The Herberger Theater Center will hold its Grand Re-Opening Celebration Friday, Oct. 1, marking the end of a renovation period that started in May.
Mayor Phil Gordon will lead a re-dedication ceremony, and Bad Cactus Brass Band and Dennis Rowland will perform at the celebration.
Tickets cost $100 and benefit the Herberger Theater’s Youth Outreach Programs.
The renovation included new seats and stage floors, an expanded patio with an indoor-outdoor bar over stage west and a new lighting feature in the main lobby rotunda consisting of suspended glass orbs with LED lights.
“You’ll be able to see them twinkling,” Director of Development Laurene Austin said of the lobby’s new centerpiece. “They’re just beautiful.”
The Herberger Theater Festival of the Arts, the first event following the re-opening, will take place on Saturday Oct. 2 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Herberger’s Lunch Time Theater will perform 20-minute shorts from 10:15 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., the Phoenix Film Foundation will show 20-minute films from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., and seven bands will perform throughout the festival.
Phoenix sculptor Clark Riedy will display his artwork at the re-opening and the arts festival in the theater’s art gallery, which was expanded by 1,400 square feet over the summer.
Riedy, the gallery’s curator in 2009, will also hold an Oct. 8 exhibit called, “Behind the Scenes, in the Sculptor’s Studio,” at the Herberger gallery through Oct. 31.
The exhibit will showcase the preliminary drawings and conceptual models that are used when making sculptures.
Riedy praised the Herberger Theater’s emphasis on local art.
“It’s one of the few cultural institutions in the downtown area that’s actually showcasing local art,” he said.
Other Phoenix artists will display their work in the new lounge above the gallery during the re-opening and the arts festival.
The Valley Youth Theater usually holds two large fundraising performances at the Herberger each year in August and June, but the Herberger’s summer closure forced the youth theater to alter its schedule.
Director of Development Jason Jones said the renovation limited the theater to one show in the 2009-10 year and that this year’s first performance, scheduled for October, will not be open to the public. The theater’s next performance at the Herberger, Annie, will show next June.
Bobb Cooper, Valley Youth Theater’s producing artistic director, said although the renovations will not affect production they will make the building more accessible.
“I think it will be a much more welcoming and open space with a better flow,” Cooper said.
Contact the reporter at john.l.fitzpatrick@asu.edu
