Phoenix Theatre Company building a new state-of-the-art facility

The Phoenix Theatre Company is breaking ground on a new, state-of-the-art theatre facility. The company is the state’s oldest-producing theatre and is currently celebrating its 104th season.

This is the first major renovation the theatre has done in 10 years. The theater is expanding its black box-style theater space from 250 seats to 500 and adding a proscenium stage with cutting-edge technology perfect for pre-Broadway show development in the future.

The theatre is anticipated to be finished in 2025. Features of the new theatre include a full fly loft, below-stage traps and a larger stage.

The theatre will be named after Dr. Stacie J. and Richard J. Stephenson. Dr. Stephenson is a bestselling author and leader in functional and integrative medicine. Mr. Stephenson is the chairman and founder of Cancer Treatment Centers of America.

The Phoenix Theatre Company currently employs 130 full-time people and, with a $13 million annual operating budget, is the largest regional theatre in Arizona and one of the largest in the southwest. The anticipated cost of the renovation project is $30 million.

Vincent VanVleet, Executive Director of the Phoenix Theatre Company, and Michael Barnard, Producing Artistic Director of the Phoenix Theatre Company, join Arizona Horizon to discuss the expansion.

“We started fundraising in 2008 and we managed to build phase one, knowing that we would finish out the space,” VanVleet said.

The new theatre attract individual producers that are looking for a pre-broadway Barnard said.