Broadway Sacramento

The Sacramento Community Center Theatre

1301 L Street, Sacramento
Tickets: (916) 808-5181

Broadway Sacramento is presented by the nonprofit California Musical Theatre at the Sacramento Community Center Theater, across the street from the State Capitol. Established in 1989, Broadway Sacramento is the largest live performing arts event in the Capital Region serving theatregoers from the Oregon border and down California’s Central Valley.

As the region’s largest performing arts organization, California Musical Theatre also produces the venerable Music Circus summer season at the Wells Fargo Pavilion, the country’s premiere theatre-in-the-round. CMT is operated under the leadership of Executive Producer Richard Lewis (a member of the League of American Theatres and Producers) and Artistic Director Scott Eckern. The theatre is a founding member of the National Alliance for Musical Theatre and is a member of the Independent Presenters Network.

While Broadway Sacramento and Music Circus meet CMT’s mission of enriching the cultural life of the city of Sacramento, the company’s education department pursues the goal of educating new audiences and nurturing aspiring artists. The department’s efforts touch the lives of thousands every year, providing innovative and diverse programs, including after-school music and dance classes, wide-ranging theatre arts internships, enhanced theatrical experiences for underserved populations, dance classes taught by guest choreographers and dancers and the nation’s only accredited musical theatre training program for K-12 teachers.

Broadway Sacramento is presented at the 2,400-seat Community Center Theater at 1301 L Street, part of the City of Sacramento’s Convention Center Complex. The Community Center Theatre is also the home of other non-profit arts groups such as the Sacramento Ballet, the Sacramento Opera, the Sacramento Philharmonic, and the Sacramento Choral Society and Orchestra — all independently presented.

Find a production schedule and reviews in Theater listings to the right.

B Street Theatre

2711 B Street
Sacramento, CA 95816
(916) 443-5300

B Street Theatre has been known for its innovative productions of new plays since its first season in 1991. Lesser-known is that the company was originally founded in 1986 for the purpose of bringing the excitement of live performance to children through a program known as Fantasy Theatre. This educational outreach program now reaches 200,000 students in Northern California annually.

B Street Theatre’s Programs

B Street Theatre School Tour — For more than 20 years the mission of the B Street School Tour has been to provide entertainment to children while encouraging in them a love for the theatre and a specific appreciation for the art of playwriting. B Street School Tour also offers playwriting workshops and an annual playwriting contest for children throughout Northern California. The Tour reaches approximately 200,000 children in 12 counties each year.

B Street Theatre Mainstage —The B Street Theatre has been recognized as one of northern California’s top professional theatres. Seven new plays are presented each season to approximately 75,000 people.

B Street Theatre Family Series —The Family Series primarily serves children and their families through performances in the company’s “B2” 112-seat theater space. The Family Series is California’s only full-time, professional resident theater for children. Eight of The Family Series’ 12 weekly performances are designated for school field trips. The remaining four weekly performances are for the public. Four new plays are presented each season to approximately 25,000 school children and families.

B3 Series — The newest series of the B Street Theatre has a more serious and dramatic focus and features new contemporary plays for the sophisticated theatregoer. The B3 Series opened with a Pulitzer Prize winning drama on September 25, 2007 and presents with four to five new plays each season. The B3 Series currently operates in the B2 space at alternate times than the scheduled Family Series productions.

B Street Conservatory and Summer Camp —The B Street Conservatory provides classes in technique and scene study to adult actors discovering their unique talents. During the Summer months, the program focuses on young people ages 8 – 17 with one-week camp sessions. Instructors are B Street regulars who hold MFA’s from American Conservatory Theatre of San Francisco or other top training programs in the U.S. and have regional and national acting credits.

Intern Company — The B Street Theatre Acting Internship is an intensive 10-month program that immerses young actors in every aspect of professional theatre. Interns are recent college graduates seeking their first post-college, professional theatre experience. The Intern Company experience provides four to eight talented young people with their first real “break” in the world of professional performing arts. In exchange for training and professional performing experience, interns provide the company with much needed assistance in the areas of administration as well as back and front of house operations.

Find a production schedule and reviews in Theater listings to the right.

The Cosmopolitan Cabaret

1000 K Street, Sacramento
Tickets: (916) 557-1999

California Musical Theatre has launched its first completely new theatre experience in 20 years. In the very heart of Downtown Sacramento, the producer of Music Circus and Broadway Sacramento presents The Cosmopolitan Cabaret, a 200-seat upscale, yet casual space. The Cabaret allows audience members the comfort of either table seating or tiered seating with beverage counters where they may enjoy cocktails and refreshments during the performance in modern metropolitan surroundings.

The Cabaret shares the ground floor of The Cosmopolitan building at 10th and K streets with Cosmo Café, a new restaurant from the Paragary Restaurant Group, the preferred pre-theatre dining option. After the show, head upstairs to a posh new nightclub, Social.

Find a production schedule and reviews in Theater listings to the right.

