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Publication Date: 09/30/2012
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providencejournal.com
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Warwick home
is the ticket
The new place
at 1245
Jefferson Blvd.
in Warwick
is busy with
construction
activity to get
the theater
ready for the
December
opening of two
shows. Ocean
State Theatre
Company
moved its
productions
here from the
stage at Theatre
By The Sea in
Matunuck.
Ocean State Theatre Company has new room
to grow, continuing to stage musicals and plays,
and offering educational programs
of Providence, but not much
south of the city. Warwick, in
fact, has not been host to live
It was about three years
theater since the Warwick
ago that Amiee Turner, head Musical Theatre, fondly
of Ocean State Theatre
known as The Tent, closed in
Company, went looking for a 1999.
space where she could hold
And while the 3,200-seat
educational programs and
Providence Performing Arts
stage the occasional
Center has pretty much
Christmas show.
cornered the market on
Ocean State Theatre, the
musical theater, those shows
nonprofit that has been
are lavish traveling tours.
producing the summer
Turner said Ocean State
musicals at Matunuck’s
Theatre goes in for a “more
Theatre By The Sea, wanted a intimate telling of the story”
place it could use for classes
with a handmade look. All
during the school year, when the scenery and costumes
Theatre By The Sea is closed. will be made on site.
Turner and partner Joel
Also, her research suggests
Kipper looked at a movie
that Rhode Islanders tend to
theater in Narragansett and
support theater in general.
were serious about a building
“We found that people who
on Main Street in East
go to theater go to theater,”
Greenwich.
she said, “and that has
But it was not until a
nothing to do with quantity.”
realtor showed them a vacant
PPAC President J. Lynn
warehouse in Warwick that
Singleton said he hopes the
Turner realized she had found arrival of Ocean State
the new home of Ocean State Theatre in Warwick will
Theatre. The
encourage more people to
22,000-square-foot,
attend theater. He said these
cinder-block structure at 1245 are “trying times” to open a
Jefferson Blvd. was just what new theater, but wishes
she and Kipper had in mind,
Turner and Kipper well.
with 10,000 square feet of
“No guts, no glory,” he
open space for a stage and
said.
seating, and another 10,000
A recent tour of the theater
for offices, restrooms, a
site found work crews
scenery shop and dressing
rooms that can accommodate pouring the concrete slab that
a cast of 30. The property was will support the stage and
putting up metal studding for
built as a service center for
walls. New wiring, sprinklers
Paul Bailey Ford, and last
used as a garage by Verizon. and heating and cooling
But come December, it will systems have already been
installed.
open as 409-seat,
Although the theater opens
state-of-the-art theater,
offering a mix of musicals and with a show in December, the
multimillion-dollar project
straight plays, which Turner
concedes is a more ambitious will be completed over the
next three years, when the
undertaking than she first
exterior will be spruced up,
envisioned. Plans call for a
temporary box office to open an elevator installed and a
loft built over the stage area
Monday and major
to “fly” scenery. The money
construction to be finished
soon after that. Then it will be has come through several
a matter of hanging the lights, sources of “favorable”
financing, said Turner,
installing the sound and
including building owner
tending to other technical
Stephen Soscia of Mutual
matters.
Property Associates and a
Initially, Turner felt that
moving from South County to couple of benefactors.
A capital drive with a
Warwick was too far north for
seven-figure
goal is now in its
her company. But she has
“quiet phase,” said Turner.
begun to rethink that, now
“It’s been clicking along very
that she finds herself in an
nicely,” she said.
area undergoing robust
The new theater opens
development.
Dec.
5 with a couple of
The theater is just down
Christmas teasers: “The
the road from T.F. Green
Winter Wonderettes,” and
Airport, where a new train
station has just opened, along David Sedaris’ popular
“SantaLand Diaries,” which
with a commuter parking
chronicles the author’s stint
garage. It is also near
as a department store elf. The
restaurants and the new
official opening is Jan. 25
Hilton Garden Inn.
“That it’s centrally located with a production of Neil
Simon’s “Fools.”
is good for us,” said Turner,
The rest of the season
who lives in South Kingstown.
through May includes
Warwick Mayor Scott
productions of “Rent,” “The
Avedisian hailed the project
King and I” and David
as a “great fit” for the city,
which has plans to develop 95 Mamet’s provocative play
acres south of the airport with “Race.”
Casts will be a mix of local
an industrial-residential mix,
and
regional actors from New
along with cultural amenities
York
and Boston. Turner said
such as the new theater. Salve
Regina University just opened to expect a makeup similar to
a satellite campus in the area. the one found at Theatre By
The Sea, where about
“To have a cultural
one-third of the talent is local.
destination and an
Subscriptions have already
educational destination is very
been offered to Theatre By
helpful in building this new
The Sea subscribers, and
district,” said Avedisian.
there have been about 500
Avedisian said the city is
takers, said Turner. For
doing everything it can to
subscriptions, call (401)
publicize the theater on
Facebook and Twitter, and is 921-6800 as of noon Oct. 1, or
buy online at oceanstate
sending out news releases.
theatre.org.
