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As the Lewis Family Playhouse’s inaugural season winds down, staff members have a challenge on their hands: to draw more residents to the 536-seat professional performing arts center next season. It shouldn’t be too difficult of a task given the response of the community during the theater’s first season. “We’ve had really, really, great feedback,” says Annette Mumolo, who handles marketing for the Victoria Gardens Cultural Center. “It’s been phenomenal.” In fact, several shows were sold out before the theater opened its doors in September. Located at the popular and easy accessible Victoria Gardens shopping center, the cultural center is the only facility in the United States that combines literature with performing arts as a major anchor at a retail center. Owned and operated by the city of Rancho Cucamonga, the theater is one of three components of the Victoria Gardens Cultural Center. The other two elements are the city’s second library, the Victoria Gardens Library, which houses a 90,000-piece book collection, and the Celebration Hall, a 4,500-square-foot meeting and banquet space for celebrations, ranging from high school proms to 50th-anniversary gatherings. Funding for the construction of the $33.8 million city project was completed without the use of any city general funds. The 89,000-square-foot cultural center was paid for through grants and partnerships. “If people are looking for something to do with their family, we are definitely the destination for that,” says Mumolo, who notes many guest make a day of it. Families, for example, can start in the library with a storytime or craft, grab some lunch and watch a show, then do some shopping. Victoria Gardens, which has been referred to as a Downtown Disney with a Rodeo Drive, is home to dozens of department stores, restaurants and specialty shops. There’s also an outdoor playground area for kids and the AMC Theatres 12. The cultural center is the result of both growing demographics and community demand. Less than 40 miles east of downtown Los Angeles, Rancho Cucamonga is located in one of the nations’ fastest-growing metropolitan areas. According to city figures, the city is home to approximately 137,000 residents. By the year 2010, that number is expected to grow to 170,000. “This was something residents wanted to see in their community,” says Mumolo. “They didn’t want to have to drive to Pasadena to listen to jazz or drive to Orange County to see a ballet.” During the inaugural season, the Lewis Family Playhouse staged 28 professional shows and 150 performances. The playhouse’s primary focus has been on the Theatre for Young Audiences productions and family programming. The city’s new professional theater company, the MainStreet Theatre Company, produced three productions this season based on children’s literature. Most recently, The MainStreet Theatre Company performed in “Charlotte’s Web” as part of the Theatre for Young Audiences Series. While this series has been a sell-out with area school groups, the playhouse hopes to make it just as popular with the public. “It’s been a little bit of challenge for us explaining to the general public that these are professional equity actors on stage,” says Mumolo. “When they think ‘Theater for Young Audiences,’ they automatically have this perception that it’s kids on stage and it’s not. It’s adults on stage, doing children’s literature.” In addition to its professional theater company, Lewis Family Playhouse presents national touring groups and is home to the city of Rancho Cucamonga Community Services Department’s Community Theatre and Theatre Arts Academy Programs. For its youngest patrons – and among the sell-out shows – is the theater’s Wee Wednesday series. The program, geared toward toddlers, features puppet shows and is presented at 10 a.m. on select Wednesdays. Inland Empire residents can soon see what’s in store for next season. The lineup for the 2007-2008 season will be posted online at vgculturalcenter.com in late April. Ticket sales will begin in May. |
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