A small-city venue with a national level reputation
Commentary by Bob Skillen, Director, Encore! Campaign for the Performing Arts Centre
When I was approached by Tim Yerxa last summer about helping bring the new Fredericton Performing Arts Centre to life, it was an invitation I couldn’t turn down.
Even though I had recently retired from the University of New Brunswick, where I served as vice-president, Advancement for nearly 16 years, Tim’s passion for this impressive project that will enhance the landscape, culture and economic success of our region for many decades to come was infectious.
What I didn’t realize at the time was the immense reputation that our little Playhouse and its management team had developed right across the country.
It was in 2000 that Fredericton Playhouse Inc. (FPI, the non-profit formed to manage the Playhouse, hired Tim Yerxa as Executive Director, on recommendation of the volunteer Board of Directors. Since that time, the evolution of a modern method of program delivery and business development has benefitted not only Playhouse audiences but our wider community.
FPI has an organizational vision to strengthen the community through live performance. It’s a higher purpose than just selling tickets - and a more advanced model that the Playhouse has proven successful. By earning more of the revenue through bigger ticket shows, and by garnering support from dedicated donors, volunteers and sponsors, the Playhouse is able to offer access to everyone in the community through it’s “pay-what-you-will” shows, school field trips and programs that give free tickets to social agencies in the region. They have also formed a collaboration with the Imperial Theatre in Saint John and the Capitol Theatre in Moncton to bring unique, global shows to this little corner of the world.
Theatres across North America have been following suit, and Fredericton has become the one to watch, with Tim and his team receiving numerous local, regional and national awards and recognitions because of it. As a member – and then leader of – the Atlantic Presenters Association and the Canadian Association of the Performing Arts, Tim has gained the knowledge and built the relationships necessary to create a national-level theatre in small-city Fredericton.
The Playhouse community model has proven that Fredericton can punch above its weight.
Now, as the new Performing Arts Centre becomes a reality, that impressive programming and community development will be doubled or even tripled.
With 2.5x the space of the Playhouse, two theatres, a studio space, three generous lobby spaces and a small open amphitheatre in the main floor lobby, the building will be so much more than a beautiful architecture in the downtown. It will serve as the toolkit to help FPI tip the scales in making New Brunswick a go-to corner of the world to live, work and play.
I truly believe that Fredericton and our region in western/central New Brunswick is already a special place. The images I have in my mind when I think of home include the rivers, the trail system, the walking bridge, the Legislature, the Beaverbrook Art Gallery, old Government House, the universities, Waterloo Row, the historic plat, Science East, the tree lined streets, O’Dell Park, the state of the art arenas, Queen’s Square, the Abony Tennis facility, the ball fields and soccer pitches, the Charlotte St. Arts Centre, the craft breweries, Knowledge Park, Kings Landing, the covered bridges, the libraries, the farmer’s markets and, of course, the Playhouse.
The new Performing Arts Centre will only add to the character of the community we call home.
So, it has been my great pleasure over the past year to help develop a community campaign where everyone in our region has a chance to participate in building this legacy project that will benefit those who call our community home for generations to come.
You’ll be starting to see more about the Encore! campaign in the coming days and weeks. Stay tuned!
I hope you’ll join me in this iconic project.
