It is obvious to anyone who meets Ruth Enderle the pride she takes in the Admiral Theatre, and with good reason! Opened in 1942 as a movie house, it was abandoned in the mid-eighties, and rescued by the Admiral Theatre Foundation in 1991 when it began its long, steady climb to the present second successful season.

Located at 515 Pacific Avenue, its diverse programming as varied as the Seattle Symphony, Robert Wagner and Jill St. John in Love Letters, and Don McLean singing his hits like American Pie, the Admiral reflects the diverse community it serves.

The real “miracle,” as Ruth likes to call it is the leadership of the board headed by Chairman, A.H. “Ike” Parker, and President, Robert C. Schneidler. “Just think, we could have screwed up bad. But look, we did everything sort of right! We have a lot of common sense, and great teamwork.”

Throughout our interview Ruth, was anxious to show me the theater, and when I beheld its mermaid undersea theme, I became an instant convert. The building they inherited, “was this leaky, soggy movie house that was totally trashed.” But Ruth’s name for it now is, “classy.” She says, “I don’t think there is anything that can compare. We have people come from all over the world to this theatre and they can’t believe it. I’m not sure that our own community understands yet, because not enough of them have been here. To have a facility like this in a place like Bremerton is really unusual. We think the Admiral Theatre has set a standard for new things, for visually appealing things and quality. Things people here thought they could never have.”

KBJ: “It took six years to organize, to get the funding, to renovate. You are now in your second season, so this is still, in the public’s mind, a new venture. How did you and your staff accomplish this?”

Ruth: “I will guarantee you that we are the most understaffed organization for our production. We have four full-time paid professional staff. We should have a minimum of eight full time employees. My job is to manage the foundation, do fund raising, programming, and handle the general operation, hiring the staff, making sure we implement our mission statement.”

KBJ: “Which is?”

Ruth: “A well-equipped, well-maintained performing arts facility for rental use, presentations to meet the needs of the community, responsiveness to local arts and community groups, and an operation that is fiscally responsible.”

KBJ: “And you’ve done that! Is your background in theatre?”

Ruth: “I have had a lot of musical training. I was a semiprofessional singer. I have had a lot of exposure to the arts and a good deal of training in the arts. If you are sensitive and could pick a dream job you would naturally sort of gravitate towards something in the arts. Something where 95 percent of it is just hard work, and every now and then you get that little punch. But, in 1988 I was working with Flagship City as its Director. The Admiral Theatre Foundation came out of that organization. When that formed, Ike Parker became the Chairman of the Board and he wanted me to come over to manage the Theatre. He really took on this project. I feel really fortunate to be involved.”

KBJ: “When so many things had to be done to get this project off and running, how did you know what to do first?”

Ruth: “We wanted to know what other people had done. We talked with other theatres, we surveyed the community, talked with local arts organizations asking them what they wanted, what they needed. We called architects. We started asking for advice as to what we should grow into.”

KBJ: “You had some important decisions to make about what direction to take.?”

Ruth: “Yes, we wanted a performing arts center. We didn’t want another movie theater. So what does that really mean? What emerged out of that is that we wanted professional talent to come to Bremerton so that we don’t have to go to Seattle every single time we want something. That was essentially it. Nobody really cared what happened to the building, they wanted to see what was on the stage.”

KBJ: “Is the goal here to keep people’s entertainment dollars here rather than taking them across the sound?”

Ruth: “Yes. It’s called leakage. We used to have 100 percent leakage. Now we don’t. But, I wouldn’t say that was even a major goal. It is sort of a business angle goal. The major goal for my board members who have sacrificed so much is that they want their families to have something to do here and they want it to be good quality. They resented having to go outside.”

KBJ: “Where did your start up funding come from?”