“We’re very excited,” said
Whether Ocean State
the mayor.
Turner noted that there are Theatre will be active during
theaters to the north and east the summer months, though,
G3
By CHANNING GRAY
JOURNAL ARTS WRITER
THE PROVIDENCE JOURNAL / SANDOR BODO
has yet to be determined.
Turner and Kipper had
planned to continue
producing musicals at
Theatre By The Sea in the
summer and regrouping in
Warwick during the rest of
the season.
But in July, Theatre By the
Sea owner Bill Hanney,
Ocean State’s landlord in
Matunuck, notified Turner
that he would be taking over
the operation of Theatre By
The Sea so he can do shared
productions with his North
Shore Music Theatre in
Beverly, Mass.
Arianna Knapp, artistic
director in Beverly, will be
taking over the creative
operations of both theaters,
said Hanney. He said he is
planning joint productions of
two shows next summer,
“Cats” and “La Cage aux
Folles.”
Hanney said sharing
shows will make for a more
efficient operation. “If we
just shared the costumes
alone,” he said, “that would
save money.”
Turner, who directed
numerous shows in
Matunuck during the past
five summers, said that even
RHODE ISLAND
PHILHARMONIC
Orchestra
Larry rachleff, Music Director
though the lease with
Theatre By The Sea is up in
December, she was “hopeful
we could renew it.”
“Now that we are out of
Matunuck,” said Turner,
“summer productions in
Warwick are back on the
table.”
Turner, who doesn’t give
her age but says she has a
son in college, got her start
early in show business. She
was on Broadway while still
a teen. Over the years, she
has appeared in five more
Broadway shows, produced
an independent film, started
her own theater company,
and produced and directed
performances.
She, in fact, was interested
along with Kipper in buying
Theatre By The Sea, which
went on the market in 2003.
But she said deed restrictions
made it difficult to finance
the property. Hanney, who
owns a string of movie
theaters in New England,
was able to swing the deal in
the spring of 2007. The
property was on the market
for $1.8 million.
Ocean State Theatre has a
20-year lease on the
Jefferson Boulevard
property, and plans to rent a
neighboring 3,600-squarefoot office building to store
props and use as office
space. Between the two sites,
the theater will have about
165 parking spaces.
When the Warwick
theater is up and running, it
will employ a staff of 30 and
operate with an annual
budget of about $2 million,
said Turner.
Whether Ocean State
Theatre will fly in Warwick
remains to be seen. But for
now Turner is optimistic.
“Everywhere we turn,
we’re getting a positive
reaction,” she said. “I’ve
never experienced such good
will in my 25 years in the
business.”
[email protected]
(401) 277-7492
Temple Sinai presents
Julie
Budd
in concert
“SHOW-STOPPERS”
(Those great musical moments)
Musical Director: Herb Bernstein
October 13, 2012
8 p.m.
Roberts Hall at RIC
Limited number of VIP tickets
available now at $55.00
ONLY by calling
401-738-5092
MOZART, HAYDN
& SCHUMANN
Saturday, October 13
at 8:00 pm
the Vets
Free OpeN rehearsaL
Friday, October 12
at 5:30 pm
Regular Reserved
seating available
August 1
$42.00 per person
by calling Roberts Hall Box Office
401-456-8144 or www.ric.edu/
Grant Llewellyn, conductor
Wendy Warner, cello
“The New York Times...Raves! Julie Budd...The Consummate Performer”
MOZART Idomeneo:
Overture & Ballet Music
HAYDN
cello concerto in c
SCHUMANN
symphony No. 4
~Previous Concert Appearances~
Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center, The London Palladium
& Israel Performing Arts Center
ORDER YOUR
TICkETS NOW FOR
Opening for Julie Budd
Rhode Island’s own Tribeca
BRAHMS’ Romantic
THIRD SYMPHONY
November 16 & 17
the Vets
Handel’s MESSIAH
December 8
TCHAIkOVSkY’S
FIFTH
BID NOW on Biddingforgood.com!
“Tribeca is the
most versatile and
entertaining show
and dance band in
the tri-state area!”
January 19
Tickets Start at $15.00!*
Call for your tickets
401.248.7000
Or online at riphil.org/tickets
*for tickets purchased by phone or in-person only
Bid on
Toots Zynsky
'Impennata' Collectible
Partial proceeds from this performance will
be going to AIDS Project RI
estimated value $13,500