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LAKE BENTON, Minn. (KELO) \u2014 In every city, big and small, amenities tend to come and go. But in the small town of Lake Benton, Minnesota, there\u2019s been one consistent form of entertainment for well over a century.<\/p>\n
In the heart of the town, you\u2019ll find history hiding in plain sight along Benton Street.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom what I understand, we\u2019re one of two original opera houses left in the state of Minnesota,\u201d Lake Benton Opera House Vice President Dave Norgaard said.<\/p>\n
The Lake Benton Opera House, as it stands, dates back to 1896. A year prior, fire destroyed the original wood structure, though some of the scorched timbers still remain.<\/p>\n
\u201cOver the years it was an opera house, and then vaudeville, the traveling acts, and then it got made into a movie theater, probably back in the 40s, and then this thing changed. It fell into disrepair, and it sat here with busted out windows,\u201d Norgaard said.<\/p>\n
The building was actually scheduled for demolition in 1970, but was saved from the wrecking ball. By 1977, it joined the National Register of Historic Places.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a tremendous effort, the amount of hours that go into it, it\u2019s a labor of love, it has turned into for me anyway,\u201d Norgaard said.<\/p>\n
Norgaard got his first taste of the theater more than 30 years ago when his daughter auditioned for The Sound of Music. A year later, it was Norgaard who ended up on stage.<\/p>\n
\u201cA week before opening, they were short a person, and they hammered on me a little bit, and so I filled in,\u201d Norgaard said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI came over, auditioned and got the lead role, and I pretty much been here ever since,\u201d board president Alan Riedel said.<\/p>\n
Riedel arrived in Lake Benton in 1998. He\u2019s graduated from actor to director and board president.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I\u2019m actually directing a show or working on a show, I probably put in 60 to 80 hours a week here, along with my normal job,\u201d Riedel said.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s not the only one working overtime; the current crop of actors continues to come from far and wide.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re from all over. In Rent, our farthest one right now is coming from Brandon, South Dakota, so we do get people that drive quite a ways just to be in some of these shows,\u201d Riedel said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is a small community theater, super tight-knit. But it\u2019s also big enough that we can share our interests with everyone in the area,\u201d actor Emma Lipinski said.<\/p>\n
Lipinski is from Ivanhoe, Minnesota \u2014 15 miles north of Lake Benton \u2014 and started doing children\u2019s theater at the Opera House at age eleven.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve always had an interest in performing, and this is really what ignited my interest. And I\u2019ve grown since then. It\u2019s been a great place for me to find out who I am, not only as an actor, but as a person,\u201d Lipinski said.<\/p>\n
Rent is her tenth production at the Opera House.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m playing the role of Maureen Johnson. She\u2019s a super fun character to play,\u201d Lipinski says.<\/p>\n
But Lipinski is the first to admit there\u2019s something more important than the script or part.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe people are what bring me here and what keep me coming back,\u201d Lipinski said.<\/p>\n
Riedel says Rent has a cast and crew of about 30 and is entering its second weekend of shows. It\u2019s one of four productions this season that got its start back in February.<\/p>\n
\u201cMost of the time that\u2019s one musical, two plays, and we have a board of 12 to 15 people, depending on the years, that decide those shows,\u201d Riedel said.<\/p>\n
And Riedel feels fortunate to be working in a space like the Opera House.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you look around the theaters in the Midwest, the small town theaters, not a lot of them have a building like this, right? Sioux Falls, I believe, has the Orpheum, a little theater there that people can go to. But if you go to Brookings or Marshall or Luverne or those, there\u2019s not a lot of small town theaters, right, that actually have a theater building like this,\u201d Riedel said.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a labor of love for everyone involved.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe rely heavily on donations and people that like the place,\u201d Norgaard said.<\/p>\n
Norgaard says the organization has gotten creative with its fundraising over the years, including the installation of new seating.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe didn\u2019t have the money for that back in 2000. But come up with the idea, we sold the seat for 100 bucks. You could buy a seat, and if you look in the back of all these seats, there\u2019s little nameplates. By the time we got them installed and had to write the check, we had all the money to pay for them,\u201d Norgaard said.<\/p>\n
The Opera House hopes to fill the seats for years to come, though it still stings every time shows like Rent come to a close.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe end of the run is always bittersweet. \u2018Geez, it\u2019s finally over\u2019, but it\u2019s also kind of sad. The friendships you\u2019ve made. You know, when you tear the set down all that hard work and it\u2019s all over. So, it\u2019s bittersweet at the end of every run,\u201d Norgaard said.<\/p>\n
And if Norgaard has a say, the Lake Benton Opera House\u2019s best days are still ahead of it.<\/p>\n