BREAKING NEWS!!!
Prestigious National Award to Opera House
League of Historic American Theatres 2008 Outstanding Theater Award
Goes to the Newberry Opera House in
Newberry South Carolina
July 21, 2008
BALTIMORE, MD –Celebrating
excellence in the performing arts field, The League of Historic American Theaters
recognized the Newberry Opera House in Newberry, South Carolina as Outstanding Theater of 2008 at the national
conference in Atlanta, Georgia, July 20,
2008.
Chairman James Boese of the Nederlander
Organization, (NY) and Thomas Johnson principal architect of Martinez and Johnson, Washington
DC announced the award. Boese recognized the Newberry Opera House “for its
significant accomplishments, inspiring excellence in the preservation, restoration and
sustainable operations of historic theaters throughout North America.”
Boese acknowledged the award-winning
Newberry Opera House as a prime example of best practices in our industry, and cited the
Opera House as the major factor in the economic blossoming of their region of South
Carolina.
Johnson praised the theater’s
adventurous programming, exemplary community involvement, and exuberant, forceful
leadership. He noted the astoundingly successfully renaissance of Newberry, transforming
it into a tourist destination and an international economic hub.
Dr. James E. Wiseman, Jr. accepted the award for the theater, thanking the
League for their exceptional service to the field of historic theaters. He attributed the
Opera House success to the work of more than 300 Newberry volunteers who put in over
18,000 hours of work annually.
The impact of the Newberry Opera House is
truly phenomenal with more than 250 million dollars of economic growth attributed to the
project.
“Perhaps
no other town in the Carolinas has gotten as much attention as Newberry. But the publicity
is justified. As Newberry transformed itself from sleepy southern burg to international
arts and business center, a state watched in stupefaction and then cheered it on. Now it's
the toast of South Carolina and draws attention from the national press, which has covered
it for its audacity to revive itself through the arts,” wrote a regional journal.
The Newberry Opera House, which presents
more than 200 events annually, is an 1881 French Gothic structure, renovated and reopened
in 1998. It draws approximately 100,000 people a year to Newberry, which is located in the
rural, central Midlands of South Carolina. Performers range from Kris Kristofferson to
Zoë Caldwell, the Temptations, Joan Baez, Eli
Wallach, Broadway, and Momix, to the Oak Ridge Boys to the NY Gilbert and Sullivan
Society.
The Newberry Opera House was selected for
this award by a peer panel including Performing Arts facility directors, architects and
consultants from all over North America. Past
recipients include the Flynn Theater in Burlington, Vermont, the Michigan Theater in Ann
Arbor, and the Cutler Majestic in Boston, Mass. The unanimous decision of the jury to
honor the Opera House recognized the “exceptionally strong vision for the theater and
its incredibly powerful catalytic effect on the economy of the region.”
- For high resolution pictures for publication e-mail
