‘Beat the Bulldozer’ has successful debut for Wayne theater

The ‘Beat the Bulldozer’ concert series got off to a swinging start on Friday in the City of Wayne.

The Livonia Civic Chorus began the summer-long series, which is a fundraiser to gather money to save the Historic Wayne Theater. The chorus, which may use the theater as a base of operations when and if it reopens, performed a preview of their own summer music series, a tribute to the music of James Bond movies.

“We had a pretty good turnout,” said Don Nicholson, capital fundraising chairman for the theater group. “We even made a little money on our first concert.”

Nicholson has assembled a collection of local and regional talent to play at the outdoor space at the theater every Saturday night until the end of August. Next up are two local bands, Fight Like Sinatra and Muff. Nicholson said they perform alternative rock music.

“The next two weeks we’re going to have the same kind of music,” he said. “It’s going to be bigger with the kids.”

Nicholson is spearheading an effort to restore the Historic Wayne Theater, which opened nearly 80 years ago. It’s been empty and vacant for more than 20 years, while an effort to slowly bring the theater back up to code has taken place.

Those efforts picked up steam last year, when the building was cited under the Dangerous Building Ordinance. He and other volunteers have worked with the city to develop a timetable to put funding in place to restore the theater, with a deadline set for this September.

“I think we can do it, but we need some help from the community,” Nicholson said.

Other performances scheduled throughout the summer include Benny and the Jets, a performance of the Rocky Horror Picture Show, a Kiss tribute band, jazz bands and more.

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