Drake Center ready to stage latest act of Philadelphia's theater romance
A week ago, the enormous old ballroom at the Drake - the art deco apartment building and former hotel on Spruce Street - was a welter of ladders and plywood and lighting racks and power cords, all deployed by contractors and their workers.
A week ago, the enormous old ballroom at the Drake - the art deco apartment building and former hotel on Spruce Street - was a welter of ladders and plywood and lighting racks and power cords, all deployed by contractors and their workers.
But within days, ballroom space will be dramatically transformed. Contractors will vanish; audiences will appear.
On Wednesday, the Simpatico Theatre Project will open previews of The It Girl, an unusual theatrical take on the life of silent-screen star Clara Bow, in the Drake's spanking-new Louis Bluver Theatre, a flexible 75-seat auditorium.
On Friday, InterAct Theatre Company will mount previews of #therevolution, by Obie-winning playwright Kristoffer Diaz, in the Drake's new 128-seat proscenium theater.
Collectively, the plays announce the arrival of Philadelphia's newest center for theater - the Drake, at 1512 Spruce St., just a block off the Avenue of the Arts and a few feet west of the Kimmel Center.
Here is where Seth Rozin, InterAct's founder and producing artistic director, decided to plant his stake after 18 seasons at the historic but cramped 108-seat Adrienne Theater on Sansom Street.
And here is where Simpatico, Azuka Theatre, Inis Nua Theatre, and the PlayPenn new-play development workshop decided to sign on as resident partners.
They will occupy 8,500 square feet of space that once housed dance operations for the University of the Arts. Two years ago, UArts decided to move to the refurbished Gershman Y at Pine and Broad Streets.
Rozin, who felt the need to flex artistically, and the resident partners, who felt the need for place, permanency, and identity, stepped in quickly to establish a theatrical world amid the ghosts of dance and the bustle of a reviving downtown.
"It's been an extraordinary process," Rozin said the other day during a break from rehearsals for #therevolution. "It's been exhilarating. It's been a challenge. It's been a surprise. It's had its rewards. And at the end, we have a terrific space for the [theater] community and for audiences."
Allen Radway, Simpatico's producing artistic director, couldn't be more excited about the Drake. Simpatico will generally use the Bluver Theater but anticipates perhaps one production a season in the larger, as-yet-unnamed space.
The Drake is "the best type of foundation to build from," Radway said.
"Identity goes with real estate in a way," he said. "Once someone knows where you are, you are dependable. . . . So, having a sense of permanence is extremely important in terms of audience confidence and organizational confidence."
Other resident companies will mount productions later in the season.
The Drake will have two lobbies and a cafe (with WiFi), where Rozin and his partners hope writers and theater folk of all stripes will congregate and talk - and maybe even write - creating a theater buzz for all seasons.
For one thing, all of the companies, not to mention the PlayPenn development operation, are keen on nurturing and performing new work.
The It Girl, starring Amanda Schoonover and cocreated by Schoonover and director Brenna Geffers, will receive its world premiere at the Drake when it officially opens Saturday.
Rozin describes Diaz's #therevolution as a brand-new play that will have its official opening Jan. 27.
"It signals to the world that InterAct is doing the same kind of work we're known for," he said. "It's by a New York playwright, youngish, Kristoffer Diaz. It involves artistic risks, diversity, civic engagement. It asks the big questions about the world."
Perhaps most important, #therevolution "will showcase right away what we can do in the new theater that we couldn't do in our old."
Such as?
Rozin doesn't want to give out any spoilers, but he does mention a 15-foot-high wall that would have been impossible at the Adrienne, given its 10-foot ceiling. A 10-foot-wall, in Rozin's view, is "not monolithic." Further than that he will not go.
Fund-raising for the Drake refurbishment and build out has gone extremely well, he said. The initial funding goal had been $1.75 million. But that was raised, and the budget has subsequently increased, allowing for upgrades such as LED lighting.
The budget is now $2.9 million, with about $2.4 million in hand.
"If you had told us at the beginning that we had a $2.5 [million] to $3 million project ahead," said Rozin, "we probably would have said no."
But donors came through, and rentals by other companies have been robust. The theater spaces are "booked now through July," he said, "and there's already a lot of interest in August and going forward."
InterAct has not bought the Drake space; rather, it has a long-term lease, with resident partners subletting. That has been important in keeping costs down, Rozin said. Debt is not an issue.
"We're excited," he said. "We think it's going to make a difference, and we're just happy to go back to the business of making theater instead of making buildings."
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