NORFOLK, Va. — Staff and crew at Virginia Stage Company have been left reeling after two bouts of heavy rain in the last week flooded the historic Wells Theatre and left it with extensive damage.
According to the company's managing director, Jeff Ryder, storm cleanup begun following Thursday's heavy rain, including repairs to a drain pipe that had failed. When Saturday's storms hit, the theatre experienced more widespread flooding.
WATCH: Virginia Stage Company works to clear water from historic Wells Theatre
"When the heavy rain came on Saturday, we had flooding all over again but in a much more concentrated way," Rider said. "Water sort of blasted out of a drain pipe into our back stage and flowed all over the stage, under the stage, into the house of the theatre."
Rehearsal was underway at the time of Saturday's flooding, so staff and cast members quickly got to work to prevent further damage and contain the large amount of water that was quickly flowing from the damaged pipe. Rider said that theatre staff we're shocked to have flooding the historic building occur twice in one week.
The city, who did not comment on the flooding, is continuing to work on the theatre and extensive damage sustained.
"We're really grateful to the city jumping into action and being here on site, we had several departments of the city represented on Saturday night when we were dealing with the water coming in," Rider said.
Rider is hopeful that current repairs would prevent further damage if severe rain were to occur again in the coming days, but there is still more work to be done before staff can be confident.
WATCH: Storms cause more flooding in Norfolk Saturday afternoon
Community support following last week's flooding has also been overwhelming, including those volunteering to help cleanup. Rider encouraged the community to continue those efforts, whether it be volunteering or contribute financially.
Director of Hospitality Melissa Mowry said that over 40 cast, crew and staff members came together on Saturday to help begin cleanup and prevent any further damage to the theatre and the set.
"It's pretty remarkable how everyone came together," Mowry said.
For Mowry, discussion the past few days has been around the theatre's current production, "Come Far Away," and how the experiences of the show are reflected in the theatre's current situation.
The production focuses on the days following the terrorist attacks of September 11, and how a Newfoundland community came together to support passengers of nearly 40 planes ordered to land at Gander International unexpectedly.
Norfolk
Virginia Stage Company on Wells Theatre flood damage: 'Extraordinary outpouring'
"But what we've really got to experience here is that in the moment of crisis for Virginia Stage Company... we usually open our doors and welcome our audiences in to find a place of support, and over the past few days, we've been opening up our doors and we've been finding the community coming in and offering us tons of support," Mowry said.
As of now, the production of "Come Far Away" is still scheduled to begin on September 2.
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