District celebrates its small space in 'High Fidelity'

The District Theatre's swan song in its current location is "High Fidelity," a musical comedy about the owner of a small, struggling record store who is dedicated to keeping it afloat.

"That's not ironic at all," District artistic director Tristan Tapscott, who also plays the lead role of Rob Gordon, said with a laugh.

Tapscott announced this week that the theater will move from its current location, a small space along 2nd Avenue in Rock Island, to the former newspaper offices of the Rock Island Argus on 4th Avenue.

"High Fidelity" is based on the book of the same title by British author Nick Hornby and was turned into a 2000 movie with John Cusack as Rob. The musical ran for only 14 performances on Broadway in 2006, despite a script by David Lindsay-Abaire ("Rabbit Hole," "Shrek: The Musical") and score by Amanda Green ("Bring It On," "Hands on a Hardbody") and Tom Kitt ("Next to Normal," "American Idiot").

"What didn't work on the Broadway stage was that it was too big. The stage was too big to be a believable Brooklyn record store," District director James Fairchild said. "Having the small space, it does feel like one of those small, hole-in-the-wall places that the guy's keeping alive because he loves it."

In the stage version, as in the movie, Rob's girlfriend Laura (played by Sara Tubbs) leaves him and he re-evaluates his life and lost loves, played by actresses who appear in fantasy sequences.

Fairchild said "High Fidelity" works well within the District's small confines, including the creative use of set pieces for several different locales.

"There's not very much depth to the stage, but with the blocking and choreography I've been able to put together, it utilizes the space very well," he said.

"We finally figure out how to utilize that space, and now we're leaving it," Tapscott added.

It's been about two years since Tapscott has had a lead role in his own theater, even though Rob was a role on his bucket list.

"I don't want to be that guy," Tapscott said of having lead parts at his own theater. "I'm glad it worked out the way it did because I love the role."

Fairchild said Tapscott was being modest.

"In this area, there's only one person I could think of who could pull off the role, and that would be Tristan," Fairchild said. "He has the knowledge of running something small and making it his life, the ups and downs that Rob suffers in the show."

"I'm so passionate about that place that it helps my performance, too," Tapscott added.

Source: http://qctimes.com/entertainment/district-celebrates-its-small-space-in-high-fidelity/article_52250983-cdaf-534c-909c-4b32f36e9631.html