Built to Last
Young Philly theater companies in need of a place to call home take matters into their own hands.
Neal Santos
SACRED SIX: Inis Nua Theatre Co.’s Tom Reing (left) and Azuka Theatre’s Kevin Glaccum are part of the Off-Broad Street Consortium, whose six member troupes are soon to be headquartered at First Baptist Church in Center City.
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The economy stagnates, unemployment increases, and government, corporate and foundation arts funding shrinks, while our leaders focus on mutual destruction in the next election. Not a great time to open a new theater space, right?
“The planets really aligned on this one,” Azuka Theatre artistic director Kevin Glaccum explains of the kitschily named Off-Broad Street Consortium a group of six small professional theater companies, including Azuka, 11th Hour Theatre Co., Brat Productions, EgoPo Classic Theater, Inis Nua Theatre Co. and Mauckingbird Theatre Co. and its rise from a humble idea to an ideal home.
Glaccum says Off-Broad Street was formed “basically to do marketing” for the six homeless but increasingly successful companies, which all hire union actors, raking in rave reviews and Barrymore Award nominations. Then last spring, A. Robert Jaeger of Partners for Sacred Places, which matches arts organizations with churches looking for partners, contacted the Theatre Alliance of Greater Philadelphia. Were any of the Alliance’s 140 member companies looking for space?
Soon, the match was made: First Baptist Church at 17th and Sansom streets will convert a large, high-ceiling room into a 100-seat theater, and all six companies will have office space in the building. In October, Azuka makes the first move, baptizing the as-yet-unnamed space with Jordan Harrison’s Act a Lady (Nov. 3-20), followed by local playwright Genne Murphy’s Hope Street and Other Lonely Places in March. “We’re first, so we go in and face all the kinks,” jokes Glaccum. “I’m so excited, I’m probably overlooking how horrific the move will be.”
For Azuka and the Consortium’s other companies, First Baptist ends “the amount of time, energy and agita I spend looking for space,” Glaccum says. No more rushing back and forth from the office to the rented theater; no more audiences showing up at their office thinking the business address is the performance venue. “It will be like a big headquarters,” Glaccum gushes, “a base of operations for all of us.”
First Baptist has been “unbelievably wonderful to deal with,” Glaccum adds. Like Partners for Sacred Places’ other Center City successes, namely First Unitarian Church and the Broad Street Ministry, they’ve realized that hosting arts events generates not only income, but renewed community participation. First Baptist, Glaccum adds, has already suggested creating a separate theater entrance on Sansom Street tangible evidence of a long-term commitment.
Norristown’s Theatre Horizon is likewise growing, earning nine Barrymore Award nominations for last year’s hit The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. The company, founded by Erin Reilly and director Matt Decker, is outgrowing its rented space for performances, offices and a dynamic education program at Norristown’s Montgomery County Cultural Center, where another small professional theater, Iron Age, also resides. They looked one block up DeKalb Street, now dubbed “Arts Hill,” found an empty shell waiting for a tenant, and have already raised $525,000 of the $750,000 needed to transform it into a 120-seat theater and the office, rehearsal, classroom, technical and storage space they need.
“If you want to get something done,” says Reilly, “you just have to do it. Being a theater company on the run is not the best way to produce art. We’ve performed in seven different venues in our seven years; this will be a big leap forward.” She’s hopeful that this season including Decker’s acclaimed production of Kimberly Akimbo (through Oct. 2), a new Christmas show in December and How I Learned to Drive in April 2012 will be Theatre Horizons’ last at the Center Theatre.
An additional benefit, both Reilly and Glaccum point out, is that the spaces they once rented will host other up-and-coming companies. Collaborators more than competitors, all seven companies nurture young talent. “We’re a launching pad for a new generation of actors and designers,” says Reilly.
Horizon and the Off-Broad Street Consortium join other young companies growing in their own spaces, like West Philly’s Curio Theatre Co. at Calvary Church; Flashpoint Theatre Co., which manages Second Stage at the Adrienne and produces a three-play season there; and B. Someday Productions, which runs Fishtown’s Walking Fish Theatre.
Against what seem like tough economic odds, small theaters in Philadelphia are booming. Meanwhile, job creation and growth stall in the for-profit sector. “This is what artists do so brilliantly,” says Reilly. “You can’t sit on your resources. You have to take risks.”