It sits along Tower Drive, somewhat removed from the hustle and bustle of campus. It has housed both farm animals and elaborate stage productions. It has been a bone of contention among some at the University. Through it all, the Reilly Theatre has remained a fixture on campus, and now, it is getting another facelift. Adam Miller, marketing and public relations director for Swine Palace Productions, said the building that now houses the theater company was built originally as the Livestock Viewing Pavillion in 1926.
Little information is available about the building from that time, but employees of Hill Memorial Library said it was originally a dairy barn used for feeding and housing cows and other livestock.
Photographs of the campus from that time show that the building sat in an empty field, with only the dust from a nearby gravel road swirling about to keep the livestock entertained.
Decades later, theater professor Barry Kyle founded Swine Palace Productions as a professional theater company based at the University, changing the Pavillion’s use.
Kyle said he first saw the building in 1990, when it had fallen into disuse and disrepair. By that time the building was nothing more than a space for occassional student parties or informal shows, but Kyle envisioned it as a professional performing arts space.
“I believed that the culture of the state should be visible in the principal theater performing space at the state university,” Kyle said. “Football, rodeo and Mardi Gras were the signatures of that and underlay the designs for the space which became the Reilly Theater.”
However, not everyone agreed with Kyle’s methods.
Michael Tick, theater department chairman, said there was some resentment among some theater faculty members because they were not allowed to have input in the renovation process.
John Dennis, associate artistic director for Swine Palace Productions and a theater professor, said members of the theater department had no input in Kyle’s redesign.
The theater became the home of Swine Palace Productions in February 2000. Since then, several theatrical performances have taken place there, including “All The King’s Men,” “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” “Jesus Christ Superstar,” and “Louisiana Purchase.” Miller said local arts organizations and social service organizations also have used the building for performances, fundraisers and other events.
But the primary use of the building is for theatrical productions, and toward that end, the theater department is in the planning stages of another redesign of the building.
Tick said the plans include adding another dressing room, move the bathrooms near the lobby for easier access and removing the concrete risers that hold the seating up to allow for more seating flexibility, with five possible seating configurations.
In addition, the plans call for creating a green room for actors to relax in, as well as a second floor that will house two dance studios. The upstairs area would be used for dance, acting and directing classes.
Tick said he currently is waiting on a cost estimation for the renovations, but they will be completed with private money only.
“It sits empty during the day now, but with the new classrooms, 400 to 500 students a day will come through,” Tick said. “We want it to truly become a performing arts training facility.”