Wedding Bells at Donor

Hundreds, perhaps thousands, have fallen in love with theater through the SDSU theater program. The list of students who became couples while spending hours in Doner Auditorium exceeds the names scrawled on Doner’s green room walls and ceilings.

However, Callie (Jacobsen) and Derek Hisek are on a list of one—the number of couples who were married in Doner.

The date—8-25-07—can be found on a green room ceiling, written by Callie’s cousin using a marker fastened to a broom handle.

Callie and Derek were both theater majors and first laid eyes upon one another in Doner.

“It was my first year and they were auditioning for ‘Sweeney Todd,’” recalls Callie, who had a love-at-first-sight experience when she first saw Doner during her summer orientation tour in 2001. That fall “I looked out and saw him (Derek) in that front row. I can still remember what he was wearing. I ended up being his assistant stage manager.”

Derek, a junior at the time, was stage manager for that production.

When Callie first saw Derek, she thought, “He’s going to be a part of my life for a long time (although she admits she wasn’t thinking marriage). I didn’t even know his name at that point.” But a friendship soon developed.

“Doner meant a lot to both of us. When we got engaged, we thought we should get married in Doner,” Callie said.

The marriage was scheduled around the summer Prairie Repertory Theatre schedule at Doner.

“We purposely tried to find a date that would allow any of our friends and faculty who were still around to attend. All the groomsmen were theater friends. (Faculty members) J.D. (Ackman) and Dr. (James L.) Johnson read a piece, Ray (Peterson) sang.

“The wedding program cover stated ‘The Wedding: A Play in One Act.’ Our parents were our producers. Anybody who was involved all became part of the cast. We used the grand drape; opened it at the very beginning, closed it at the end,” Callie said.

After the big event at the 1912 auditorium, guests went to the lobby of the 2002 Performing Arts Center for dinner with the dance held in the PAC’s dance studio.

While Doner renovations may erase the wedding date graffiti, memories of the special place won’t disappear.

Plus, “My husband and I put our initials in a secret place so we will be forever in Doner.”

Dave Graves