The NEW Playhouse on the Square

The kids attend the Rollercoasters program at the Exchange Club in Midtown on a regular basis. For about 3 years now they have been working on building a new theater on the corner next to the Exchange Club. Last week we drove by and low and behold, it looked like they were having a party inside.

Sure enough, Tom tells me that they are having an open house for the public that weekend. It also happened to be our friend, Robin's, birthday weekend and she is all about Midtown. How perfect! We started the day with brunch at Eclectic Cafe.

Princess and Bayleigh had the roasted red pepper soup and a salad with balsamic vinaigrette. Oh la la....

Prince dug into the pancakes. How... predictable.

I didn't snap any shots of the outside of the building, but there are some pretty great pictures on their web page (PlayHouse on the Square). I must say that it is very different than any other building on the block. I am very excited about the rooftop garden. It was too cold (and they weren't finished with the construction) during the open house, but I hope to go back one day and check it out.

So we ate brownies while we listened to the harp.

As the tour kicked off, we got to add our names to the sign in sheet.

The artist.

The realist.

And Bayleigh would like to take this opportunity to let you know she likes hot dogs.

I was a little disappointed that they were not further along with the construction. It made it hard to envision what the final product would look like. My biggest complaint is that there is no grandeur to this new facility. No great entranceway, no majestic hall, no big space for people to gather. No drama!

There seems to be only one entrance into the theater (unless you are an actor). The hallways are narrow. The ceilings are low. Every aspect of theater has it's own room (staging, costumes, dance hall, practice areas, etc). It was overall... very compartmentalized. You will definitely need a guide if you intend to get back to the offices. But hey, what do I care? I don't work there and I can't foresee any reason I would need to go into any of those offices.

The best part of the building though, is the new theater. Seats 350 people with no one more than 30 feet from the stage.

We loved the third floor where you could look out and see everything.

This is the view from stage right out into the audience. Brand new everything. As you can see they haven't finished the stage or the sound paneling, but they still have two weeks until the first show.

From the front of the stage looking back you can see the work they have put into the lights and pulley system. This is HUGE compared to the facility that they are moving from.

They also have the addition of a trap door that they will finish building. I can't get over the size of the stage. Like I said, I can't wait to see it finished. There is so much potential and I know they have worked hard and it is SO close.

Our parting thoughts? Robin said it best (in Memphian), Break a leg!