Robert “Bob” Emerick has spent his summer fixing the marquee lights above the Crest Theatre downtown, restringing the grand drape and requesting quotes for carpet cleaning.
Emerick, the building’s owner, has been back in charge of day-to-day operations at the K Street theater since May, when its managers of five years, struggling with a prolonged downturn in business, handed the venue back over to him. Now Emerick and his daughter, Ellie Emerick, are navigating the theater through the sometimes-rocky transition and, generally, getting the old venue back to its feet.
This summer marks the latest reinvention for The Crest, which opened in 1913 as a vaudeville theater and has changed names at least twice since then. While the theater’s calendar is steadily filling out with events, in many ways, Emerick is still figuring out The Crest’s next act…