Behind The Theatre: Decades-long Commitment

If you ask theater-goers what makes theater so special, you're likely to hear a range of responses:

"Theater nurtures talent and future audiences."

"Theater stimulates creative thought."

"Theater is a lens through which to see and understand the world."

"Theater is something magical, something that binds us together, making us one community."

For these reasons, and much more, members of the Seminole Theatre board of directors remain passionately dedicated to restoring the historic venue and giving it a new lease on life.

Members of the Miami Dade College Homestead Journalism Club (Joy Barnes, Hassan Roberts, Veronica Rushton, and Abischai Joseph) recently met with five Seminole Theatre board members, asked them an array of questions, and wrote the short stories that follow. These five dedicated women spoke with the students about their long-time involvement with the theatre, and their hopes and aspirations for what it will do for this community when it reopens its doors.

Bronwen Rutter, Executive Director

By Joy Barnes

After studying with distinguished pianist Sylvia Jenkinsand earning her bachelor's degree in piano from the University of California, Santa Cruz, Bronwen Rutteris now an accomplished, well-respected and greatly admired classical pianist. Rutter established her musical talent at age eight, and by age 13 had become active in accompanying, playing chamber music, and teaching piano. When she moved to Miami from California in 1979, she began teachingmusic to Carrollton School students in Coconut Grove and working with the Miami Choral Society, which eventually led to her current position at MDC Kendall as a staff accompanist in the Department of Music, Theater and Dance - a position she has held for 27 years.

In 1997, Rutter joined the community group that was organizing to renovate the theatre. In 2005, she was appointed executive director (a volunteer position), helping to organize and oversee the theater's renovation. Driven by her passion for music, she willingly has worked hard to bring the Seminole Theatre back to life.

"The performing arts are a special form of communication," says Rutter. "They create a different form of energy, especially for children."

Yvonne Knowles

By Hassan Roberts

After graduating from a design school in San Francisco, Yvonne Knowles enjoyed a long career with Bank of America before leaving the bank to try her hand at different businesses, including a heart stone import/export company that brought heart stones from Finland and Norway to the United States. She also started a lavender farm in France through which she imported the fragrant scent of sweet lavender. Ultimately, Knowles moved to Homestead in 1999 with her husband, a retired Pan Am pilot, and became involved in the community. Intrigued by the architecture in Homestead, she now serves as executive director of Homestead Main Street, an organization dedicated to the historic preservation of Main Street.

Knowles has been on the Seminole Theatre Board for seven years, working to restore the historical theatre. "With about 63,000 people in Homestead and another 20,000 or more in Florida City, we want to price the theatre's events so they're affordable and accessible," she said, adding, "The city has been behind us completely; it's been a wonderful partnership based on passion and heart."

Samantha Aguirre

By Veronica Rushton

Samantha Aguirre, a local realtor associate with Royal Palm Real Estate Services, was inspired by the arts at a young age. Throughout high school, she was always involved in a community theatre/drama program, as well as her school's concert choir. She and her husband moved to Homestead in 2006 as part of the management team that opened up Flagship Cinemas. Sheattended Homestead's 2013 Chili Cook-off, where she was given contact information for the Seminole Theatre board president. Upon asking a simple question, "What can I do to help?," she was invited to join the board, where she has been serving for the past two years.

It's easy to see how passionate Aguirre is about the re-opening of the theater and what it will mean for the community. "It's been proven that children who engage in the arts do better academically. They take pride in their work, they're disciplined, and they're focused," she said. Besides, she added, it will be "nice to have it [Seminole Theatre] centrally located in downtown Homestead, with rehearsal space, classrooms, and other spaces to connect children to the arts."

Dr. Linda Fagan, ARNP

By Abischai Joseph

Born in Stamford, Connecticut but raised in Massachusetts, Dr. Linda Fagan, president of the Seminole Theater Board of Directors, remembers as a child when her parents would take the train with her to New York to see Broadway shows and plays. Although she ultimately pursued a healthcare career, her artistic father was a graphic designer for the famed Condé Nast publications.

Fagan went to RN school in Massachusetts and in 1973 moved to Florida where she earned her ARNP and PhD degrees. The same year, she met Ms. Betty Calabrese, the Seminole Theater's first president. Fagan established her medical practice in Homestead, in a building that was owned by Calabrese. Her practice flourished through the years, and she was named an Outstanding Nurse Practitioner in Florida.

Fagan believes the Seminole Theater will "pump life into this community." Her passion is to see the theater's renovation through to its completion.

"Our board members are giving not only their time and money to this effort, but also their expertise. They want this theater to be there long after we're gone," she said, adding, "We have a great love and desire for this community to flourish, and hope for Homestead to be a place where residents will live and die," much like the community where Fagan grew up.

Karen Daugherty

By JC Club members

Karen Daugherty is a visual artist, a property manager, and a farmer who spent over 20 years in a printing and graphics arts business in South Florida. She left South Florida briefly to move to South Carolina, but returned and now lives in the Redlands, where she grows avocados and longans. For five years, Daugherty chaired the "Family Theatre Series," a long-time program of the Homestead Center of the Arts, contracting with New York's TheatreWorks touring company to bring children's productions to Homestead.

Daughtery's involvement with the Seminole Theatre dates back 20 years, when she joined Ms. Betty Calabrese, the first board president, in her efforts. Still committed, she said, "For 20 years, we never lost sight that it was possible (to renovate the theater)."A lover of the visual and performing arts whose heart is focused on improving opportunities for the children of our community, Daugherty called it an honor to return to the Seminole Theatre board, where she hopes to continuing expanding art and educational opportunities for our youth.

Acknowledging that the theatre's restoration may take longer than her original expectations, she remains committed because, "it's worth the wait," she said."I anticipate the theatre to be the engine that will spark life again to historic Main Street."