It has been nearly five years since Theatre Downtown has had a place to call its own, but that’s about to change.
Mike Cunliffe, chairman of the theater’s board, announced during Sara James’ cabaret show, “Don’t Make Me Sing,” at Homewood Theatre Saturday night that Theatre Downtown would move into a space at 3004 4th Ave. South. That’s next to Avenue D Events.
The plan is to open in November with Mitch Albom’s “Duck Hunter Shoots Angel.”
“There was never a doubt that we would be looking for a new space,” James, who is president of the theater’s board, said in a separate interview. “Our situation was kind of unique. Our landlords sold the building to developers in November of 2019, so we lost it right before the pandemic. Our last show before the world shut down was ‘Small Mouth Sounds’ in February 2020 at Edgewood Dance Studio in the now-abandoned Brookwood Mall. There was plenty of doubt about how our future might look, but we never had any intention of giving up. Theatre Downtown would be back, no matter how long it took.”
Theatre Downtown plans to announce a truncated season in the new space.
“The great thing about this space and the kind of shows we do is that we could do a fantastic show there almost as is,” James said. “Everything else is just icing on the cake.”
“Everything else” means renovations to the space, and Theatre Downtown is about to launch a capital campaign.
“Of all the places we saw, this one required the least amount of construction to transform it into exactly what we want,” James said. “We have wonderful neighbors, the location is fantastic, and the playing space is just a blank canvas that we get to make our own. We’ve already started work and hope to have a homecoming party in late September.”
