On Feb. 28, Olney Theatre Center announced a major renovation project to its Original Theatre. As the name suggests, the Original Theatre dates to Olney’s founding in 1938 and is one of three indoor stages on the center’s 14-acre campus. “After 86 years, the Original Theatre desperately needs a makeover,” the theater’s Executive Director Debbie Ellinghaus says in the press release.
The goal of the renovation is to transform the Original Theatre into, in the words of Artistic Director Jason Loewith, “a fully flexible performance space, as suited for cutting-edge, immersive performances as for lectures, meetings, concerts, and banquets.” Following renovations, the space will be renamed the Bernard Family Theatre in consideration of philanthropist Cathy Bernard’s $1 million gift.
Also under construction is an education center, which is intended for use of both school-age students and early career professionals. It’ll feature two classrooms and a dance studio. Renovations are also scheduled to modernize the facilities in the theater’s Makers’ Center, which houses the technical and production aspects of the more than 250 annual performances at the Olney.
This latest round of renovations marks the final construction phase of the Olney’s $34 million Staging the Future Capital Campaign, which kicked off after the center received an $11 million grant from the State of Maryland in the spring of 2022. Previous stages included expanded parking, a permanent outdoor theater space (Root Family Stage at Omi’s Pavilion), and renovations to backstage areas and the lobby of the Mulitz-Gudelsky Theatre Lab. As of the time of writing, the Staging the Future webpage reported that the Olney has reached almost $28.5 million of its $34 million fundraising goal for the capital campaign. As Ellinghaus says in the press release, “Best of all, thanks to leadership gifts, aid from the State of Maryland, and other institutional partners, we’ve raised over 85% of the funds needed to complete the project. This is an extraordinary testament to the value that Olney Theatre brings to our region. With only 15% left to raise, we’re so close to the finish line and look forward to getting there soon with the help of our community.”
New Orleans and D.C.-based architecture firm Eskew Dumez Ripple has overseen all phases of the construction at Olney Theatre Center; Whiting-Turner Contracting Company has conducted the general contracting.
The self-described “regional theater” stands at 2001 Olney-Sandy Spring Rd. in Olney. Lend Me a Soprano, previously reviewed in City Paper, runs through March 10 on the Roberts Mainstage. Avaaz, a solo performance by Michael Shayan telling the story of his mother’s immigration from Iran, opens in the Mulitz-Gudelsky Theatre Lab on March 6.
