Filming of the “Green Book” was done in downtown Hammond and coordinated with the Columbia Theatre for the Performing Arts. Courtesy of Regan Davis

The Columbia Theatre for the Performing Arts is known for creating productions for seasons filled with concerts, plays, orchestras and more. 

Beyond those traditional art events, the theater houses debates, gospel concerts, religious programs, local dance recitals and performances for middle and high school students and wedding festivities. 

At the end of February, Hammond Eastside Elementary Magnet School will perform “Singing in the Rain” and Holy Ghost Catholic School will perform “Beauty and the Beast.” After hosting junior Broadway events, religious performances and band days, Executive Director of the Columbia Theatre Roy Blackwood explained that the theater goes into what he refers to as “dancing girl season.”

“From the first of May through the end of June, we have every week blocked with a dance school of some kind,” said Blackwood. 

Another aspect of the summer season, which features non-calendared events, will be a two-night performance by Upward Bound during the last week of June. Blackwood cited the importance of the workshop in creating hands-on experience for those who may have a future in Broadway.

“The culminating event is a performance of some kind of play they will have done,” said Blackwood. “They will have made their costumes. They will learn all their lines and will learn all the stagecraft and all sorts of things. This whole experience is intended to teach them about commitment and team building and what it takes to actually put on a production.” 

In December of 2017, the theater got to be a part of the filming of the “Green Book,” a film that shares an account of attempts to allow African-American jazz musicians to travel in the south safely between 1936 and 1966. During filming, the theater was utilized to house wardrobe, hair and makeup, background actors and catering.

“This is Jim Crow south, right, so that book told them where they could lodge and where they’d be able to get to eat and not get hassled,” said Blackwood. “I did not previously know about it, but I think it is a fabulous story. It’s a part of the history of the south that really needs to be told.”

Blackwood admitted that a Netflix movie, “Highwaymen,” starring Kevin Costner and Woody Harrelson is expected to be filmed in March about the story of Bonnie and Clyde that the Columbia will be involved in.

Non-traditional performance events are held at the Columbia based on if requirements are being met. 

“We try to serve our mission statement the best we can, and if somebody wants to use the theater and it’s not going to damage the theater, they can,” said Blackwood. “Part of the reason for that is it enables for that is it enables us to serve our primary mission, which is fine arts entertainment, arts, programming, symphonies, plays, all kinds of things like that.”

Events that fit within the mission statement of the Columbia Theatre help contribute to the budget. By opening up the theater beyond calendar events, Blackwood feels that he is able to create diversity among sponsors, performers and audience members.

According to Blackwood, upon taking his position, he quickly noticed a need to make adjustments to the demographic of the theater. 

“When I first came down here the summer of 2011, I told the staff that this isn’t a museum, we’re going to open it up and use it,” said Blackwood. “I want people to know that there was a time when I would see that the people who felt most welcome here looked like me, and that bothered me a lot. I knew that we needed to broaden our demographic a lot and our appeal, and so, we’ve been working very hard to get our programming such that lots of people want to come and see it. I mean, it’s not totally altruistic although it’s important. It’s also a survival thing. If we aren’t relevant to the community at large, we will not be here anymore. And we want to be here, and we need to be here. This is not about old white people doing other things for old people. It just doesn’t work.”

Outside of allowing events to be held at the theater, the other portions of the budget of the Columbia comes from the university, sponsorships and partnerships with local businesses like Red, White & Brew, and generating revenue for heavily reduced ticket sales. Blackwood admitted that ticket sales from productions only make up 25 percent of the theater’s income.

“We want people to come see us,” said Blackwood. “Students get in either for free or greatly reduced rates. What’s hard for people to understand is that for me to put this on stage the most expensive ticket is $40, I have to have raised a lot of money. These are subsidized tickets. In New York, you can’t buy a Broadway ticket for under $200 at a regular rate per person. That restricts a lot of people. People will not pay that kind of money for a ticket in Hammond. I work really hard to make the tickets affordable. I want people to come. We need to fill up the theater.”

For those interested in applying to host an event at the Columbia, visit: columbiatheatre.org and fill out a Clover Submission Form, which can be seen on the website as a Rental Request Form.

“We don’t do what, they call in the industry, is called four wall rentals,” said Blackwood. “We are always co-producers. We maximize the performance that you’re bringing in here. A four wall means that someone comes in, says, ‘I want the theater on this date,’ asks if it is available, and I say, ‘Yes, it is. That’ll be X number of dollars.’ You give me the check. I’ll give you the key. You do your thing and leave. We don’t do that. There is a couple of reasons why: to protect our facility and our name slash product. People associate a certain level of quality with what we do here. It’s not a mosh pit. That’s why the theater’s almost 17 years old, and it still looks almost new.”

Most meetings are scheduled after the form has been filled out to determine the mission of the event. Blackwood encourages experienced and first time patrons to visit the theater. Group rates with 20 people or more will possibly be negotiated.

Blackwood considers live performances as what can fill in the space between the differences that so often separate humans.

“We’re not one kind of people,” said Blackwood. “We are all of this. We all have come here from somewhere else. I think that the arts have a responsibility to spread that message and to provide people with opportunities for entertainment, not in a preachy way, but to give you a sense of stepping outside of yourself and viewing things from the perspective of others.”