Ruth: “We had a really good basis of funding from the first. We were really fortunate in that the state legislature had developed a group of arts projects around the state called Building For The Arts. There were twelve projects they were funding. Our local legislators called us. They asked me to try to put something together so that maybe we could get in with this package of funding. We did, and we became the 13th project. We ended up getting about $640,000 from the state. In the meantime, there was a lot of good support from the county and from private donations, too. So all of the constituencies were always involved. It really helped us get through that planning time when you know you really don’t know where you are going. Then we had the vote with 77 percent public support, and it was just clear. Things fell into place and there weren’t any huge barriers. So we kept going.”

KBJ: “Does the Theatre have an endowment?”

Ruth: “No. We are constantly at zero just meeting the day’s needs. Even now. Even though we have good public and private support, this community is kind of famous for having low self esteem. So that is in the closet, this idea that we can’t do it, nobody will come, it’s in Bremerton. There is a constant need and I expect it will be there for some time.”

KBJ: “Ruth, what is the Theatre’s role in developing Bremerton as a new kind of city? Would you tell us about some of the barriers, the problems you face even though the Admiral Theatre is a success and off and running?”

Ruth: “I guess the roadblocks are less than they used to be because we’ve proven ourselves. We don’t get any resistance anymore. The public officials have embraced the Admiral Theatre because they understand what a theater can do for a dying economy. It brings good people to the neighborhood.”

KBJ: “How are you going to get the general public to recognize what they have here?”

Ruth: “That is the challenge. If there are barriers, this is it. I see, not only the Admiral Theatre but anybody who tries to do something worthwhile, having several barriers just because of the way we are. I think that Kitsap County is geographically remote and becoming more so all the time because of I-695. The media is a problem because many of the people here rely upon Seattle metropolitan media for their information, and the cost of marketing a project that way is just prohibitive. I can’t take the cost of that and put it into a ticket price because the people here just won’t go for it. So that leaves us with a daily newspaper, a monthly business journal, and a couple of weeklies. Cable T.V. actually has a good outreach. We have one radio station and no television. So the media marketing is a barrier. Fluctuating population because of the Navy is a barrier. Not only because you never know what you can count on, but because the public schools are really at the mercy of whatever numbers they have this year as compared to last year. This historically has been a problem. They are always struggling and they never have anything left over, and they have a hard time planning. Add that to the fact that arts programs in the schools have been cut back anyway, and you have a whole population of kids who haven’t had any exposure, or minimal exposure to the arts. So the Admiral Theatre pops up with some arts and we have a bunch of adults who might not know what it is, and if it doesn’t have a remote control attached to it the kids aren’t going to know either. So that is a barrier.”

KBJ: “What about the physical environment of downtown Bremerton?”

Ruth: “Downtown Bremerton has been a barrier. I don’t think it should be. I think there is a perceived barrier to coming to downtown Bremerton. I can tell you that anybody who has been to the Admiral Theatre does not hesitate to come back because there is no parking problem and there is no security problem.”

KBJ: “What else is going on in Bremerton in terms of night life? Is there a place you can go afterwards?”

Ruth: “Well, one of our board members went to an event on a night we had an event here. After his event he came here for a glass of wine because he said it was the only place in town that was open. You know, I wish we weren’t the only place in town that was open. I wish we had a really nice restaurant in the neighborhood. I think all of that will come with the reinvestment in Bremerton. A theater supports all of those endeavors so I think it is just a matter of time. The new government center is going to make a big difference. The Tacoma experience is one we try to pay attention to, because the Pantages Theatre really made a huge difference in the redevelopment of downtown Tacoma. Congressman Dicks was very supportive of Tacoma and he is very supportive of us. He knows how it works.”

KBJ: “Do you think economics is a barrier?”

Ruth: “No. I don’t think of economics as a barrier. We have a working community that is mostly employed. Many of them are retired and re-employed. I think the biggest thing is letting people know how beautiful it is and that they are not going to see someone banging a spoon on a washboard.”

KBJ: “Could you tell us about your programming and how that evolved.”

