Mario Crudo reflects on his 24 seasons with Magnus Theatre

After 24 seasons, Magnus Theatre’s artistic director is preparing to exit stage right.

Mario Crudo was experienced in theatre infrastructure when he moved to Thunder Bay from Vancouver in 1992 but building a new theatre into his local legacy would take a generation. 

“I knew Magnus had some preliminary plans to look for a new home and build a new facility. That was very exciting to me,” Crudo said.

“I was coming from the Arts Club Theatre in Vancouver for 14-plus years and the Arts Club Theatre had built two theatres while I was there. I thought what an exciting time to be an artistic director of a company and be part of this new adventure they (Magnus) were entering into.”

The five-year plan to build Magnus in its current location stretched out to 10 years, an abnormal timeline for a theatre director to stay put. While Crudo admitted to some culture shock, he took solace at the Slovak Legion theatre in the East End neighbourhood. It reminded him of a similar 200-seat theatre Arts Club had run on the west coast.

As he raised Magnus’ profile in the community and spearheaded a massive capital campaign, Crudo staged a poignant performance of South African playwright Athol Fugard’s Road To Mecca.

Crudo planned to leave after the new theatre was built but when the ribbon was cut on Magnus Theatre’s renovated Central School site in the North Core, the company’s financial picture was dire.

“When we moved in in 2001, the building wasn’t completely paid for. There was a shortfall in the capital campaign and in the first year, we had a deficit,” Crudo said.

“It took a little time for us to control it rather than it controlling us.”

The deficits continued for two years and Crudo extended his stay in Thunder Bay again.

“By that point, I’d been here almost 10 years. Because of the debt, I thought it wouldn’t be a fair shake to anyone coming in so I’d stay until that debt was reduced if not entirely eliminated.”

Magnus' debt would linger for more years into the future than Crudo had already spent with the company.

The new site opened to a performance of William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream cast with all local, professional actors. Over the next 11 years, professionals of all kinds took the stage to raise “substantial funds” to support Magnus’ debt.

First, it was the Thunder Bay Law Association assembling a cast of lawyers to perform 12 Angry Jurors. Next, the physicians stepped onto the stage. Then came Catholic secondary school teachers. 

Sizeable donations from the Petrone and Westlake families in memory of loved ones finally put Magnus’ new building’s costs behind it in 2014. After nearly two-and-a-half decades of setting new deadlines down the road, Crudo had come to a suitable end.

“I love Magnus theatre. I’ve loved my work here but I felt it was really time that someone new came on; someone with renewed energy and new ideas and so on,” Crudo said.

“I thought I’d look at doing a little bit of travelling and still pursue my directing as a freelance artist across the country.”