Richmond CenterStage complex nearing completion

posted by 123james on July 30, 2009 at 10:50 am

RICHMOND, VA — There’s a very good article in the Richmond Times-Dispatch that gives a good summary on the progress of the renovation project for Carpenter Theatre(with photos).

Despite the multitude of technological advances — from fiber-optic lighting and air-conditioning vents along the floor in the theater to the state-of-the-art marquee — the structure and feel of the theater are that of 1928 and even further back in time.

Visitors who walk through the rotunda, with its original multicolored tiled floor, are ushered into a theater that has the feel of a medieval Mediterranean castle. A courtyard-like auditorium adds to the fantasy of being entertained in a long-ago era.

At the Carpenter Theatre, being restored as part of the new Richmond CenterStage performing-arts center, crews went to “great lengths to bring it back to its original form … with all the amenities and comforts of the 21st century,” said Jay Smith, spokesman for Richmond CenterStage.

Theaters in this post

Comments (1)

GaryParks
GaryParks on July 31, 2009 at 12:42 am

I am very glad to see the new color scheme, which has the feel of what John Eberson did in his atmospheric theatres. I toured the Carpenter Center (Loew’s Richmond) in 1992, and the previous paint “restoration” from the 80s was far too gaudy and was done in glossy paint. It was Eberson if he had hooked-up with Peter Max and The Grateful Dead. Now, at least from the video, it looks like Eberson by Eberson! Congratulations on a job well done!

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