Egyptian Theatre — Attraction in DeKalb Township

I do not regard the Egyptian Theatre as a community theatre because it is not accessible to all members of the community.

My colleagues and I, all grassroots volunteers working with no budget, partnered with the Egyptian Theatre some years ago to host free disability awareness programming in the form of a documentary on the history of the disability rights movement. The executive director, Alex Nerad, initially said that he would attend the screening.

I was the point person for this event and Mr. Nerad and I corresponded via email. In one message, he asked whether the theatre should purchase a copy of the film or if we would provide one. The film was $150 from the distributor, and all of us who were organizing the event were low income. We had already been struggling to fundraise the several hundred dollars that the theatre required to cover its overhead for a free event. I thus did not immediately respond to his message as I wanted to find a less expensive means of procuring the film. Unfortunately, other questions arose during the interim and I forgot to answer.

As the date of the screening neared, I had identified several potential means of obtaining the film for free via various library systems. Before I had a chance to inform Mr. Nerad of this, however, he emailed me to inform me that he had purchased the film and that we owed the theatre an additional $150. I replied that I was sorry for the miscommunication, but I had not authorized the purchase of the film and we were not able to afford the additional cost.

He sent back a message stating that he could not allow the theatre to take on an expense of $150 on my account. I again repeated that neither I nor any of the other event organizers had authorized the expense and could not pay it, but that he could pursue legal action if he truly felt we were in the wrong and owed the theatre money. This is the last I heard from him.

Either before or after this exchange, I asked whether there was a ramp for the event presenters to access the stage, as both were wheelchair users. He did not answer this question and did not attend the screening.

Our invited guest speakers thus had to present from the floor. One of speakers also found that their electric wheelchair could not fit through the doorway to the restroom. They felt incredibly disrespected, and the entire purpose of the event (i.e., to celebrate and support people with disabilities) was sullied.

Since then, I have not supported and will not support the Egyptian Theatre until I see evidence that the theatre is accessible to and inclusive of people with disabilities.

EDIT: My response to the Egyptian Theatre's response is as follows:

I am sorry that Mr. Nerad spent the $150, but it is very unprofessional to make a purchase on a behalf of a client that the client has not expressly approved. The loss was his mistake and his mistake alone.

As I have previously stated, the theatre is welcome to pursue legal action against me to obtain the $150, but an attorney will most likely only confirm that you cannot expect a client to pay for a purchase that they never authorized.

It is not true that Alex Nerad attended the event; only two or three staff members attended (two to work concessions, and one of them or another person played the film). Nerad was either not in attendance or did not make his presence known to any of the event attendees or organizers.

Neither I nor my collaborators were informed of the theatre's wheelchair lift prior to the film screening.

I am not impressed that it will have taken the Egyptian Theatre nearly 30 years after the ADA was signed into law to make the theatre accessible.

If the staff truly wanted it to be a theatre for the entire community, they would have taken steps to make it accessible sooner and without needing to be informed by attendees unable to use the restrooms that electric wheelchairs cannot fit through narrow doorways.

I have revised my original statement to remove the word "unprofessional," as this was apparently only implied and not...

I have appreciated the Egyptian Theater as a community landmark for years. I cannot believe, however, the way that my son was treated at the box office today when he very respectfully and calmly approached the attendant with a concern (their website charged him $100 but didn't attach tickets to his account). The attendant immediately raised her voice, cut him off with a rude and angry tone, and didn't answer his questions. I intervened (calmly, honestly) to try to re-explain his question in case she hadn't understood. The attendant's behavior from there continued to be stunningly unprofessional. She would not let me finish a sentence, and repeatedly cut me off with flat denials that my son's experience had happened despite the evidence to the contrary. I truly respect folks in customer service positions and know from experience how hard that work can be. From that perspective, I also know how to have those conversations. If the response to him had simply been, "I'm so sorry that happened. When a website charge fails to finish loading, sometimes the bank hold doesn't release for a few days afterward. Keep an eye on it and let us know if it doesn't release within a week. I'll make a note in your file that this happened; the tickets aren't selling fast so there should be some left by the time your funds are released," we would have left feeling heard and respected even if not pleased with the situation. Instead, we left feeling unheard, disrespected, and frankly disgusted by the entire encounter. If that is the standard of communication from this management team, we'll be choosing alternatives whenever possible. And, I have to say, reading about how the theater handled the disability awareness event mentioned in the other review here is both sad and now...

Wow! The Epyptian Theater is such a fantastic experience. It is a vintage theater that is renovated and rare. It is amazing. You must go. It's acoustics are outstanding and there is no bad seating. The bathrooms are large with no waiting even with a full house. There is nowhere else to go for this experience. When so many thing are so plain, the Eyptian is not. It's a masterpiece. The Christmas decorations are above and beyond. The entire downtown DeKalb is absolutely gorgeous especially at Christmas. Lights and joy abound. There are Christmas lights surrounding the area and old fashion town decorations you enter. You step into a Christmas experience. There is even a little Chocolate Shoppe with other types of candies next to the Eyptian Theater. You can catch them making chocolates if you come at the right time. DeKalb's Main Street has so much to explore with many 5 star little restaurants and shops of every sort from clothing to unique items. The Eyptian Theater is a must do on a monthly basis. There are so many unique productions that book there. Tickets are reasonable and the popcorn is really yummy. The best show that I have ever saw, is the Beth Fowler School of Dance production of the Nutcracker. This is another must do. All of her productions are completely wonderful. You will have a long list of things you love when you explore all Eyptian Theater has going on throughout the year. We are lucky so many talented people put this theater at our fingertips to enjoy. There is nothing like it for it's quaint entertaining experience. And do lunch or dinner on Main St for your for a total...