Capital Stage

Aboard the Delta King
1000 Front Street
Old Sacramento
(916) 995-5464

Capital Stage was founded as the Delta King Theatre in 1999. At that time, the company was a division of the Riverboat Delta King, staging productions in the riverboat’s intimate, 115-seat theatre. In 2004, they became a professional, equity company and in 2005, they became Capital Stage Company, an independent, nonprofit organization, increasing their capacity to stage innovative and thought-provoking productions and to become a leader in the evolution of the performing arts in our region. Capital Stage produces fully mounted plays with professional actors; performs lively staged readings; engages with community-based organizations; and seeks diversity among their artists and our productions.

In 2006, after only one year of producing as the newly formed Capital Stage, the critics of the Sacramento News & Review was voted “Best Professional Theatre” in the greater Sacramento region. Since then, Capital Stage continues to receive praise for “…bringing an edgier, urban sophistication to professional theatre….” (Sacramento Bee)

In 2008, the Arts & Business Council recognized Capital Stage with the “Arts Management Excellence” award. That same year, Founding Artistic Director, Stephanie Gularte, was selected as one Sacramento Magazine’s “40 Under 40” people to watch for “giving a shot in the arm to local theatre.”

Capital Stage’s plans for the future include the development of a new venue in the downtown-midtown area of Sacramento.

For specific play information, see sidebar to the right.

Music Circus

Wells Fargo Pavilion

1419 H Street, Sacramento
Tickets: (916) 557-1999

There is something magical about Music Circus! No barrier separates you from the story as it unfolds. The music surrounds you. The dancing is more energetic and the romance more intimate. When it is dramatic, your heart soars; and when it is funny, the laughter never seems to stop. Musical theatre itself is special, but Music Circus is unforgettable. A one-of-a-kind, once-in-a-lifetime experience every time you go.

Since 1951, this first-class summer stock has become the predominant landmark on Sacramento’s cultural landscape. Over 130,000 patrons a year attend musical theater in the arena-style theatre. Truly a community event, the Music Circus employs a variety of professional and aspiring artists and theatre lovers. Creative staff (directors, choreographers and designers) and lead actors and ensemble members are brought in from New York and Los Angeles to work with local actors, artisans and students to produce seven shows in eight weeks. The volunteer crew for Music Circus includes over 350 volunteer ushers and dozens of volunteer production workers.

Wells Fargo Pavilion, the new home of Music Circus – opened in the summer of 2003. The Pavilion continues in the tradition of previous Music Circus tents, but has expanded artistic opportunities and audience amenities, including traditional theater seats, improved sightlines and air conditioning.

The Pavilion itself is a permanent facility incorporating restroom, concession facilities, technical “backstage” areas and the 2,200-seat performance arena. The performance area is theatre-in-the-round with a 32-foot diameter stage and four performance aisles. The theatre space is covered by a Teflon-coated fiberglass fabric that is double thick and will incorporate insulation for both sound, light and heat.

The Wells Fargo Pavilion was the signature feature of the H Street Theatre Project, a cooperative effort between the City and County of Sacramento, California Musical Theatre (producer of Music Circus), Sacramento Theatre Company, the business community and loyal audience members. The project includes the The Sacramento Bee Entry Plaza, an expanded courtyard, and a renovated box office. Sacramento Theatre Company produces plays on the site from September to May, benefit from a renovated stage, auditorium, lobby and dressing areas, as well as their second-floor office space.

Find a production schedule and reviews in Theater listings to the right.

The Sacramento Community Center Theatre

1301 L Street, Sacramento
Tickets: (916) 808-5181

The home of California Musical Theatre’s Broadway Sacramento season, and part of Sacramento Convention Center complex. Also home of other non-profit arts groups as the Sacramento Ballet, the Sacramento Opera, the Sacramento Philharmonic, and the Sacramento Choral Society and Orchestra — all independently presented.

Find a production schedule and reviews in Theater listings to the right.

Sacramento Theatre Company

Mainstage & Stage Two Theatres

1419 H Street
Sacramento, CA 95814

(916) 443-6722

Sacramento Theatre Company was founded in 1942, through Sacramento citizens responding to the need to entertain troops in the armed forces during World War II. After experiencing success on a tour of local military bases, the group, then known as the Sacramento Civic Repertory Theatre, formally organized. One of the goals was to build a theatre. On October 18, 1949, that dream came true with the opening of the Eaglet Theatre, now known as Sacramento Theatre Company Mainstage.

Today, the nonprofit Sacramento Theatre Company presents public performances of classical and modern plays in two theatres, from September to June, with eight performances a week and more than 300 performances per year. The Mainstage seats 300 patrons. The Mainstage also includes a spacious lobby offering concessions and a bar. Stage Two is a 90 seat, black box theatre in which theatergoers experience live theatre on the most intimate level. Providing only three rows of seats, the audience is thrust into the on-stage action. Volunteers usher all performances, and attend those performances free of charge.

According to Sacramento Theatre Company’s mission statement the company believes, “as the regional professional theatre company in Sacramento, it is our responsibility to create a variety of theatrical experiences for a culturally, generationally and socially diverse audience. We should explore works that enrich our lives and offer greater understanding of others and make it a point to research and develop new works.” By creating art of a national standard, developing new plays, re-presenting the classics and promoting innovations in all areas of the theatre, Sacramento Theatre Company is shaping the American theatre experience of our generation.”

Find a production schedule and reviews in Theater listings to the right.

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