Flooding damages Open Window Theatre after first ‘Frassati’ performance, but show will go on

Just hours after an opening night performance of “Frassati” at Open Window Theatre in Inver Grove Heights Oct. 1, a water pipe inside the building broke, leaving an inch of water covering about half of the 9,600-square-foot space. 

Performances had to be canceled each of the following two days, but Jeremy Stanbary, founder and artistic director, said he hopes shows beginning Oct. 7 will happen as scheduled. 

Stanbary said he was the last staff member to leave the building Oct. 1, staying long after the performance ended before finally walking out around 11:30 p.m. The next morning, Amanda Weis, coordinator of OWT’s Young Actors Academy, came in around 8:30 to teach youth drama classes and discovered water on the floor. It covered the entire lobby and part of the auditorium, including the stage. She called Stanbary, who came in immediately. The cause of the spill was a broken water pipe in the landscape irrigation system. The very next day, work crews were in the building vacuuming up the standing water and opening damaged walls to dry them out. 

Although the lobby will be in disarray for a while, Stanbary said he thinks the auditorium will be ready for this weekend’s performances, beginning Thursday night. He noted that the spilled water did not reach the tech booth or backstage areas, which would have made the problem “much, much worse.” 

Still, the timing of the water damage was “crazy,” Stanbary said, coming right after the first performance of a show scheduled to run through Nov. 1. 

“It was just surreal,” he said. “We were working so hard on opening the show, and it was a very, very impactful performance. We had long-time patrons who were there on opening night, who’ve seen everything we’ve done and were saying this was the most powerful show they’ve seen yet. … That was incredible feedback that night. And so, we were kind of riding that high after a lot of blood, sweat and tears.” 

Staff members are working to secure tickets for upcoming shows for people who had them for the two canceled performances, Stanbary said. Those who have tickets for any of this weekend’s performances can plan to attend them unless otherwise notified by OWT staff, he said. 

Stanbary said he also is considering extending the shows past Nov. 1 to make sure everyone who wants to see “Frassati” will have a chance to do so. 

As Stanbary and the rest of the staff work to clean up the theater to keep the shows going, he also is finding spiritual lessons from yet another bout of the kind of adversity he has faced in the 10 years since opening Open Window Theatre. Difficulties have included a temporary closure due to pandemic restrictions and prior to that, moving the theater from Minneapolis to its new site.  

“We really believe in the power of redemptive suffering,” he said. “We’re trying to just take all this and not ask why, but just place it in God’s hands and keep moving forward with trust and faith and try to get this show reopened as soon as possible because it’s a very powerful spiritual message for our times.” 

For more information on the play and the status of upcoming performances, visit openwindowtheatre.org.