CT Community Theatre Association Festival Set for Today at the Warner Theatre

Join us for the first Connecticut Community Theatre Association Festival at the Warner Theatre today, September 27 beginning at 1 pm. Four community theatre groups will compete at this year's festival.

The final result of this Festival will be for our adjudicators to select two Outstanding Productions to represent Connecticut in the New England Regional Theatre Festival (NERF), which will also be hosted by the Warner Theatre in our Nancy Marine Studio Theatre in Feb/Mar 2015. Winners from the NERF will go on to represent our region in the National AACT Festival, which will be held in June 2015 in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

This year's competing groups:

BACKYARD THEATRE ENSEMBLE - "Laundry and Bourbon"
DESULTORY THEATRE CLUB - "Jumper"
PHOENIX STAGE COMPANY - "The Checker Game"
WARNER STAGE COMPANY - "Winter Flowers"

Adjudications for each production will follow each performance and are open to the public. Our adjudicators for this event are Joan Luther and Paul Nelson, both from New York. Dave Sheppard from Massachusetts is the AACT Festival Commissioner.

Audiences are encouraged to attend all the performances and all of the adjudications to derive full educational value from the Festival.

Per AACT standards, the theater is sealed at the start of each performance. While an audience member may be permitted to exit during a performance, they will not be allowed to re-enter during a performance.

Tickets are $10 and can be purchased by calling the Warner Box Office at (860) 489-7180 or online at warnertheatre.org.

Built by Warner Brothers Studios and opened in 1931 as a movie palace (1,772 seats), the Warner Theatre was described then as "Connecticut's Most Beautiful Theatre." Damaged extensively in a flood, the Warner was slated for demolition in the early 1980s until the non-profit Northwest Connecticut Association for the Arts (NCAA) was founded and purchased the theatre. The Warner reopened as a performing arts center in 1983, and restoration of the main lobbies and auditorium was completed in November 2002. In 2008, the new 50,000 square foot Carole and Ray Neag Performing Arts Center, which houses a 300 seat studio theatre, 200 seat restaurant and expansive school for the arts, was completed. Today, the Warner is in operation year-round with more than 160 performances and 100,000 patrons passing through its doors each season. Over 10,000 students, pre K-adult, participate in arts education programs and classes. Together, with the support of the community, the Warner has raised close to $17 million to revitalize its facilities. NCAA's mission is to preserve the Warner Theatre as an historic landmark, enhance its reputation as a center of artistic excellence and a focal point of community involvement, and satisfy the diverse cultural needs of the region. To learn more about the Warner Theatre, visit www.warnertheatre.org.

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