Down Dome

The Rotunda, West Philly's iconic multiuse venue, turns 10.

by Lauren F. Friedman

[ party ]

Neal Santos Gina Renzi (right), director of the Rotunda, with board member Rashida Holmes and house sound technician Frank Bellina.

The Rotunda — once a Christian Science church and now an ever-evolving venue — is a hulking, domed building that sits in gritty opposition to the gleaming sterility of The Bridge movie theater next door and the glass-and-steel Fresh Grocer across the street. Throughout its history, the venue has had brushes with glitz and glamour — John Legend played there when he was a Penn student, MTV.com and Vibe magazine brought national exposure — but it's always stayed true to its low-key community roots. This weekend, it's celebrating its 10th anniversary with a DJ'd silent auction on Friday, a drum jam on Saturday, a birthday gala on Saturday night, a film screening on Sunday and more. The Rotunda's tireless director, Gina Renzi, began as a volunteer there in 2000 and even met and dated her fiancé under that iconic convex roof.

City Paper: How and why did the Rotunda start?

Gina Renzi: It was begun by Penn undergrads in an urban studies seminar. They were talking about ways to connect students with non-students in West Philly. You [had] all these diverse communities sharing these areas, using 40th Street as their main street, but not connecting in meaningful ways. Their idea was really arts for social change.

CP: How is the Rotunda different now than it was in those early days?

GR: The foundation is the same, but we've grown so much. They used to produce one event a week [with] not much activity in the summer. Now we have at least 300 events a year, and at least 200 different organizations and artists who have come our way. We've created this network of artist and activists.

CP: How do you describe the Rotunda to people who don't know what it is?

GR: We don't believe in just piping in events, having you come in and sit down and leave. We have a revolving door at the Rotunda where you can be an audience member one week, and then come back and be a presenter.

Also, even though we're known citywide at this point, our heart is still in West Philly. More than anyone else, we reach out to West Philly — whether it's students or residents or schools — and that was part of the original intent.

CP: You've spent a lot of a days and nights at the Rotunda. Do you have any memories that stand out?

GR: Every year we participate in as many festivals as we can. One that I think is especially mind-blowing is the Black Women's Arts Festival. At one of the first shows that they did, I remember saying to the organizer of the festival that I was just going to have to destroy the stage after the show — that it was so good that nothing could really top it.

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It was almost like my version of going to church — I had a spiritual experience watching this woman performing for the public but absolutely baring her soul and crying on stage. It ended up being this show where it wasn't just a bunch of musicians, but it was catharsis — a real healing event. I don't know how much of that you'd see in a commercial venue, where I don't think people allow themselves to take off their masks. When the organizer burst into tears, others rushed up and hugged her. That's community. It wasn't corny, we all just kind of felt it.

CP: What is it about the Rotunda that makes it unique among all the other venues in the city?

GR: We don't book the performers, but we book the organizers and then the organizers are allowed to see their events come to life. We allow them to be creative. This is really thanks to Penn, which covers a lot of our cost. We get to focus on the art instead of just paying our bills. We don't need to make a certain amount of money, so we can breathe a little bit.

CP: What are you doing to celebrate your 10th anniversary this weekend?

GR: On the 25th, it will be a laid-back art opening with a silent auction. We're going to have a DJ doing live visuals, desserts and things. On Saturday afternoon, there's a drum jam with Al-Bustan Seeds of Culture, who have been using the Rotunda for years. I happen to be a huge percussion fan.

Saturday night, we're going to sing "Happy Birthday" to the Rotunda — I don't know exactly how we're going to do that. And I don't know who will blow out the candles. Maybe it will be me. Sunday, we're showing a film because we put on a lot of film screenings. [Brendan Cooney] from the West Philadelphia Orchestra will be doing a live piano score to silent films.

We wanted to do as many things in one weekend as possible, but we really need to organize an entire month to showcase what we do.

(lauren.friedman@citypaper.net)

Rotunda's 10th Birthday | Fri.-Sun., Sept. 25-27, various times, Rotunda, 4014 Walnut St., 215-573-3234, therotunda.org