Big Kudos to Actors Playhouse

Posted on 18. Aug, 2012 by Howard Salus in Education, Entertainment, featured, Florida News, The Arts Advances

Actors’ Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre
receives City Beautiful Award for Historic Preservation

CORAL GABLES, Fla. – August 17, 2012 – Actors’ Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre is the proud recipient of this year’s City Beautiful Award for Outstanding Historic Preservation, presented by the Coral Gables Chamber of Commerce. The City Beautiful Awards celebrate the most outstanding examples of architectural achievement among commercial properties in Coral Gables. Actors’ Playhouse was honored with the award at the Good Morning Coral Gables Breakfast on Thursday, August 16.

. Actors’ Playhouse moved into the historic Miracle Theatre in 1995. Photo by Diego Pocovi.

In 1995, under the stewardship of Founding Chairman Dr. Lawrence E. Stein and Executive Producing Director Barbara S. Stein, Actors’ Playhouse’s Board of Directors entered into a partnership with the City of Coral Gables to renovate and restore the historic Miracle Theatre, transforming the Art Deco movie house into a three-stage performing arts center and the company’s new home in an $8 million debt-free project. In exchange for free rent under a 45-year lease, Actors’ Playhouse bears full responsibility for operating the city-owned facility, managing all programs, and raising funds for operations and capital improvements. The capital project was coordinated by Artistic Director David Arisco, with John P. Fullerton as the lead architect, and assistance from René I. Basulto and Douglas Wood.

. (L to R from back row) Actors’ Playhouse Founding Chairman Dr. Lawrence E. Stein, former City of Coral Gables Mayor Don Slesnick, Actors’ Playhouse Executive Producing Director Barbara S. Stein, President & CEO of the Coral Gables Chamber of Commerce Mark A. Trowbridge, René I. Basulto of Basulto & Associates, Inc, Douglas Wood of Douglas Wood Associates, Inc., Actors’ Playhouse Artistic Director David Arisco, former City of Coral Gables Mayor Dorothy Thompson, Chairman of the Coral Gables Chamber of Commerce Drew Kern, Jeannett Slesnick of Slesnick & Jochem, LLP, John P. Fullerton of Fullerton Diaz Architects, and Coral Gables City Manager Pat Salerno. Photo by Alberto Romeu Photography.

“Actors’ Playhouse is thrilled to be part of a model private/public partnership with the city of Coral Gables, owner of the Miracle Theatre, and to have renovated and restored the historic facility into a three-stage perforating arts center in downtown Coral Gables,” said Stein. “One of Miami-Dade County’s 22 major cultural institutions, and the producer of award-winning theatre for adults and children, the rebirth of the Miracle Theatre in 1995 saved the historic site from being sold to big- box retail and was the major catalyst for the redevelopment of the downtown district.”

About Actors’ Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre
Actors’ Playhouse is the nonprofit resident theatre company and managing agent of the historic Miracle Theatre on Miracle Mile in Coral Gables. Actors’ Playhouse, which has brought home 75 regional Carbonell Awards for artistic excellence, is a Florida Presenting Cultural Organization and one of 22 major cultural institutions in Miami-Dade County. In addition to its Mainstage season, Actors’ Playhouse offers a year-round season of Musical Theatre for Young Audiences, a National Children’s Theatre Festival, a Theatre Conservatory and Summer Camp Program, as well as educational arts outreach programs for underserved youth, and has initiated a Young Talent Big Dreams contest for children in partnership with The Children’s Trust.