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ARTS
104-year-old Phoenix Theatre Company readies for $30M renovation
Groundbreaking next week for project expected to be completed in 2025
(PHOTO PROVIDED BY ARIZONA COMMISSION ON THE ARTS)
A past production of the Phoenix Theatre Company, the state's oldest producing theatre, is pictured here.
Posted
Phoenix Theatre Company
-- Founded in 1920 during the Little Theatre movement, The Phoenix Theatre Company has grown from its start in a coach house in what is currently the courtyard. It is a $13 million organization with 130 full-time staff producing more than 500 performances of well-known and original pieces of work year-round on three stages to a combined audience of over 100,000.
-- Over the last century, The Phoenix Theatre Company has been instrumental in launching the careers of several world-renowned talents including Steven Spielberg, who worked in the theater’s props department and premiered his first full-length film, “Firelight,” at The Phoenix Theatre Company in 1962. Other notable stars include Nick Nolte and Steve Allen.
-- According to Arts and Economic Prosperity 5, an economic impact study by Americans for the Arts, the nonprofit arts and culture sector is a significant industry in the City of Phoenix—one that generates $401.8 million in total economic activity.
Source: The Phoenix Theatre Company
The Phoenix Theatre Company 1825 N. Central Ave. Phoenix, AZ
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Special to Independent Newsmedia
The state’s oldest producing theatre, celebrating its 104th season, will break ground on a new facility.
This is the first major renovation The Phoenix Theatre Company has done in 10 years, and will expand its black box-style theater space from 250 seats to 500 and add a proscenium stage with modern technology for pre-Broadway show development in the future.
The theater, located at 1825 N. Central Ave., at the intersection of Central and McDowell, is anticipated to finish its $30 million renovation in 2025.
New features will include a full fly loft, below-stage traps and a larger stage.
The theater will be named after Dr. Stacie J. Stephenson, bestselling author and leader in functional and integrative medicine, and Richard J. Stephenson, Cancer Treatment Centers of America chairman and founder.
The Phoenix Theatre Company employs 130 full-time staffers and, with a $13 million annual operating budget, is the largest regional theatre in Arizona and one of the largest in the Southwest, according to a press release.
This project caps a 20-year, $70 million expansion plan, making it one of the largest investments in a regional theatre in the country.
