Historic theater to honor its savior
By Mike Leidemann
Advertiser Staff Writer
They're saving a seat at the Hawai'i Theatre for Mary Bishop. It's appropriate since she helped save the theater.
Advertiser library photo
Bishop, who worked for 10 years as a consultant in the effort to bring the historic downtown theater back to life, will be honored in a memorial service at the theater this afternoon. She died earlier this year in her hometown of Columbus, Ohio, at the age of 82.
Mary Bishop also helped save the Ohio Theater.
"We're accepting funds to name a seat in her honor," said Sarah Richards, president of the theater. "She had a key role in getting the theater restored."
Bishop was a widowed housewife who helped save the historic Ohio Theater from demolition and then led a drive to restore and expand it into a highly successful performing arts center in the 1970s. Local residents heard of her efforts and, using a $5,000 grant from The Honolulu Advertiser, invited Bishop to Honolulu in 1986 to evaluate the possibility of a similar program here, her close friend Claire Engle said.
Although not a design or fund-raising professional, her experience in Ohio was invaluable in saving the theater here, Richards said.
The Hawai'i Theatre — once known as "The Pride of the Pacific" — had been a showcase for vaudeville acts, operas and movies since it opened in 1922, but had fallen on hard times by the late 1970s. The theater's gilded neo-classic columns and dome had crumbled with neglect. The roof leaked, the proscenium mural was damaged, and termites were feasting on the ceiling. Only a handful of people believed the building could be saved.
"She brought enthusiasm and determination and belief that it could be done," Richards said. "She never wavered on that. It wasn't so much her expertise or experience but her spirit that rubbed off on every one she met."
That spirit helped local residents raise nearly $30 million, including $12 million in state money, for the theater, which brought a renewed cultural life into the downtown area when it reopened in 1996.
"She really knew her stuff and gave the project an air of credibility at a time when no one else in the business community thought it could be done," Engle said. "She had charm, tenacity, experience and confidence in her message. People loved working with her because she worked just as hard as all our volunteers."
Under the watch of Bishop and a New York architect she brought into the project, Malcolm Holzman, the theater was carefully restored.
A rotunda was repaired and improved. Interior decorations, including new metallic leaf on columns and grill work, were revamped. A Lionel Walden mural, "The Glorification of the Drama," on the proscenium soundboard was restored. Theater walls were retextured. The lobby received a new marble floor and counters. Fourteen-hundred new seats were custom-made for the theater. The original Robert Morton organ was returned. All electrical wiring, lights, plumbing and sound systems were replaced.
Bishop wasn't without her detractors, though. As costs for the restoration program mounted, she was sometimes criticized for relying too heavily on Mainland experts and contractors.
When the theater reopened in 1996, Bishop defended her choices.
"We wanted the best of everything and we needed to absolutely rely on everything we bought because Hawai'i was so far away," she said. "Everyone who was here, I worked with previously at the Ohio Theatre. As a member of the Theatre Historical Society of America, you get great respect for those you know have integrity."
The restoration of the Hawai'i Theatre helped revive a sagging nighttime economy downtown and led to several other cultural arts projects in the neighborhood, just as Bishop had predicted.
"Mary had seen that happen elsewhere and knew how much the theater would mean to Honolulu," Engle said. "She was really good at getting everyone from bank presidents to businessmen to understand how important that could be."
Her efforts won wide recognition, including awards from the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the League of Historic American Theaters, the Columbus Symphony and the Columbus Association for the Performing Arts.
The theater is accepting donations to pay for a chair in Bishop's name. Contributions can be sent to the Mary Bishop Memorial Fund, Hawai'i Theatre Center, 1130 Bethel St., Honolulu, HI 96813.
