Hancher memories

wrestler ushers

I have so many good memories of Hancher. What a terrific opportunity I had as House Manager to see (if only parts of) many performances and work with really wonderful, talented, devoted people from my classmates, to my bosses, Hancher staff, and about 60 ushers.

My favorite performance memory is the Horowitz concert in 1976. My most vivid memory is the (indoor) concert by the U of I Scottish Highlanders. Now that was loud. My craziest memory is of a young man who ran through the front door without a ticket and then ran up the stairs. I followed him (what would I have done if I had caught him?) and asked the ushers in the balcony to close the doors. I didn't catch him, but several members of the Iowa wrestling team who were ushers that year escorted him out of the building.

Fondest memory is graduating from Iowa in December inside Hancher Auditorium. When I walked across the stage, all the ushers cheered. Thanks for the memories.

Jane Stricklin 

remembering Jack Taft Hain

I remember at the age of 3, my father losing his life along with 3 other men building Hancher. I hope the memory is not lost for those men and the memorial stands tall and proud for many many more years to come.

I always wonder how many people know that men lost their lives that cold day in December 1970. How families were ended that day and a father never known. I always hoped for a big statue, memorial or something more than Hancher ever gave my father. I wonder if I would have had brothers and sisters had my father not been killed at the young age of 24?

Who ever remembers  the guys that lost their lives that day?

Brenda Hain

Daughter of Jack Taft Hain

not just a building, but...

 

I transferred to UI in my junior year to find my roommates were rarely in the dorm room; one majored in theatre and was off painting sets and all else theatre, while the other was a music major singing Opera in Voxman (where I later took organ lessons).  At the time, Hancher seemed far away on the other side of campus. My future husband worked at Hancher while a student, and I later parked in the lot to await cambus ride to work. 

My appreciation of Hancher started after my graduation in 1978 when I walked across the stage (last in line for the college of nursing) to shake the hand of Willard Boyd when he told me that the ‘last will become first’  which made us both smile.  

After we married, I found myself  laughing and crying there, enjoying the likes of Bill Cosby, CATS, Nutcracker, Band Extravaganza, STOMP and Les Miserables to name a few.   I shared my enthusiasm for the arts with like-minded persons at work.  Hancher was a highlight of cultural opportunities in Iowa City, but it wasn’t until our children danced on stage each May (nearly 10 years) in the Iowa Dance Academy Recital that Hancher took on an even more personal connection.  The excitement both back stage and watching the performance created many family memories.  

I hoped that Hancher would provide similar memories for my children who both attend UI, but that is not possible within the walls of the building that I knew.  We all know that it is not just the building that provides happy memories; it is talented UI students and staff who work hard to bring a rich schedule of events to us each year.  But that won’t stop us from shedding a tear when the building is no longer there.

Julie Patten

bottle dancing and more

 Alllowing me to introduce myself; David Beckwith, '74.  Lets get ready to go back 3 decades as I graduated from U of I in 1974!!!  My fondest memories is actually preforming on that stage, Mabie Theatre (Apollo, Anything Goes, Tis a Pity Shes a Whore, Fall Faculty & Student Chorography from the Dance Dept.) and the Concert Hall as well ( Renard the Fox and Dance School student choreography).  I got around!!!!

At the time I was there I held kind of a high  mark of performances on the Hancher Stage as a student.  60+! I wonder if that still stand after all these years?  It started with Cabaret, Fiddler on the Roof and Carousel.  Then I added all the spring and fall performance with the Dance department and then added in Love for 3 Oranges with the Opera Studio.  I danced and sang my heart out and loved every minute.  Favorite moment on that stage was as a Bottle Dancer in Fiddler on the Roof.  I never dropped that bottle; my fellow dancer can't say that!  But what an exciting experience having all those eyes on just the four of us!  And then pulling it off, the audience went crazy...but talk about pressure.

Memorable performances are hard to whittle down; but it always includes the many touring companies that appeared.  For me it is a tie between "Pippen" and "Grease".  Both outstanding and the theatre was packed.

I will always have many memories of the exceptional musical talent/talents whether piano, orchestral or vocal  that help shape the culture of UI and its strong commitment to the Arts in Iowa City that truly made an impact on the lives of so many through the multiple and diverse selections that were the corner stone of the presentations provided by the University and specifically, Hancher Auditorium.

The building may go...but the memories will linger far from today and new ones will be fostered by that same commitment to excellence that students, faculty and administration  of the University of Iowa has a long history and standing to provide for the intangible human growth that occurs when "art" is so alive and well in our ever developing and evolving culture.

It was an honor and privilege that Hancher Auditorium offered to us all, and I carry it with fondness and affection as the Arts at the University of Iowa evolves its Performing Arts commitment to excellence.

