A revived Rochester Civic Theatre readies for its next act
The past 18 months have been nothing short of a whirlwind for the staff tasked with operating the Rochester Civic Theatre. The Covid-19 pandemic struck just six weeks after numerous financial misdeeds came to light, dealing a double whammy to Rochester's longest-running community theater. It led to a new operating model for the city-owned space, allowing the city's various theater and dance troupes to perform and rehearse inside the Civic — especially those that didn't have a home originally, or lost one due to the pandemic.
But now, with a few months of experience under their belts with the new model, the new leader of the Civic Theatre say a theater resurgence in Rochester may be on the horizon.
"The arts are thriving in Rochester," said Civic Managing Director Misha Johnson. "It’s very exciting. And where there’s affordable space here at the Civic, it’s wonderful to welcome more of those groups here as best we can.”
The Civic will announce the show lineup for its 70th season during their annual banquet Saturday night, with a newfound energy and excitement for the post-pandemic future. On this week's episode of the Rochester Rundown, we chat with Johnson and a few longtime volunteers, who say rubbing shoulders with other theater companies may be the best thing that's happened to the Civic in some time.
The story of the Civic Theatre's next act — plus the news of the week and events for this weekend — all included in this week's Rundown, presented by Altra Federal Credit Union. Listen below or on your favorite streaming service.
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