Ruth: “One of the early recommendations when we were in the planning stages was that we build a 1700 seat performing arts center. But the problem with that idea was how to fill the seats. Instead we went with a plan that gives us only 750 seats. It was probably one of the smartest decisions we made because it is so manageable and such an intimate environment. In terms of programming, right now we are in the mode of reflecting what the people want because they are so starved. It’s a diverse community and its showing us that its going to support diverse programming. My hope is that people trust us. That they know that every time they come to the theatre it will be a wonderful show. That there will be excellence here.”

KBJ: “In looking at your programming, there isn’t a lot of drama. Are you going to move into that arena?”

Ruth: “We are not as starved for that as we are for other things. Next year we are looking at Driving Miss Daisy which is a theatre piece. We’re looking at Halley’s Comet with John Amos which is a theatre piece.”

KBJ: “What about big names?”

Ruth: “This year the two things that sold almost immediately were Don McLean, and Robert Wagner and Jill St. John. That is proof that this community is saying, give us something we don’t have to drive out for. However, we just found out that due to a movie commitment Robert Wagner had that was moved forward, he was forced to cancel. But guess what? Charleton Heston will be replacing him in a show that’s been rescheduled. Charleton Heston! The man is a legend and he’s going to be on our stage!”

KBJ: “How many events do you offer in a season?”

Ruth: “Last year we did 32 events because it was our first year and I thought I was shopping....I had the attitude of taking one of this and on of that. It almost killed us. This year we have twenty two. I think we are going to stay with about 20 professional events.”

KBJ: “You also rent the theatre. Is the audience aware of the difference?”

Ruth: “Sometimes. For example there is an organization bringing in the Seattle Men’s Chorus in May. We will handle all of their ticketing and advertising. We do all of the theatre work and they are the ones presenting the show. They are going to make money here. It works out well for us to handle the tickets, because people get used to calling the Admiral Theatre.”

KBJ: “How involved are local groups with using this theatre? Is local talent encouraged, or is there a perception that outside talent is being imposed?”

Ruth: “We try to be friendly and encouraging, and our rental rates reflect our accessibility to local performance groups. They pay less than half of what a commercial group would pay. Where local groups are helped is in using our facilities for their fund raisers. The Boys and Girls Clubs of Mason County came in here the first year and wanted everything top drawer. We gave it to them and they walked out of here with $110,000. They’re coming back for their third auction here in March. I’d love to have everyone here if I could. I’m sort of jealous when they go somewhere else. Because I don’t think their going to have a nice theatre experience, and that is so important. This is a professional theatre. But it is hugely labor intensive. There is nothing automatic here. Three or four events a week is just a back breaker.”

KBJ: “Tell us about your technical help.”

Ruth: “Jeff Vaughan is our Technical Director. We are very fussy about our professionalism backstage. In terms of the operation, I am probably most proud of our technical side. We have world class performers who come here, and go home and call their other performer friends and tell them they have to come to our theatre. John Hammond, a blues guitarist said to Jeff that ‘the acoustics in this place are so good its almost distracting.’ That is hugely gratifying, for a group of people who just started out to do something nice for the community to have created such a really excellent performance facility.”

KBJ: “How about corporate support?”

Ruth: “Local businesses have embraced something that works well for us and that is corporate group sales. First year we programmed, Land Title bought about $4,000 in tickets for their employees. I mean that is not just about money, its about getting employees into the Admiral Theatre that wouldn’t normally come. Farmer’s Insurance and John L. Scott just had their corporate events here. I think we get good corporate support. But, there is always room for more!”

KBJ: “What if nothing happens to change Bremerton? Where does that put the Admiral Theatre?”

Ruth: “We’ll still be a success. Its sort of amazing to me. Knock wood we haven’t had any major stumbles. Our dedicated Board is a group of people who are so well thought of, and not one of them has anything personal in this. Ike, and our President, Rob Schneidler have made huge sacrifices. I think that kind of energy gives everyone courage. We want a dynamic vibrant community and I think it is right around the corner. I think the mist is lifting.”

(Editor’s Note: Cynthia Marx is a freelance writer from Port Orchard.)

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