ABOVE: Many scenes from a Dick Van Dyke visit to Danville will be featured in the “Dick Van Dyke: 100th Celebration” Documentary
Danville’s own Dick Van Dyke will turn 100 years old on December 13th. And that weekend, at over 1,500 theatres around the country, the 90 minute documentary “Dick Van Dyke: 100th Celebration” will be shown. But Danville will get to see it one week early. The Fischer Theatre’s second FischerFest, following the one in August featuring Gene Hackman, will pay tribute to Dick Van Dyke’s career Saturday, December 6th; and Sunday, December 7th.
Sunday the 7th will feature three Van Dyke movies: Bye Bye Birdie at 11 AM, The Comic at 2:30, and Mary Poppins at 6 PM. But Saturday the 6th at 6:30 PM will be the documentary’s premier showing; with the program beginning at 5 PM.
Wisconsin resident Steve Boettcher is the film’s producer and director. He says doing this at the Fischer is so special. Because for a young Dick Van Dyke; that’s where it all began.
Fischer Theatre Interim Director Ashton Greer; Danville’s Mayor Rickey Williams, Jr; and “Dick Van Dyke: 100th Celebration” producer/director Steve Boettcher take turns speaking at Van Dyke FisherFest announcement.
AUDIO: This theatre holds a lot of that right here. Where he sat here, and watched Laurel and Hardy, over and over. His mother had to come here and fish him out of the Fischer to get him back home. And he would recreate everything he saw in his living room. All the pratfalls, all the dances, all the silly moves that he learned sitting here in these seats. And that was what he entertained the world with.
Boettcher’s love for entertainment history goes back a few decades ago, when his father was working on the PBS series Pioneers of Television.
AUDIO: And I would sit backstage with him on trunks. And in between shows; he would have a conversation with the ventriloquist, or the juggler, or the musician. And they would tell show biz stories; and I was five or six years old. And I just loved backstage stories of early iconic shows.
Another big announcement coming out of the Fischer Theatre Wednesday (Oct 15th) during the noon hour was a $280,000 grant from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity for major backstage renovations. Interim Fischer Theatre Director Ashton Greer says this project will include five new dressing rooms, redoing the whole basement area under the stage, and perhaps even a major step towards bringing back the old Fischer Theatre Orchestra Pit. The money will arrive when it’s the Fischer’s turn to receive their grant from DCEO, and the work will go out for bid. But for now, architect Studio GWA out of Rockford is putting plans on paper.
AUDIO: They’re skimming the whole building. They will be doing a full plan; mechanical engineering, all of that, for the basement renovations. They’ve been involved over here in Danville as well; but they specialize in historic preservation.
For ticket options to the December 6th and 7th Dick Van Dyke FischerFest; go to www.fischertheatre.com. For information on joining the team of sponsors for this special weekend, contact Ashton Greer at director@fischertheatre.com.
