Starting March 14, local residents and college students will have a chance to see national touring shows on a regular basis — all without leaving the city.
On Friday night, the Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts in downtown Worcester will open its doors with a performance by two-time Tony Award winning singer and actress Bernadette Peters.
The 2,300-seat theater, capable of hosting full touring Broadway musical productions, comes after the renovation and the transformation of the former Poli Palace Theatre (more recently Downtown Showcase Cinemas). The revitalization cost $31 million.
The Hanover Theatre promises to appeal to the varied appetites of different audiences. On Saturday, comedienne Joy Behar of TV talkfest The View will perform. Also on deck: The Saw Doctors (March 16); Hairspray (March 24 and 25); magician David Copperfield (April 2); Stomp (April 18 and 19), and Lord of the Dance (May 5-6), among others.
The theater will even seek to cater especially to the college crowd with some shows, says Katherine Robertson, special assistant to the president for community affairs at Holy Cross. For instance, comedian Stephen Lynch will perform in April, in part because of the area’s large college student population.
Holy Cross is among 11 colleges in the Colleges of Worcester Consortium that pledged money toward the establishment of the theater. Robertson says that officials from the consortium colleges and Hanover Theatre will meet to explore various ways of working with the theater, including the possibility of putting on joint productions, hosting alumni and special events, and other unique programming.
The theatre is named after Hanover Insurance Co., whose president and CEO Frederick H. Eppinger ’89 pledged $2 million to put the company’s name on the marquee for 15 years.
The Hanover Theatre joins a circle of live arts and entertainment venues in Worcester consisting of the DCU Center, Mechanics Hall, Tuckerman Hall, and Foothills Theatre.
Related Information:
• Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts
• Word on Worcester
It’s Show Time
New theater in Worcester will bring top-flight entertainers to the area
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