Westwego Performing Arts Theatre Will Re-Open This Month With Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony

Westwego city officials, Jefferson Parish business and community leaders, and Jefferson Performing Arts Society staff and board will celebrate the re-opening of Westwego Performing Arts Theatre on February 20th with an open house and ribbon cutting ceremony at 177 Sala Avenue. The event is free and open to the public. 

The theater, damaged in September 2021 due to Hurricane Ida, is now fully repaired and in use with rehearsals for the JPAS Theatre Kids! spring production of the musical Willy Wonka Jr., opening February 23, 2024.

This production, involving 39 youth between the ages of 8 and 18, will be the first public production at the theater since Hurricane Ida. The last production held there was the JPAS Theatre Kids! production of Addams Family Jr. in July 2021. 

While Westwego Performing Arts Theatre was closed, the smaller theater on Sala Avenue was utilized for all JPAS theatrical productions, as well as comedy shows and open mic nights, movie nights, classes, and community rentals.  Formerly called Teatro Wego, this venue was renamed Westwego Cultural Center in 2023 to better reflect the wide range of offerings. 

The ceremony on Tuesday, February 20th, will honor both the new name of the smaller theater and the reopening of the larger theater. There will be an open house first then the ceremonies will begin at 5:15 p.m. Youth performers from the JPAS Theatre Kids! program will open the ceremonies.