Center Stage (theater) facts for kids
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| Formation | 1963 |
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| Type | Theatre group |
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Center Stage is the official state theater of Maryland. It is also Baltimore's biggest professional theater. This means it's a top-notch place where actors perform plays for audiences.
Center Stage started in 1963 in a changed-up gym. It had a special stage where the audience sat all around it. Today, Center Stage has two main performance areas. One is the Pearlstone, which can seat 541 people. The other is the smaller Head Theater. Both are located in the Mount Vernon Cultural District in Baltimore.
Contents
A Look Back: Center Stage's History
Center Stage was started in 1963 by people who loved theater. It quickly became a leader in the regional theater movement across America. The goal was to bring excellent professional plays to local audiences. Other famous theaters like The Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis and Arena Stage in Washington, DC had similar goals.
Before Center Stage, the building on North Avenue was a theater called The Peabody in the early 1900s. Later, a restaurant moved into the space. In August 1965, the restaurant moved out, making way for Center Stage.
Overcoming Challenges: The 1974 Fire
On January 10, 1974, a fire seriously damaged the theater's North Avenue home. Even though the outside walls were still standing, the inside was completely ruined. City officials said it was unsafe, and most of the building had to be taken down. Today, you can still see parts of the old building's front columns. The spot where it once stood is now a small parking lot.
Despite this setback, the theater team quickly rebuilt the set for a play called Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?. They performed it the very next night at the Baltimore Museum of Art. With help from local leaders, Center Stage kept its season going. They used the disaster to get support and raise money to keep the organization alive.
A New Home and Continued Growth
The theater eventually moved into a new space. This new home was created from an old Jesuit college building. Since then, Center Stage has become Baltimore's top professional theater. Each year, more than 100,000 people visit its home in Mount Vernon.
In 2011, a British writer named Kwame Kwei-Armah became the artistic director. Center Stage audiences already knew him from 2005. That's when his famous play Elmina's Kitchen had its first American performance there.
In the 2018/19 season, Stephanie Ybarra became the new Artistic Director. Center Stage now puts on seven plays each season. These shows include a mix of comedies, dramas, and musicals.
What You Can See at Center Stage
Most main performances happen in the Pearlstone Theater, which seats 541 people. The Head Theater is smaller and can be set up in different ways.
Center Stage also has special programs:
- The Play Lab series shows new works from both new and experienced artists.
- Third Spaces brings theater to unusual places. For example, in 2013, a play called The Container was performed inside a shipping container for a small audience.
- Fourth Spaces explores how technology and art can work together. They use an interactive media wall to connect audiences with theater artists.
See also
- Theater in Maryland
