North Shore Music Theatre
The theater building in 2012
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| Address |
Beverly, Massachusetts United States
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|---|---|
| Owner | Bill Hanney |
| Type | Theatre-in-the-round |
| Production | Concerts, Musicals |
| Construction | |
| Opened | 1954 |
| Reopened | 2010 |
| Website | |
| Official Website | |
North Shore Music Theatre is the largest operating regional theater in New England. It is located in Beverly, Massachusetts and is one of the few remaining theatre-in-the-round stages left in the United States. The theater is owned by Massachusetts businessman Bill Hanney.
In 1955, theater producer Steven Slane, bandleader Ruby Newman, and attorney C. Henry Glovsky founded the North Shore Music Theatre. The trio originally planned to construct a restaurant, bowling alley, swimming pool, and condominium complex for seniors as well, however they eventually changed their plans and in 1961 created the North Shore Community Arts Foundation, a nonprofit organization that focused on the theater.
The theater "opened as a partstar-centered comedies". After Route 128 was finished in the 1960s, permanent walls were constructed along with heating and air conditioning, and the capacity of the theater was increased from 1,000 to 1,750 and later 1,800 seats. Since the renovation in 2005, the theatre currently has 1,500 seats. The theater became the largest non-profit theater in New England, and up to 350,000 people attended the musicals performed each year. The theatre annually presented a series of celebrity concerts of children's musicals. It also housed the Youth Performance Academy that provided an opportunity for child actors to perform. The theater produced the world premiere of the Tony Award-winning musical Memphis in 2003, as well as the regional premieres of Hairspray, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Ragtime, and many others.
The theatre suffered from a serious fire in 2005 and slipped into debt. The financial distress of the theatre was also attributed to a poor management decision, which canceled the extremely popular annual production of A Christmas Carol in favor of High School Musical 2. With debts totaling more than $10 million in 2009, NSMT officials announced that the financially distressed theatre had failed to raise $2 million in philanthropic commitments to fund a new business model and launch a 2009 season. Although more than $500,000 in pledges had been made since the theatre announced a turn-around strategy in mid April, not enough money was raised to save the season. The planned productions were cancelled, and more than 4,000 people who had prepaid for tickets for the 2009 season were never refunded.
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