NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The last time the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra played the Orpheum Theater, they performed a fitting piece of music: Giuseppe Verdi's "Requiem," a musical reflection of the Roman Catholic funeral mass.
Hurricane Katrina struck three months later and the historic theater was closed for the next decade. Some thought it may never re-open.
"We didn't plan it that way in May of 2005, but it turned out to be the requiem for this building," said John Reeks, the orchestra's president and one of its clarinetists.
After a $13 million renovation, the theater plans its reopening Thursday. There was no question what the orchestra would play — Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 2 "Resurrection."
"We've got to do this piece. It's so perfect," Reeks said.
The Beaux Arts venue, built in 1918 for vaudeville acts, had been the orchestra's home base for 14 years before floodwaters rushed through the building's basement, one of the few in a city built below sea level. A sump pump failed, allowing the water to linger and contributing to the damage.
"We didn't know what we were going to come back to," Reeks said. "There's no FEMA trailer big enough to hold an orchestra, so, we really had to make do for a long time."
Orchestra members were scattered across the country after the storm. For a few months, they based their office out of Baton Rouge. Eventually, they reopened office space in New Orleans and played various venues in and around the city, but there was no place like the Orpheum.
Decorative artist Mary von Kurnatowski, whose husband Roland von Kurnatowski bought the theater with a partner in 2014, spent 22 months on the restoration project, taking hundreds of photos and collecting paint samples to bring back the theater's grandness while keeping it as close to the original as possible.
"When you came into the building, it was still absolutely drop-dead gorgeous in a very breathtaking but sort of eerie sort of way. I mean a lot of peeling paint, and of course the lighting was not great, but you fell under its spell when you came in," von Kurnatowski said.
The restoration included new electrical wiring, updated bathrooms, the addition of six bars and an adjustable floor that allows for expanded entertainment offerings like modern dance and comedy acts, touring bands and movie screenings.
Kristin Shannon, the theater's general manager, said it's a multifunctional space and can go "from Bach to rock."
Wilco performs Sept. 28. The theater, which seats just over 1,500 people, is located in the heart of New Orleans' Central Business District and is one of the last remaining vertical hall designs, which means the seating is stacked to allow for ideal sight lines and great acoustics.
"We're so excited that a new generation will be able to enjoy it," von Kurnatowski said.
– by AP Reporter Chevel Johnson
