Instead of bells, different sounds echo through Wadsworth Central Intermediate School, reborn as the Celestia Theater.
The 119-year-old building鈥檚 auditorium underwent a $1.5 million refurbishment before reopening as a performance space last December.
Tom Weyand, the theater鈥檚 executive director, said he鈥檚 pleased that the school district didn鈥檛 just send in the wrecking ball.
鈥淔olks come in here and say, 鈥極h my gosh, thank you, my grandmother went to high school here and my daughters had their first play or their first band concert on this stage. We're so glad you guys have created something to forge a path ahead for the next 100 years to keep this building intact,鈥欌�� he said.
The Celestia opened with Journey tribute band E5C4P3 and has since hosted other tribute acts, local artists and even touring performers like Christian singer Megan Woods. Northeast Ohio songstress to iconic 鈥�70s duo the Carpenters on May 17. After a recent site visit, she likened its interior dazzle to a time-travelling spaceship.
鈥淚 was completely floored when I got there,鈥� Welch said. 鈥淚 was expecting to see a slightly substandard high school auditorium. And it's just like Doctor Who's TARDIS! They've got the red carpet and the gold ropes going into the entrance, beautiful seating, huge stage. I was blown away.鈥�
Welch鈥檚 popular tribute act dates to a performance at Nighttown, a former jazz club in Cleveland Heights when a large, noisy table stopped paying attention and Welch asked the pianist to switch gears.鈥�
鈥淗e was quite scathing and said, 鈥極h, Carpenters,鈥欌�� she said. 鈥淚 said, 鈥楴o one's listening.鈥� So, I started singing 鈥� within about 30 seconds, you could hear a pin drop. And I thought, 鈥楾hey either hate it or they love it.鈥� And at the end, the place went nuts.鈥�
She鈥檚 since taken to her Carpenters program to Severance, Playhouse Square, E.J. Thomas Hall and the Akron Civic Theatre.
Bringing a range of talent to Wadsworth
The Celestia is also booking original acts such as Donnie Iris, the Verve Pipe and A Flock of Seagulls.
Weyand said he relies on his background in both theater and marketing to guide decisions, as well as his musicians鈥� ear: In the 鈥�90s, he was bassist for Northeast Ohio indie rock band the Fifth Wheel.
鈥淲e were kind of looking for a diverse lineup of shows,鈥� Weyand said. 鈥淭hat was part of our plan, strategically and marketing-wise, to come out of the gate really hot.鈥�
was added onto the school in 1922, and it was later named for school administrator O.J. Work.
Weyand said the concrete structure gets raves from musicians and the amplification is appropriate for the room size.
鈥淵ou don't miss anything, but you also don't walk out of here with your eardrums bleeding,鈥� he said.
After restoring historic plaster work and architectural features, updating the backstage area and adding new sound and lighting, all the theater needed was a name.
Weyand said they wanted something identifiable, which also paid tribute to Wadsworth itself. That鈥檚 when they learned of Laura Celestia Spelman, born in Wadsworth in 1839.
鈥淗er folks were grocers in town, moved her to Cleveland 鈥� to expand their grocery business and get her into a better education situation. And while she was there, she met a fellow whom she later married: John D. Rockefeller,鈥� Weyand said.
