Above: Sara Garonzik, during construction of the Suzanne Roberts Theatre, 2007 (courtesy Philadelphia Theatre Company).
Below: Photo from the Camden Courier-Press, October 23rd, 2007: "Sara Garonzik, producing artistic director of the Philadelphia Theatre Company, is thrilled with the company's new home, the Suzanne Roberts Theatre, on the Avenue of the Arts." (photo by Douglas M. Bovitt)
On the gala opening night, many celebrities came down to Philadelphia, and their photos were in the Inquirer the next day:
Also present, of course, were the eponymous Suzanne Roberts, and her husband Ralph Roberts, the CEO of Comcast Corporation. Playwright Terrence McNally was the emcee, and at one point knelt down to give the 365-seat theater his blessing by kissing the stage.
Above: photo from the Philadelphia Inquirer, October 21, 2007: "A crew sets the stage lighting for a rehearsal of 'Being Alive,' the theater's first production." (Gerald S. Williams). The rippling acoustic walls of the auditorium can be see here. Though the curving panels painted to look like wood, they are actually glass-reinforced gypsum.
The first production in the elegant new space was Billy Porter's tribute to Stephen Sondheim, Being Alive, with a cast that included Philly's own Leslie Odom Jr., as well as Bryan Terrell Clark and Chuck Cooper:
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