Gainesville's ART theater prepares for third act by kicking off 23-24 season Aug. 18

Turns out there will be a third act for the Acrosstown Repertory Theater which nearly shuttered its doors last year.

It's a tribute to homegrown performative tenacity in a post-COVID-19 era that has seen community theaters close their doors all across the nation.

For Act 1, ART founders raised the curtain for the first time in the old downtown Star Garage in 1980.

By Act 2, the theater relocated to the historic Baird Hardware Complex on South Main Street in 1986, where it remains for 36 years until rising prices made its lease unaffordable.

Act 3: The ART will kick off its 2023-24 season in its new Creekside Mall theater on Aug. 18 with “No Exit,” Jean-Paul Sartre’s existential portrayal of how Hell can be the real world and dealing with other people.

After that, on Sept. 9, ART will host its 42nd Season Gala Homecoming reception at its new theater, at 3501 SW 2nd Ave. in Gainesville, Suite O. Information and ticket prices can be found on its website, www.acrosstown.org.

“We're excited to be bringing back our annual fundraiser," ART board member Jennifer Hutton said. "The gala is a great way to make the new space feel more like home.”

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That the ART has managed to find a new home one year after vacating its longtime South Main venue is itself something of a success story.

At the time the ART’s final Baird Center performance, “Hamlet,” ended, one year ago last August, there was considerable doubt as to whether the Gainesville theater troupe could continue to operate given financial constraints and flagging support.

“When we knew we were closing down we had a big town hall meeting and invited the community to attend,” said the ART’s new president, Andrea Young. “We had a really big show of support from people who wanted to help. We recruited new board members and we decided that this was going to be our mission, building something that would” endure.”

Indeed even while the search for a new theater was underway, the ART launched what amounted to a road show - performing Shakespeare’s “The Tempest” in a variety of locations around town.

“We partnered with the city of Gainesville and gave performances at Bo Diddly Plaza, Thomas Center, the 4th Ave. food park,” said Young. “It was a zero budget version of ‘The Tempest,” but we wanted to show that we still had the talent and that we wanted to share it” with the community.

‘We had originally intended to keep doing shows around town but we finally said ‘This is a lot of work. It’s not as easy as it sounds. Let’s find a space.’”

Finding an affordable space was one challenge. Turning it into a theater was another. Much of the ART’s gear, including audience seating, had been sold or given away. The ART ended up buying seats from the Old Florida Theater, aka the Great Southern Music Hall.

Going forward, ART patrons will be filling seats once occupied by fans of Jimmy Buffet, Muddy Waters, Bo Diddley, Minnie Riperton and countless other musicians who had performed at the Great Southern.

“We are now in what used to be a yoga studio,” Young said of the new 50-seat Creekside theater. “There’s a big open space for dressing rooms, two bathrooms and space for a bar (the ART is applying for a beer and wine license).”

“Basically it’s a nice little black box theater. Very intimate. We’re near restaurants, so if someone wants to go to dinner and a show it’s all one stop.”

Here is the ART’s 2023-24 season lineup:

∎ Aug. 18-Sept. 3: “No Exit”

∎ Oct. 13-29: “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street”

∎ Dec. 1-17: “Twelfth Night”

∎ Jan. 19-Feb. 4: “Little Women”

∎ Mar. 1-17: “Misery”

∎ Apr.  19-May 5: “Private Lives”

∎ June 7-23: “Cabaret”

This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Gainesville ART theater prepares to kick