The Ingersoll is a performing arts phoenix
5/6/2026
The new digital marquee at The Ingersoll shines again as an entertainment beacon. Photo by VenuWorks marketing
Celluloid to old school dinner theatre to its glitziest iteration yet. Connor Delaney’s cherished memories of growing up in the area contributed to the renaissance of this venerable performance hall. His tenacity and acumen provided the fuel to carry its reawakening to realization. The Ingersoll resonates with a revival energy as it prepares for a season of stage productions sure to please the palates of patrons while satisfying their hunger for the best regional theatre can produce.
Boyhood belief in community
“The Ingersoll Theater is loved by many, myself included,” Delaney said. “Some of my earliest memories are there, with my Grandma Mary, my Great Grandma Alice. Mini pizzas, cherry Cokes, ‘Peter Pan,’ ‘The Velveteen Rabbit,’ ‘Raggedy Ann.’ I still have a scrapbook at home with ticket stubs, programs, notes and newspaper clippings from the shows we saw together.”
He sees a new generation of patrons joining those returning to this memory-making site to similarly gather experiences of fine dining, libations and great entertainment.
“Chuck Carnes created an institution there. Des Moines loved what he and his team built.”
Shortly after graduating from Roosevelt High School, the theater went dark.
“For years, people talked about it — what should happen, whether it could ever come back, who might take it on.”
A few tentative efforts were started but never took root. As Delaney established White Oak Realty, his commercial development business, he continued considering how he could make his vision of a revitalized Ingersoll Theatre become the community’s reality.
“I began investing in the same stretch of Ingersoll that I grew up around, renovating buildings like 3619 Ingersoll and helping bring my sister’s plant shop to life nearby,” Delaney said. “Spending that kind of time in the neighborhood led to a relationship with the Lee family, who owned the theater and several surrounding properties. We eventually reached an agreement to purchase the theater. The building had deteriorated significantly. The early work was about stabilization, all done out of pocket just to keep the building standing. About a year and half in, the project was preliminarily approved for state and federal historic tax credits.
He realized that he needed to find the right operator for the theater, someone who could successfully combine performance with food and beverage. After appearing on a local news broadcast, he received a phone call.
“I saw you on the news,” the caller said. “We manage theaters; that’s what we do.”
The caller was Steve Peters, VenuWorks CEO. They met the next morning. The vision Delaney had carried all those years was coalescing. He found a perfect partner. He visited the famous Chanhassen Dinner Theatre. It all clicked for him.
“The experience was there,” he recalled. “It wasn’t just about reopening a building; it was about restoring an experience.”
Enter a veteran of stage
Music will be an inherent part of The Ingersoll’s programming. Its first venture into theatre was a hit. Two sold-out performances of “Love Letters” with two celebrated television personalities, Mollie and Kevin Cooney, proved that this market was ready for theatre. Maxwell Schaeffer, whose own career as a personality, performer and director is highly respected, was brought in to help with producing theatrical shows.
As someone familiar with the central Iowa performing arts scene, Schaeffer said, “More than ever, our central Iowa theatre audiences are craving experience, surprise and connection. The dinner theatre concept is in revival. The experience of elevated dining, the surprise of highly entertaining music and theatre, and the connection to a roster of immensely talented Iowa actors and musicians, I believe, is a formula that will satisfy our theater goers’ hunger for a memorable night at the Ingersoll.”
He will direct the first show of a planned season, which will be revealed in tantalizing steps. The inaugural comedy is “The Roommate,” opening May 14, and will feature regional stars Kellie Kramer and Kristin Larson. Written by Jen Silverman, who brings another Iowa connection to this show as she received her MFA in Playwriting from the University of Iowa, this brilliant script is in the hands of a stellar professional production team.
The rebirth of The Ingersoll has been long awaited and its strategic addition to the performing arts scene will enhance options for central Iowans and travelers alike. ♦
John Busbee produces The Culture Buzz, a weekly arts and culture radio show on www.kfmg.org, covering Iowa’s arts scene with an inclusive sweep of the cultural brush. He received the Iowa Governor’s Arts Award for Collaboration and Partnership in the Arts. He has performed in more than 100 musicals, including many leading roles.
