Carpenter Theater
| Carpenter Theater; Carpenter Center, Richmond CenterStage | |
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| Address | 600 E. Grace St. Richmond, Virginia  United States
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| Coordinates | 37°32′28″N 77°26′10″W / 37.541°N 77.436°W |
| Type | Proscenium Theater |
| Capacity | est. 1,800 |
| Construction | |
| Opened | 1928 |
| Reopened | September 12, 2009 |
| Website | |
| http://www.richmondcenterstage.com/ | |
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Loews Theatre
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| Location | 6th and Grace Sts., Richmond, Virginia |
| Area | 1 acre (0.4 ha) |
| Built | 1928 |
| Architect | John Eberson |
| Architectural style | Spanish Colonial Revival |
| NRHP Reference # | |
| VLR # | 127-0324 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | November 20, 1979 |
| Designated VLR | September 18, 1979 |
Richmond CenterStage is a performing arts center in Richmond, Virginia that includes the Altria Theater and the theater formerly known as the Carpenter Theatre Center for the Performing Arts. The Carpenter Theatre was originally a Loew's Theatre movie palace developed by the Loew's Theatres company and designed by John Eberson. Construction of the building began in 1927 and its doors were opened in 1928. The Altria Theater was constructed a year before in 1926 and was originally a Shriners hall.
Still known to many Richmonders as the Carpenter Center, the main CenterStage structure occupies the 600 block of historic Grace Street, a one-way road traveling west through Richmond. It is surrounded by Broad Street to the north, Seventh Street to the east, Grace Street to the south and Sixth street to the west. It is located in the Grace Street Commercial Historic District. It is not located in a City of Richmond Local Old & Historic District. But does now fall within the new created Arts and Cultural District as designated by Richmond City Council.
The Altria Theater sits on North Laurel Street in the heart of Virginia Commonwealth University's urban campus. The marquee faces Monroe Park with West Main Street and North Cherry Street bordering the theater on the south and west, respectively.
As a prominent New York architect, John Eberson conceived a design for the Loew's Theatre Corporation influenced by both Moorish and Spanish baroque structures. According to architectural historian Calder Loth, "Loew's was considered the most up-to-date theater in the South when it opened on April 9, 1928." Eberson was famous for having invented the "atmospheric theatre" design in which the theater walls resembled an elegant villa or streetscape under a night sky. The Carpenter Theatre design evokes a Spanish setting with a faux sky ceiling containing stars and moving clouds.
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