Back in the early 2000s, downtown Des Moines wasn’t full of restaurants and shopping like it is today. It’s astounding how many people we ran through.”Ĭhelesvig said it was insightful of Bookey to remodel and revitalize the space that turned into the Temple Theater. it became the show that people who had company coming, a birthday celebration, they knew ('Triple Espresso') was going to be there. “It all just became this wonderful kind of institution. But Starbucks was open and we were actually serving Starbucks in the lobby upstairs,” Chelesvig said. “When we opened the show, Centro was not yet open, it opened about a month after. The Temple was one of the first renovations to revitalize that part of downtown. What the men didn’t know was that the show’s six-week stay would stretch into 68 weeks of sold-out shows. Chelesvig said everyone cooperated and within one year, the Temple Theater was built and "Triple Espresso" had a home for its six-week stay. They met with the designers of "Triple Espresso" and had them complete rough sketches of what the theater might look like with a stage, lighting and risers. It had the right footprint, and I said … 'We could really build a theater in here.'"įrom there, Chelesvig, Bookey and Babcock went to work. “I walked into the second-floor space and it was the right size. “At the time, Bookey was just starting the renovation on the temple,” Chelesvig said. That’s when he was introduced to Harry Bookey, a developer with plans to renovate the Masonic Temple on Locust Street. He wanted to bring their show to Des Moines. Babcock, the executive producer of "Triple Espresso" and president of The Daniel Group, wanted to help.Ĭhelesvig knew the show wouldn’t work in a space as large at the Civic Center, and after struggling to find a six-week time slot at the Stoner Theater, Chelesvig was about ready to call it quits. In a 200-seat theater in Minneapolis, Chelesvig saw the show for the first time and was blown away by the talent and comedy chops of the performers.
Jeff Chelesvig, president of Des Moines Performing Arts, was introduced to "Triple Espresso" in 2001 by longtime friend Dennis Babcock. Hugh Butternut, Buzz Maxwell and Bobby Bean tell their rags-to-rags story earnestly, with hysterical results. Three three-man caffeinated comedy show tells the story of the three guys whose bid for showbiz fame and fortune ended in four minutes of magnificent failure on national television. "Triple Espresso," the first production ever performed at the Temple Theater in downtown Des Moines, returns for another eight-week stay Nov.
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