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| Formation | 1963 |
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| Type | Theatre group |
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| Website | www |
Center Stage is the state theater of Maryland, [1] and Baltimore's largest professional producing theater.
Center Stage began in a converted gymnasium in 1963 as a full arena theatre that seated 240 people. Today, Center Stage houses two performing spaces, the 541-seat Pearlstone and the smaller Head Theater, [2] both in its home in the Mount Vernon Cultural District of Baltimore.
Launched in 1963 by a group of local theater supporters, Center Stage 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 such as The Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, Arena Stage in Washington, DC, and Alley Theatre in Houston. In 1931 the North Avenue building was previously occupied by a theatre called The Peabody that opened in the early 1900s; in 1931 Orioles Cafeteria a local food chain restaurant moved into the space at 11 East North Avenue and moved out in August 1965 to make space for the Center Stage theater. [3]
On January 10, 1974, the theater's North Avenue home was burned to the ground in an arson fire (reported to have been started by two men who accidentally set the Center Stage ablaze at the back after mistaking it for the next-door bar, Benny Goodmans Beef And Beer, from which they had been forcibly removed and were out to burn down in an act of revenge). [4] After the 1974 fire, many decided that since the outer shell was not severely damaged, some hope remained for salvage use, but the interior was completely destroyed and unstable, was considered unsafe by city inspectors and construction crews and was later demolished. Although the majority of the building was demolished, both sides of the facade columns remain to remind passersby of what was once there. The site of the North Avenue building is currently a small parking lot for used cars and auto repairing. Additional stage hands quickly rebuilt the set for Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf for its performance the next night at the Baltimore Museum of Art and with help from local civic leaders the theater continued its season at the local College of Notre Dame (once a part of Loyola High School and College) and used the disaster to launch a major public relations and capital campaign to keep the organization alive.
The theater ultimately moved into a new space carved out of an abandoned Jesuit college. [5] The Center Stage has since become Baltimore's leading professional theater, hosting more than 100,000 people each season to its home in Mount Vernon.
In 2011, British playwright Kwame Kwei-Armah succeeded Irene Lewis as artistic director of Center Stage. [6] Center Stage audiences became familiar with him in 2005 when Kwei-Armah's most recognized work Elmina's Kitchen held its American premiere at Center Stage. [7] The play had previously debuted at the National Theatre in London in 2003, making Kwei-Armah the first Black Briton to have a play produced on the West End.
The 2018/19 Season welcomed Artistic Director Stephanie Ybarra, an artistic producer most recently at The Public Theater. [8] Center Stage has transitioned from a six-play to a seven-play season that includes a mix of comedy, drama, and musicals.
Main stage performances occur in either the 541-seat Pearlstone Theater or the smaller, flexible-layout Head Theater. The Play Lab series features new work from emerging and established artists. Third Spaces brings theater to unexpected stages, such as the 2013 production of The Container, which placed a small audience inside a shipping container, [9] and Fourth Spaces explores the relationship between technology and artistry, using the Center Stage interactive media wall to connect audiences and theater artists.
Kwame Kwei-Armah is a British actor, playwright, director, singer and broadcaster. He is best known for playing paramedic Finlay Newton in the BBC medical drama Casualty from 1999 until 2004. In 2005 he became the second black Briton to have a play staged in the West End of London. Kwei-Armah's award-winning piece Elmina's Kitchen transferred to the Garrick Theatre in 2005. He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2012 Birthday Honours for services to drama. He is currently the artistic director of the Young Vic theatre in London, succeeding David Lan.
The Baltimore School for the Arts (BSA) is a public performing arts high school located in Mount Vernon, Baltimore, Maryland, United States and is part of the Baltimore City Public Schools system. Established in 1979, The Baltimore School for the Arts offers art concentrations in vocal music, instrumental music, acting, theater production, dance, visual arts and film. The high school has produced numerous "Presidential Scholars" in the Arts and its students have gone on to attend major conservatories and Ivy League Schools.
The Young Vic Theatre is a performing arts venue located on The Cut, near the South Bank, in the London Borough of Lambeth.
Barter Theatre, in Abingdon, Virginia, opened on June 10, 1933. It is the longest-running professional Equity theatre in the United States.
Theater in Chicago describes not only theater performed in Chicago, Illinois, but also to the movement in Chicago that saw a number of small, meagerly funded companies grow to institutions of national and international significance. Chicago had long been a popular destination for touring productions, as well as original productions that transfer to Broadway and other cities. According to Variety editor Gordon Cox, beside New York City, Chicago has one of the most lively theater scenes in the United States. As many as 100 shows could be seen any given night from 200 companies as of 2018, some with national reputations and many in creative "storefront" theaters, demonstrating a vibrant theater scene "from the ground up". According to American Theatre magazine, Chicago's theater is "justly legendary".
Hartnell College is a public community college in Salinas, California. Established in 1920 as Salinas Junior College, Hartnell is one of 115 schools that constitute the California Community Colleges, one of the three higher education systems in California. It enrolls nearly 10,000 students, 56% of whom are Latino, and the college is a Hispanic-serving institution. Its name commemorates William Hartnell (1798–1854), who founded the first junior college in California. Hartnell's main campus is located less than a mile west of downtown Salinas. It also has four satellite campuses, one in the Alisal district of Salinas one in King City and another in Soledad and another in Castroville.
