The Umbrella Stage Company Celebrates Grand Opening Of New Mainstage

The Umbrella Community Arts Center came alive with the sights and sounds of Broadway last night to celebrate the launch of its newly minted professional company, The Umbrella Stage Company, and the grand opening of its new home - a just-constructed, state-of-the-art, 344-seat mainstage theater at 40 Stow Street.

Greater Boston's newest professional theater kicked off its 2019-2020 season with the spectacular classic musical, 42nd Street, directed by the Company's award-winning Producing Artistic Director, Brian Boruta.

"The grand opening production in our new space is a moment to celebrate," Boruta says, "and 42nd Street is nothing short of the greatest celebration of musical theatre and the people who make it happen! Splashy and grand, this tap-dance fueled musical is a visual feast, and is the ultimate showcase for the capabilities of our new mainstage."

The excitement began early with a black tie, red carpet reception for over 70 Umbrella supporters organized by Liz and Phill Gross, longtime champions of The Umbrella Performing Arts (the Gross' have also been instrumental in creating The Umbrella Concert Series, with an upcoming concert headlined by Lyle Lovett).

Even before the curtains rose, longtime Concord theatergoers remarked at the transformation of the space. After two years of construction, what had formerly been uncomfortable, inaccessible, wood-seated school auditorium had been replaced by a stunning modern proscenium theater complete with plush seats, digital sound system, accessibility aids -- even cupholders.

The packed house delighted in dazzling choreography by Lara Finn Banister and such classic numbers as "Lullaby on Broadway," "We're in the Money," and "Shuffle Off to Buffalo" performed by Music Director James Murphy and a big, brass-rich orchestra performing in a digital pit hidden beneath the theater.

The buoyant mood kept going as the cast, staff and audience mingled at a festive afterparty in The Umbrella's newly redone atrium art gallery, toasting the occasion with the evening's specialty beverage - a prosecco, elderflower and grapefruit mix dubbed The Pretty Lady - a reference to 42nd Street's show-within-a-show - the one that mints new stars and takes Broadway audiences by storm.

The Umbrella Stage Company is part of the expansive Umbrella Community Arts Center (formerly Emerson Umbrella), a multifunction 501(c)(3) nonprofit arts organization founded in 1983. Its expanded, six-show season ranges from high-kicking spectacle to punk rock musical to socially urgent drama, with shows alternating between a 344-seat mainstage and flexible 100-seat blackbox. Learn more at TheUmbrellaStage.org .

Photos: Stewart Ikeda; Gregory Cicarelli for The Umbrella Arts Center