The Rowland returns to its roots

They say that you can’t go home again — but it helps if you never left.

The Rowland Theatre has occupied the same plot of land in Philipsburg for nearly a century.

It opened its doors in 1917 as a venue for live theatrical performances. Audience members could choose from more than 1,000 seats from which to angle for the best view of the stage, where actors gave life to a world textured by costumes and props and anchored in three dimensions.

A lot can happen over the course of 100 years and today, the Rowland is primarily known as a more regal than most movie palace where Centre County residents can catch the latest in the long reel of Hollywood cinema, including hits like “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” or the Amy Poehler and Tina Fey comedy vehicle “Sisters.”

It seems fitting then that when the Rowland returns to its theatrical roots this weekend, it will be with a play penned by the late Nora Ephron, the writer/director behind films like “Sleepless in Seattle” and “You’ve Got Mail,” and her sister, Delia Ephron.

The Reader’s Theatre presentation of “Love, Loss and What I Wore” will start at 2 p.m. on Saturday. There won’t be any costumes or sets, just five actresses, a couple of music stands and a script.

The simplicity of the Reader’s Theatre series was part of the appeal to Gayle Gearhart, who is both the director of the show and the artistic director of Clearfield Arts Studio Theatre Inc.

Light on its feet, the bare-bones reading is easy to pick up and transport to other venues, whether it was the performance in Clearfield on Friday or the upcoming show at the Paul G. Reitz Theatre in DuBois on Sunday.

“We want to reach out to different communities and be part of them and them a part of us,” Gearhart said.

“Love, Loss and What I Wore” was written as a series of monologues told through different articles of clothing and the memories that the characters have attached to them.

Gearhart believes that the concept isn’t only a novel storytelling device, but a highly relatable extension of everyday life.

“When you see a piece of clothing, it brings back a memory,” Gearhart said.

In addition to being one of the production’s five leading ladies, Rebecca Inlow sits on the Rowland’s board of directors and believes that the show is an opportunity to expand the theater’s horizons.

“It will make Philipsburg people more familiar with CAST and vice versa,” Inlow said.

Admission is $5. Pending approval by the Philipsburg Borough, the Rowland is in the process of raising money to remodel its existing marquee into something closer to the building’s original, larger design.

This story was originally published January 22, 2016 at 4:08 PM with the headline "The Rowland returns to its roots."