Triad Stage

Triad Stage at The Pyrle Theater
Address 232 South Elm Street
Greensboro, North Carolina
United States
Coordinates 36°04′14″N 79°47′26″W / 36.070684°N 79.790533°W / 36.070684; -79.790533Coordinates: 36°04′14″N 79°47′26″W / 36.070684°N 79.790533°W / 36.070684; -79.790533
Type Regional theatre
Capacity 300
Opened January 2002
Website
triadstage.org

Triad Stage is a regional theatre located at 232 South Elm Street, Greensboro, North Carolina.

History

Triad Stage began as the dream of creating a professional not-for-profit regional theater to serve the communities of the Triad. Co-founders Preston Lane and Richard Whittington forged their artistic partnership as graduate students at the Yale School of Drama. After managing a theater in Connecticut for two years, they undertook the three-year task of opening their own theater in the heart of historic Greensboro.

In September 1999, Triad Stage purchased the former Montgomery Ward building, which had been built in 1936 and vacant for almost 40 years. Renovations commenced in the spring of 2001, transforming the five-story building into a world class theater center (now called The Pyrle Theater) complete with a 300-seat live performance space, rehearsal hall, offices, two spacious lobbies, special events areas and other audience amenities.

The Grand Opening of the theater took place in January 2002 with Tennessee Williams’ modern classic Suddenly, Last Summer. Since then, Triad Stage has produced 60 productions and has sold over 300,000 tickets.

In 2008, Triad Stage finished a second round of renovations to The Pyrle. A scene shop annex was added in the basement. The top floor underwent major construction to turn what was previously a storage center into the 80-seat Upstage Cabaret performance space, the Sloan Rehearsal Hall and the studio and office facilities of WUNC North Carolina Public Radio’s new Greensboro Bureau.

In 2011, Triad Stage purchased a 30,000 square foot building near the Greensboro Coliseum Complex to serve as the theater's new production facility, relocating its scene, costume and properties shops as well as its warehouse.[1]

Now in its 11th anniversary season, Triad Stage has 3,250 Season Passholders and more than 400 annual donors. The theater company has received accolades on the national, state and local levels, including being named “One of the Best Regional Theaters in America” by New York’s Drama League, voted the Triad’s “Best Live Theater” by the readers of the News & Record’s GoTriad seven years in a row and “Professional Theatre of the Year” by the North Carolina Theatre Conference. Its production of Tobacco Road was listed among the “Best of 2007” by The Wall Street Journal. Triad Stage has been spotlighted in American Theatre, Stage Directions, Southern Living, Playbill.com, Our State and UNC-TV’s “North Carolina Weekend”. The American Theatre Wing, founder of the Tony Awards®, named Triad Stage "one of the top ten most promising theatres in the country" as the recipient of a 2010 National Theatre Company Grant.[2]

Triad Stage has been further honored with the award of grants from the National Endowment for the Arts[3] and The Shubert Organization.

The Pyrle Theater

Triad Stage named its theater building after Greensboro resident Pyrle Gibson.

The Founders

Preston Lane (Artistic Director/Co-Founder) is in his 14th season at Triad stage where he has directed over 30 productions. the Grand Opening production Suddenly Last Summer, the award-winning Hedda Gabler and A Streetcar Named Desire, the acclaimed Tobacco Road and four productions he created specifically for Triad Stage audiences - Brother Wolf, Beautiful Star, Bloody Blackbeard, and Providence Gap.

Preston is the recipient of the 2008 Betty Cone Medal of the Arts and is in his fourth year as the Artistic Partner for Theatre for An Appalachian Summer Festival. He was formerly Artistic Associate at the Dallas Theater Center, where his productions included the US premiere of Inexpressible Island (Dallas Observer Best of Dallas Awards: Best Director, Best Production) and The Night of the Iguana (Dallas Morning News:2002 Top Ten Theatre List). Other productions include work Off Broadway, Regional and the National Black Theatre Festival.

As a playwright, his adaptations and original works include: A Doll House, Masquerade, A Christmas Carol, Tartuffe, Ghosts, Hedda Gabler, Dracula, Mirandolina, Julie’s Dance, and Common Enemy (Triad Stage); A Christmas Carol (Dallas Theater Center, Sonoma County Rep, Kids Who Care and Triad Stage), Three Weeks After Marriage and Helen! (Summer Cabaret) and with Laurelyn Dossett: Brother Wolf (Triad Stage, An Appalachian Summer Festival, The Human Race Theatre Company and St. Olaf College), Beautiful Star (Triad Stage and WaterTower Theatre), Bloody Blackbeard and Providence Gap, Brother Wolf, Beautiful Star and Ghosts are published by Playscripts Inc.

He has taught at UNC-G, NC A&T, NCSA, Greensboro College, SMU, and the Professional Actors Workshop at the Dallas Theater Center. He is an alumnus of the Drama League of New York’s Director’s Project. A native of Boone, NC, Preston received his MFA from the Yale School of Drama.[4]

Richard Whittington (Managing Director/Co-Founder) has served as Managing Director of Triad Stage since its inception. Rich earned a MFA in Theatre Management from the Yale School of Drama and has a BFA in Acting and Directing from Marymount Manhattan College. In 2007, Rich was appointed by the Governor to serve on the board of the NC Arts Council where he is currently a member of the Executive Committee. He has previously served on the boards of ArtsNC and Downtown Greensboro, Inc. and has served on numerous grant panels throughout the state as well as for the National Endowment for the Arts.

Rich has taught Theatre Management at Greensboro College and NC A&T University and has guest lectured at UNC Chapel Hill, NC School of the Arts, Wake Forest University and UNC Greensboro. A native of Dallas, Texas, Rich previously served as Managing Director for the Ensemble Company for the Performing Arts (ECPA), as Artistic Administrator for the Dallas Theater Center and Associate Producer of Dallas’ The Big D Festival of the Unexpected. Prior experience also includes work at the Roundabout Theatre in New York and StageWest in Springfield, Massachusetts.

Preston and Rich were recently honored with Downtown Greensboro Inc.’s 2010 J. Edward Kitchen Leadership Award by for their effective and persistent leadership resulting in making significant improvements in Greensboro’s center city.[4]

References

  1. ↑ Triad Stage's Co-founders Triad Stage buys property to house costumes, build sets
  2. ↑ National Theatre Company Grant Recipients 2010
  3. ↑ http://cvnc.org/article.cfm?articleId=7852
  4. 1 2 Triad Stage's Co-founders
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