Center Stage (theater)
Encyclopedia
Center Stage is the state theater of Maryland
and Baltimore's largest professional producing theater. Center Stage was founded in 1963 as a regional playhouse.
Center Stage houses two performing spaces, the 541-seat Pearlstone and the smaller Head Theater, both in its home in the Mount Vernon Cultural District of Baltimore, Maryland.
in Washington, and Alley Theatre
in Houston, CENTERSTAGE helped Americans realize that it was no longer necessary to make a trip to New York City to see professional caliber productions. In 1974, CENTERSTAGE faced a potentially disastrous arson fire that burned its North Avenue home to the ground. With the help of local civic leaders, the theater continued its season at a local college, and used the disaster to launch a major public relations and capitol campaign to keep the organization alive. In retrospect, what could have been the tragic end of CENTERSTAGE ended up as a huge opportunity, when the theater moved into a brand new, award-winning space carved out of an abandoned Jesuit college. Since that time, it has become Baltimore's leading professional theater, welcoming more than 100,000 people each season to its historic home in Mount Vernon.
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
and Baltimore's largest professional producing theater. Center Stage was founded in 1963 as a regional playhouse.
Center Stage houses two performing spaces, the 541-seat Pearlstone and the smaller Head Theater, both in its home in the Mount Vernon Cultural District of Baltimore, Maryland.
History
Launched in 1963 by a group of local theater supporters, CENTERSTAGE soon became a leader in America's regional theater movement, with the goal of producing first-rate professional theater for local audiences. Along with theaters like The Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, Arena StageArena Stage
Arena Stage is a not-for-profit regional theater based in Southwest Washington, D.C. Its declared mission"is to produce huge plays of all that is passionate, exuberant, profound, deep and dangerous in the American spirit. Arena has broad shoulders and a capacity to produce anything from vast epics...
in Washington, and Alley Theatre
Alley Theatre
The Alley Theatre is a Tony Award-winning indoor theatre in Downtown Houston, Texas, and hosts two stages. The "Hubbard" is the main stage with seating for 824; the more intimate "Neuhaus" seats 310. Nine towers and open-air terraces give the Alley Theatre a castle-like quality. Inside, a staircase...
in Houston, CENTERSTAGE helped Americans realize that it was no longer necessary to make a trip to New York City to see professional caliber productions. In 1974, CENTERSTAGE faced a potentially disastrous arson fire that burned its North Avenue home to the ground. With the help of local civic leaders, the theater continued its season at a local college, and used the disaster to launch a major public relations and capitol campaign to keep the organization alive. In retrospect, what could have been the tragic end of CENTERSTAGE ended up as a huge opportunity, when the theater moved into a brand new, award-winning space carved out of an abandoned Jesuit college. Since that time, it has become Baltimore's leading professional theater, welcoming more than 100,000 people each season to its historic home in Mount Vernon.
Present
Under the Artistic Direction of Irene Lewis, who took over from Stan Wojewodski in the 1991–92 Season, CENTERSTAGE has presented a six-play Mainstage Season, as well as a new play development series called First Look, in two intimate auditoriums: the 541-seat Pearlstone Theater and the smaller, flexible-layout Head Theater. CENTERSTAGE attracts some of America's finest directors, designers, and actors, including many Tony Award winners. Time Magazine has called the theater "an unsung regional of the first rank", and the Wall Street Journal recently heralded CENTERSTAGE as "a model of what regional theater can and should be." CENTERSTAGE's 2006-07 season continued a 30-year record of break-even or better operating budgets.The 2011–12 Classic Series
- The RivalsThe RivalsThe Rivals, a play by Richard Brinsley Sheridan, is a comedy of manners in five acts. It was first performed on 17 January 1775.- Production :...
- American BuffaloAmerican BuffaloAmerican Buffalo may refer to:*American Buffalo , a play by David Mamet*American Buffalo , a 1996 film of Mamet's play directed by Michael Corrente*American Buffalo , a United States coin...
- Gleam (adaptation of Their Eyes Were Watching GodTheir Eyes Were Watching GodTheir Eyes Were Watching God is a 1937 novel and the best-known work by African American writer Zora Neale Hurston. Set in central and southern Florida in the early 20th century, the novel garnered attention and controversy at the time of its publication, and has come to be regarded as a seminal...
) - A Skull in Connemarra
- Into the WoodsInto the WoodsInto the Woods is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine. It debuted in San Diego at the Old Globe Theatre in 1986, and premiered on Broadway in 1987. Bernadette Peters' performance as the Witch and Joanna Gleason's portrayal of the Baker's Wife brought acclaim...
- Whipping Man