Vermont's Weston Playhouse Plans to Re-open Just Days After Massive Flooding

September 2, 2011— -- When more than 8 feet of water poured into the basement of the Weston Playhouse in Vermont, everything in the bottom floor was destroyed. The newly renovated dressing rooms, the restaurant, and the orchestra pit, which included a $20,000 grand piano, were all under water.

The playhouse, celebrating its 75th season, was in the midst of a run of its new, much-buzzed-about musical, "Saint-Ex," when the storm arrived. While Managing Director Stuart Duke and his staff were expecting to be out of commission for the weekend as a result of high winds and power outages, none of them expected the massive amounts of damage.

"Our worst case scenario was wind, power outages, maybe a little bit of water in the basement," said Duke. "We hadn't counted on 8 feet in the basement."

The day of the hurricane he went house to house in Weston to check on the playhouse's staff and crew after witnessing the nearby West River's water reach the building. There, instead of seeing defeat, he saw strength.

"In the midst of this torrential rain, saying 'what can we do, how can we help, how can we get the playhouse cleaned up,'" Duke said. "That's when I started welling up about the whole thing, seeing the passion and good will in people was as humbling as the fury of Mother Nature."

But the fact that a clean-up this extensive could take months was completely unacceptable to the company. The staff wanted to finish "Saint-Ex's" run, starting with this Friday's performance...less than a week after the storm hit.

"This is the first world premiere of a musical that we've ever done," said Malcolm Ewen, producing director. "We only did four performances...we want to honor that commitment to put this piece on."

It wasn't just for the staff. Ewen said that they wanted to do something to lift up the community, too.

"Vermont needs something to go right," he said. "They have given so much to help us get back on our feet. Now it's our turn to pay back the community for that help they have given us."

The staff agreed to rally the company in a clean-up effort.

"If we could get the building to a place where it could be occupied we could try to remount our show by the weekend," said Duke.

But before they even went inside of the building, Duke turned the company's attention to the playhouse's neighbors who had also been deeply affected by the flooding. He sent volunteers from his staff to a nearby local store that had severe damage, and to the volunteer fire department where two feet of water had pooled.

"Let's get some of our people who can get to work right away. Let's get them up there and help out some of our other neighbors, because I know some of them will be back down here helping us later in the day," he said. "Vermont just espouses that kind of community culture."

While they were expecting some help from the locals, Duke said within two hours of beginning the clean-up volunteers were coming by to help. Since Monday, 20-25 volunteers, on top of the staff, have been showing up each day to help sift through the damage. The fire department that the playhouse helped pumped thousands of gallons from the theater's basement. Housewives, retirees and other locals just came by to ask what they could do to help. Some local store owners even brought by supplies.