks, aquariums, zoos, and museums such as the Harry Potter attractions in the US and Japan, the Tampa Bucs Pirate Ship, and Universal’s Volcano Bay water attraction. He was one of the first people to envision how the old City Auditorium could gain new life.

“Chester Weber sat on a committee to decide the future of the old auditorium. He knew I was on the symphony board and the symphony needed a permanent home,” Nassal recalled. “We toured the auditorium, and, with the help of Frank Hennessey, negotiated a minimal lease if we were able to raise the (initial) $2,500,000 renovation cost. We raised the funds. Matt Wardell and I partnered as representatives for the symphony during the construction phase.”

Fast forward to the current construction project.

“The new expansion more than doubles the size of the Reilly. We expanded the lobby and concession area, a major addition of restroom facilities, a state-of-the-art black box theater, and a music school. Ocala will be proud,” Nassal stated.

When asked his thoughts about the continued success of this treasured community resource, Nassal responded: “The treasured community resource is Matt and Pam Wardell. I have worked with numerous conductors and artistic directors, and they all have similar traits: little attention to budgets or staff management. Matt gets deeply involved in all budget issues. Pam has excellent staff management skills. Look what they have done — the Reilly is out of years of debt, the $2,500,000 initial renovation is paid off, and they took over the management of the Marion Theatre, and it now makes money. I see a fine future for the Reilly venues.”

For more information, visit www.reillyartscenter.com. To learn about naming opportunities, contact Pamela Calero Wardell at (352) 351-1606, ext. 102, or pamela@reillyartscenter.com.

BOX INFO

2021-2022 Ocala Symphony Orchestra Concert Season 

Variations on Opening Night

Nov. 20, 7:30 p.m. and Nov. 21, 3 p.m.

Pianist Jasmin Arakawa joins the full orchestra for Rachmaninoff’s “Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini,” and the variation theme continues with music from Ives and Elgar’s “Enigma Variations.”

Pops! Goes the Holidays

Dec. 4, 7:30 p.m. and Dec. 5, 3 p.m.

Back by popular demand, the OSO will bring Howard Blake’s score to the animated short film, “The Snowman,” to life, along with the film, sleigh rides, sing-alongs, and, possibly, a reading of “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas.”

The Four Temperaments

Jan. 29, 7:30 p.m. and Jan. 30, 3 p.m.

Raymond Chobaz leads the orchestra through Nielsen’s Symphony No. 2, “The Four Temperaments,” a new work by award-winning composer, Paul Richards, and Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with special guest, Kevin Sharpe.

90 Years of John Williams

Feb. 19, 7:30 p.m. and Feb. 20, 3 p.m.

Celebrate John Williams’ 90th birthday with a review of his extensive film catalogue, including scores from “Star Wars,” “Harry Potter,” “The Patriot,” “Superman,” “Memoirs of a Geisha,” “Indiana Jones,” “Jaws,” and more.

The Unfinished

March 19, 7:30 p.m. and March 20, 3 p.m.

Winners of the Young Artist Competition take the stage with the OSO, along with Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s “Ballade” and Schubert’s B-minor symphony, “The Unfinished.”

21st Century Anthology

April 9, 7:30 p.m. and April 10, 3 p.m.

Maestro Wardell is often asked, “What works written today will be played in 100 years?” This concert is his answer and will feature Missy Mazzoli’s tribute to the city of Detroit, “River Rouge Transfiguration”; Michael Daugherty’s piece in memory of his father, “Reflections on the Mississippi for Tuba and Orchestra”; and Mason Bates’s “The Anthology of Fantastic Zoology,” which will showcase every section of the orchestra, as he musically illustrates the fantastical creatures of Jorge Luis Borges’s 1957 “Book of Imaginary Beings.”

Special Events

Symphony Under the Lights
Presented by Jenkins Auto Group

Dec. 3, 7 p.m.

The OSO and Ocala Youth Symphony offer a joyful annual concert that is free and open to the public. Enjoy hot chocolate under the ancient oaks of Tuscawilla Park and bring a blanket or chair.

Bowie and Glass Return

March 5, 7:30 p.m.

The OSO and Voltron Collective bring you Philip Glass’s Symphony No. 4 “Heroes,” juxtaposed with the David Bowie songs that inspired it. Originally presented in spring of 2019, this has been the OSO’s most requested repeat concert.

April 24, 3 p.m.

Choir master and conductor, Joshua Mazur, returns to lead the combined orchestra and choir through “Messiah” and selections from “Water Music.”