In a town that has seen its share of businesses come and go, State College has always loved the anchors that hold downtown together. The Corner Room. Schlow Centre Region Library. The Tavern Restaurant. And, more recently, the State Theatre.
In December, the State Theatre celebrates its 10th anniversary since it reopened to become the community performing arts center in downtown State College. It is celebrating 10 years of providing a rich variety of cultural experiences for audiences of all ages. With more than 200 events each year, the State Theatre has become an economic driver for downtown State College.
“Having a performing arts center like the State Theatre in the heart of the community is important to the very life of the downtown,” says George Arnold, executive director of the Downtown State College Improvement District. “It brings the community into downtown State College and keeps it active and interesting.”
Keeping things interesting has always been the goal of the State Theatre, but the journey has not been without its challenges. With a groundswell of community support and a donated building, the State Theatre had many things going for it when it reopened in 2006. Still, the newly remodeled, reimagined community performing arts center struggled in its early years, leading some to think that it might not last.
“Not too long ago there were rumors that the State Theatre might close,” says board member Nadine Kofman, who has been involved with the theater since a group of community members first hatched the plan to turn the defunct movie theater into a performing arts center. “Now, it looks as good on paper as it does on stage. In only 10 years, the State Theatre has gone from being a good idea to becoming a downtown fixture.”
Indeed, says Greg Ray, who became executive director of the theater in 2014, the State has recently struck a balance that provides the right programming for the community and its visitors. And, after years of being in the red, this careful balance finally allows the theater to be better financially.
The formula for a successful community-based performing arts center, says Ray, includes a combination of dynamic performers, an engaged audience, and, perhaps surprisingly, the scientific method. It’s all about the data, he says, explaining that he and his team choose acts and events based on years of accumulated data that show what the local audiences prefer.
“Early on, people at the State were asking, ‘What will people go to? What do people want to see? What do people want to hear?’ Today, we find ourselves with a whole history of those questions being answered,” he says. “So we are the beneficiaries of 10 years of asking those questions and getting those answers.”
Knowing what to do with that data is part of what has made the State Theatre a success.
“As any researcher would tell you, this type of treasure trove of data is just awesome,” continues Ray. “It allows us to pinpoint much better how to serve our community. Early on, we saw this as a community service, but we needed a tremendous amount of feedback to figure out how to best serve the community.”
And serve the community they have. Last year, the State Theatre sold almost 35,000 tickets for live music, theater, movies, dance, and more. Cautiously optimistic, Ray and his team see the theater as a work in progress, one where constant vigilance is important.
“The most important part is being able to listen to the community,” he explains.
And what has the community told Ray? It’s a community of independent movie lovers — but not enough to sustain a week’s worth of screening the same movie. It’s a community that loves big names such as George Thorogood and Blue Oyster Cult, but also craves a performing arts center where it can see local ballet students perform The Nutcracker. It’s a community that wants the high culture of opera but also loves to laugh at classic Looney Tunes shorts.
And so, the State Theatre offers a little bit of something for everyone, becoming a true community performing arts center. But if there’s one thing that makes Ray the most proud, it’s not the crowds or the profits; it’s the State Theatre’s role as a community resource, providing a stage on which locals can share their talents with one another.
“The usage of the theater by the community was always one of the prime goals of the State Theatre,” says Roy Love, a past board president who remains active with the theater. “Our local theater groups use the theater. Every one of the dance companies uses the theater. And we’ve really made sure that that’s the case. We’ve made it work however it will work.”
Making it work has sometimes meant getting a little help from philanthropic community members. During the 2016-17 season, seven local performance groups are getting their chance to shine on the State Theatre stage thanks to the James and Barbara Palmer Performance Grant. The Palmer Grant provides the funds for local artists to rent the performance space at the theater — either the main stage or the smaller attic venue — and share their artistic talents with the community.
“It allows the State Theatre to be more diverse,” explains Love. “It enables the State to showcase groups that could not otherwise afford to rent the space. And it allows community artists to use this wonderful facility.”
And whether it’s the Nittany Knights Barbershop Chorus or theater company Tempest Productions, local performers in search of a technically superior venue have found a performance space that will delight both the performers and their audiences.
“It’s like they’re performing in your living room,” says Love of the intimate 571-seat theater, adding that the State Theatre’s highly skilled staff enhance the shows with their technical skills. “There’s something really magical about that.”
And the magic does not end with the performing arts. Several times a year, fund-raisers at the State Theatre help fund transformative work in the community.
“What excites me,” says Ray, “is that we have built a bridge from working purely with performing arts nonprofits to a wider nonprofit community.”
Two shows this past summer — Ani DiFranco and Mary Chapin Carpenter — raised funds for the Centre County Women’s Resource Center. A portion of the ticket sales for the Robert Cray show on November 15 will go to the Pennsylvania Military Museum in Boalsburg. Partnering with nonprofits, says Ray, not only helps raise money for local charities but also helps raise awareness of their work in the community.
Most notable is the State Theatre’s annual rock tribute show, featuring local performers covering the works of popular artists such as Van Morrison or Neil Young. Each year, this sell-out show donates several thousands of dollars of concert proceeds to a local charity, first Easter Seals and more recently Strawberry Fields Inc. The 2017 show, on January 28, will showcase local artists covering songs by the Rolling Stones.
“It’s an opportunity for us as a social service nonprofit to work with another nonprofit in a nontraditional way,” says Cindy Pasquinelli, CEO of Strawberry Fields Inc. “Strawberry Fields provides services for babies, birth to age three, and we provide mental-health and intellectual-disability services, and that doesn’t usually go hand in hand with being involved with the community theater. This concert is a nontraditional partnership that has brought so many unexpected rewards.”
Two years ago, Strawberry Fields used the proceeds of the tribute concert to launch Scraps and Skeins, a crafting supply resale store that carries donated fabric and yarn at discount prices. The store serves as both a fundraiser for Strawberry Fields operations and a job-training site for people in recovery from mental illness. On multiple levels, Scraps and Skeins is a runaway success.
“That’s from our connection to the State Theatre,” explains Pasquinelli proudly.
The theater has reaped rewards of the rock tribute shows as well in the form of more data to mine. As the State Theatre approaches its 10-year anniversary, Ray and his team are applying the winning formula to a gala event on December 3.
The 10th anniversary celebration, “Decades,” features a combination of local acts such as Jerry Zolten, Richard Sleigh, Nittany Knights, The Unbanned, Grain, and others. Zeropoint Big Band headlines the show, performing a variety of musical selections that date back to when the theater was founded as a movie house in 1938.
Having gone from a shuttered movie theater to a vibrant performing arts center, the State Theatre has a lot to celebrate in 10 years. And ten years from now? Ray dreams of expanding the State Theatre’s reach and reputation, and continuing to use audience feedback to steer programming choices. He dreams of putting Centre County on the map as a destination for high-quality performing arts.
“The more feedback we get from our community, the stronger the State Theatre is going to be,” predicts Ray. “Because ultimately, we see ourselves as a community resource, like the library or a museum. We belong to the Centre Region, so the more feedback we’re given, the better we can serve our community. And as we do that we will continue to grow.”
