What a show!

Musical entertainment literally jumped onto the scene in Fontana when the new Center Stage opened July 24.

There were lights. There were red carpets. And there were dignitaries, which made sense since it was Mayor Mark Nuaimi's VIP reception before the doors officially opened to theater lovers.

But there also were a few quiet moments, particularly for family and friends of the late Thomas Rutherford.

Rutherford worked for Elite Towing in town, but his heart always was tied to the stage. He and his wife, Councilwoman Janice Rutherford-Lim, spent much of their spare time promoting the arts. In fact, weeks before he died of leukemia in 2002, the then-44-year-old was meeting with Fontana officials to discuss plans to ignite the imaginations of supporters of music, theater, dance and the arts.

He didn't live to see it, but his spirit was there during the reception when the city unveiled a plaque in his honor. The plaque was donated by David Lewis, whose family is a generous benefactor of the new Lewis Library and Technology Center. Rutherford's wife, now a remarried mother of a toddler, said he would have been one of the first people in the door. Other members of his family, along with a former student and Miss Fontana, Jessica Soza, were there to celebrate and remember.

"He had a passion for the performing arts, and he would have absolutely loved seeing this place refurbished and used," said Rutherford-Lim. "The theater always has had a special place in my heart and his. He was a performer, a director and a composer. We probably spent every summer of our life together working on shows. It was his dream to try and help bring quality family theater to Fontana. He wanted to see a venue where people could gather and enjoy cultural events."

And Fontana wanted that, too. So for years the city has planned to invest in its cultural experience. It has delivered. As the mayor said before the curtain went up for the first time the other night, it was time for a first-rate venue back in downtown Fontana where it belongs.

"This city believes in preserving our past and Center Stage is yet another jewel in Fontana's crown," he said.

It's another investment in Fontana's cultural arts history, one Janice Rutherford-Lim enthusiastically backs today and one her late husband supported as well.

Rutherford-Lim said the performing arts are alive and well in Fontana. The Steelworkers Auditorium in the gorgeous new Lewis Library and Technology Center is open. The Miller Park Amphitheater is in place. And now the renovated Center Stage, right next door to the library center, is in business.

Center Stage was originally built in 1937 as a movie theater. Through the years it has been an Elks Lodge, a tea shop and the longtime home of the local Mummers' Theater.

Today, the city has contracted with Stargazer Productions to provide year-round performances from Tibbies, a cabaret troupe based in Long Beach.

From the looks of the recent reception and the applause meter, Fontana seems to have cemented its cultural hub of the arts for all to enjoy.

suzanne.sproul@inlandnewspapers.com