Sing for Their Supper - 10

"It's almost ready," Tuck said, a month and a half after they'd signed the papers saying the former restaurant was now theirs. In the interim—after consulting with Tom Hanson, the architect—they'd hired a contracting firm to do the necessary work of removing the wall between what had been two dining rooms. Then the workers had built the stage to Brent and Tuck's specifications, cleared out the kitchen to make it work as the scene shop, and turned the bar-entryway into the theater's lobby. The basement had been partitioned into three sections. The smallest was for storage. The rest had become dressing rooms for the actors and a Green Room along one side of the hallway, and the costume shop on the other side. All this was done under the watchful eye of Hanson, himself, to be certain everything was completed as promised.

At the moment, the people from the interior design company Hanson had recommended were in the process of completing the work on the walls, carpeting, and seating in the public areas. Because the building was on the lake, the former owner had gone for a rustic look with exterior wood siding. "Almost a log cabin feel," Tuck had commented the first time he'd seen it.

The interior of the auditorium already had a ceiling of exposed wood beams. The firm's designers had suggested wood paneling for the walls, dark carpeting and beige seats. After showing Brent and Tuck drawings of what they had in mind, the men had agreed.

"All we need now is a crew—and actors," Brent replied to Tuck's comment.

"I'll deal with the crew," Brent said. "You round up your actors. By the time you get them, the cabins should be completed."

They hadn't even thought about how they were going to house the young people until Hanson had pointed out that it couldn't be somewhere within the theater, due to zoning laws. He'd put them in touch with a company that constructed pre-built cabins. After several discussions with the company's owner, they'd settled on two that would sit at the back edge of the parking lot. With some adjustments, they would have four bedrooms large enough to hold two to three beds each, a small kitchen and bathroom, and a living area in the center. Paying for them, as well as everything else, had wiped out more than half of Brent's inheritance, not that he cared. "It'll be worth it, to get kids off the street and doing something productive with their lives."