Break a Leg,

David L. Beckwith
'74, Colorado

 

much more

 

In July, 1981, I walked across the Hancher stage to receive my BBA, accounting degree. Thirty-six years old, two teenagers, husband and a job. (Long before it was popular for "older students" to go to college.) The first to graduate from college in my second generation American family.  But the best was that my dad and mom could be there. Dad was dying of cancer. So you see, Hancher may have been a performing arts building, but to some of us, it was much more. I will miss seeing it.

 

Lynda S. Ladner, BBA 1981, Texas

amazed little kid

I have many sweet memories of Hancher...I saw "Les Miz" there, twice, and "Miss Saigon", and was amazed by both productions.  I was entranced by the Joffrey's "Nutcracker" when I was in junior high.  I graduated from West High in 1995 on that stage.  I cater-waitered for a wedding reception in the lobby.  I've even performed there a few times with various school and community groups...a particular thrill was playing Gershwin on one of the big Steinways for a Ronald McDonald House benefit. 

But my most precious memory was when I was 7 or 8 (would have been early-80s), my mother and grandmother took me to Hancher to see a performance of Mummenschantz, and after the show, my mother somehow managed to get me backstage where I was able to meet the performers and get their autographs.  That was pretty amazing for a little kid. 

I'll be sad to see Hancher go, but I also eagerly await her rebirth!  "On with the show...!"

Jeffrey Mead

bigger than myself

Hancher Auditorium brings back great memories as a student at the University of Iowa.

I signed up as an usher in 1979 to see the fine arts for free. Little did I know that Hancher would give me much more than a source of free entertainment.

I got to see the showing of the movie "Time After Time"directed by Nicholas Meyer a University of Iowa graduate. And, I got to meet the director as I served as a waiter for a invitation only pre-movie dinner.. It was my first and only waiter job.

I met and developed some great friendships.

I learned how to tie a tie.

And, i got to celebrate my graduation on a beautiful day in July in 1982 in Hancher Auditorium. The last time I was in Hancher was in 1992. I got to see my niece (a Hawkeye Football Cheerleader) graduate.

Hancher entertained me.

Hancher educated me.

Best of all, Hancher enlightened me to a bigger world than myself

Heres to the Hancher of Old. And, to a new Hancher with a new generation of students.

Ross Sherwood
Omaha

pictures

I have very fond memories of Hancher as a little girl. I’m from Muscatine & my mom took me to the Band Extravaganza for several years. It was my primary exposure to classical music as a child and of course, to the marching band which was so much fun. It was always special to stay up late on a school night.

Because of this exposure as a child, I made it a point to get involved with Hancher as a student at the U of I, working as an usher for a time.

What sticks in my memory as a child was the ‘modern’ architecture of the facility, the carpet, the entryway with the ticket booths, the grand staircases, the view from the balcony and, as with every theater, that particular smell.  

I was in I.C. last year and stopped by the building. The dryers were still on and I took a few pictures through the windows…pictures of those things I remember as a kid.

A couple of the best shows I saw over the years was Prince collaboration with the Joffery Ballet and Kabuki MacBeth.

Kathleen Beckman

for the ghost light

Working as an usher, I was fortunate to see so many great shows at Hancher during my too long a stay in college .  I think never in a million years would I have attended a modern dance recital on my own, but thinking back these are the performances I remember most.  David Parsons performing "Caught."  Sanki Juku "The Egg Stands Alone" with a 6 inch pool of water on the stage and the sand dripping from above. Carbone 14 and the iron beds being swung around at terrifying speed.  Pilobolus with The Bobs. Mikhail Baryshnikov.  For me it is really meaningful that the goodbye performance is Hubbard Street Dance since these are the performances I gravitated towards.  Now that we are saying goodbye to the building, I can't help but remember bringing out the balcony ghost light after a terrific night at Hancher and feeling the immense quietness of the space with my mind still vibrating from what I had just seen. 

Todd Miller

making music

As an undergrad music major transfer student in the Fall of 1979 I was immediately taken by the warmth and majesty that was Hancher Auditorium.   Performers and audience members alike felt connected to each other and to whatever was being performed - whether an opera, and dance production, or concert.  I had the privilege during the next three years of hearing and seeing some of the world's finest performers in that hall:  Miles Davis, Yo-Yo Ma, Barry Tuckwell, the Cleveland Orchestra, the L.A. Phil, the Minnesota Orchestra…..the list goes on. 

But most memorable and important to me was the honor and experience to sit on the stage of Hancher and make music.  Performing with The University Orchestra under James Dixon works like "The Rite of Spring", Symphonies by Beethoven, Brahms, Bruckner, Tchaivkovsky, and Mahler were not only priceless to me as a young musician, but literally life-changeing to me as a human being.  I will never forget those experiences, and my heart breaks at the thought that this very special place will soon be gone.

Eric Hummel