Incline Theater hosting opening party Saturday

When Tim Perrino stands on the stage of the Warsaw Federal Incline Theater, the new performing arts center in East Price Hill, he already sees hundreds of faces in the crowd – not the bright purple seats waiting to be installed.

"You can stand right here and you can look at every single person in the space," said Perrino, the executive artistic director of Cincinnati Landmark Productions. "... There is nothing safe out here. The actor better be real and honest.

"The audience is going to get every sweat droplet, tear droplet and blood droplet. ... We are all in this experience together."

That experience will start Saturday when Cincinnati Landmark Productions hosts an opening party for the community, days before the company opens its first show, "The Producers."

The street party and open house will celebrate more than three years of fundraising and construction, as well as the fact that the $6 million project is expected to be completed on time and slightly under budget, said Rodger Pille, spokesman for Cincinnati Landmark Productions.

The opening will also mark the beginning of a new era for the over 30-year-old production company that also operates Covedale Center for the Performing Arts in West Price Hill.

"I think we are already an excellent opportunity for the local performing artist," Perrino said. "We are just going to expand the amount and type of performers we are going to get."

The Warsaw Federal Incline Theater season is designed to complement the offerings at the Covedale Center for the Performing Arts and is also an homage to the 23 years of programming performed on the Showboat Majestic.

"Over the course of our 34 years, we've performed in any little nook and cranny we could," Perrino said.

The Warsaw Federal Incline Theater includes the 220-seat theater, a rehearsal space and offices, Pille said. During the construction process, the group determined a space behind the stage could also be used for the costume shop.

"We realized this huge space could actually solve an organizational problem," he said.

The group anticipated having 120 show nights with additional rehearsal days and nights. And with the costume shop and offices, "the building will be alive every day," Pille said.

The opening party is also a thank you to the theater's supportive community partners and neighbors.

Long before Perrino worked in theater, the businesses and people surrounded the Matson Place center were his neighbors.

He spent his first days on Earth at his grandparents' house nearby since his parents lived with them when he was born. His grandparents lived in that house until 1992.

He remembers when a saloon sat at the current home of the Warsaw Federal Incline Theater. He can still describe the smells of cigars and alcohol, the sound of laughter and music.

The saloon was long gone when they broke ground on the theater. It was instead an empty lot with patchy grass where neighbors would walk their dogs.

"This is coming home," he said.

Warsaw Federal Incline Theater by the numbers

• 229-seat performing arts center and on-site rehearsal hall.

• Two-deck public parking garage

• $6 million total project

•Estimated 120 show nights and more than 150 rehearsal/meeting nights

• First show is the "The Producers," June 3-21. This show is 88 percent sold.

Opening celebration details

6-10 p.m. entertainment/street party and 9:30 p.m. fireworks Saturday, May 30.

Outside Plaza, Warsaw Federal Incline Theater, 801 Matson Place. For more information, call 241-6550 or visit www.warsawfederalinclinetheater.com. Features The Mistics, Rozzi's Fireworks and food and drinks.

Open house/tours of the new Warsaw Federal Incline Theater will be available, with limited paid parking available at new Incline District Parking Garage.