Portland Stage Company is a professional LORT theater company in the state of Maine. Founded as the Profile Theatre in 1974 as a touring theater company, the company made Portland a permanent home in 1976. In 1982, it moved to its current home of 25A Forest Ave, Portland, ME. Anita Stewart has served as the Artistic Director since 1996, and in 2006 was made Executive Director as well.
Elmina's Kitchen, first performed in May 2003, is the fifth play from the British actor, playwright and broadcaster, Kwame Kwei-Armah. Set in a West Indian restaurant in London, Elmina's Kitchen tells a tale of family, drugs and crime on Hackney's Murder Mile. The play is centred on the character of Deli, the owner of a West Indian restaurant and father to Ashley. Ashley is a misguided teen who cannot help but be seduced by the gangster culture that surrounds him. Deli tries to run a successful restaurant while attempting to keep his son on the straight and narrow particularly when his son gets closer to a well-known local gangster, Digger.
The Rotunda is a mixed-use property in northern Baltimore, Maryland in the popular neighborhood of Hampden, adjacent to the neighborhoods of Roland Park, and Wyman Park and near the campus of the Johns Hopkins University. The property features retail, office, and residential components including: 150,000 ft² of retail space, 140,000 ft² of office space, 379 apartments and over 1100 off-street parking spaces, including a multi-level parking garage featuring several electric car charging stations.
Marion Isaac McClinton was an American theatre director, playwright, and actor. He was nominated for the Tony Award for King Hedley II. He won the 2000 Vivian Robinson Audelco Black Theatre Awards, Director/Dramatic Production and the 1999–2000 Obie Awards, Direction, for Jitney, and was nominated for the Drama Desk Award.
Corner Theatre E.T.C. was an experimental theater located in Baltimore, Maryland, existing from 1968 to 1987 as a nonprofit cultural organization.
Clybourne Park is a 2010 play by Bruce Norris written as a spin-off to Lorraine Hansberry's play A Raisin in the Sun (1959). It portrays fictional events set during and after the Hansberry play, and is loosely based on historical events that took place in the city of Chicago. It premiered in February 2010 at Playwrights Horizons in New York. The play received its UK premiere at the Royal Court Theatre in London in a production directed by Dominic Cooke. The play received its Chicago premiere at Steppenwolf Theatre Company in a production directed by Steppenwolf ensemble member Amy Morton. As described by The Washington Post, the play "applies a modern twist to the issues of race and housing and aspirations for a better life." Clybourne Park was awarded the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the 2012 Tony Award for Best Play.
Harwood is a small neighborhood located in the north-central area of Baltimore, Maryland, USA. It sits east of Charles Village, south of Abell, west of Waverly and north of Barclay. Its boundaries are Guilford and Greenmount Avenues to the east and west, and 25th and 29th streets to the north and south. These streets together encompass about 14 city blocks.
Amit Peled is an Israeli-American cellist, conductor, and pedagogue. He plays a ca. 1695 Grancino cello on loan from the Roux Family Foundation. From 2012-2018 he played Pablo Casals's 1733 Matteo Goffriller cello. Prior to Casals's cello, Peled played a 1689 Andrea Guarneri cello.
Jared Mezzocchi is an American theatre projection designer and director.
Bromo Arts District is one of four designated arts district in Baltimore, MD and is centered around the Emerson Bromo-Seltzer Tower, which houses artist studios. The district is roughly bounded by Park Avenue on the east, Lombard Street on the south, Paca Street on the west and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Read Street on the north and is adjacent to the neighborhoods of Mount Vernon and downtown Baltimore. It is home to the University of Maryland Medical Center, Lexington Market, Westminster Hall and Edgar Allan Poe's gravesite, the former Martick's Restaurant Francais and many cultural institutions including the Hippodrome Theatre, the Everyman Theatre, and the Eubie Blake National Jazz and Cultural Center. It is also home to A.T. Jones and Sons, the oldest costume company in the United States.
One Love: The Bob Marley Musical previously titled Marley is a stage musical based on the life and music of Bob Marley, written by Kwame Kwei-Armah.
Stephanie Ybarra is the Artistic Director of Baltimore Center Stage. and a co-founder of the Artists' Anti-Racism Coalition, a grassroots effort to help the Off-Broadway community dismantle systems of exclusion and oppression. Originally from San Antonio, Texas, Ybarra holds an undergraduate degree from Baylor University and an MFA from the Yale School of Drama. She has worked in theaters of all sizes across the United States.
The Collaboration is a play written by Anthony McCarten and directed by Kwame Kwei-Armah. The play originated on the West End at the The Young Vic in London. The play stars Paul Bettany as Andy Warhol and Jeremy Pope as Jean-Michel Basquiat. The story, set in New York in 1984, centers around the collaboration between Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat and their new exhibition. The production will make its Broadway transfer at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre in co-production with the Manhattan Theatre Club and the Young Vic Theatre. The production will begin in the fall of 2022 with performances starting November 29.
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