Mayo Performing Arts Center

History

The Community Theatre was built in 1937 and was once the crown jewel of Walter Reade’s chain of movie theatres in New Jersey. Its success mirrored the love affair between America and movies during Hollywood’s Golden Age. By the 1980s, however, the Theatre had fallen into disrepair and sat idle and hulking for nearly a decade.

Things changed in 1994 when an army of tireless volunteers, armed with a sense of civic pride and limitless elbow grease pulled together and saved the Theatre from its uncertain fate. On September 29, after months of toil, the Theatre reopened as a performing arts center with a gala performance featuring the Kirov Orchestra of Saint Petersburg and Morristown resident and renowned pianist, Alexander Slobodyanik. Many volunteers openly wept as the Theatre’s renaissance finally came to fruition.

Now in its 21st season, the Mayo Performing Arts Center has become one of New Jersey’s preeminent arts and cultural organizations and now hosts more than 200 performances to more than 200,000 patrons every year. In 2014, the Theatre completed its four-year, $7 million “Setting the Stage” capital campaign, which allowed for major renovations including an orchestra pit, a state of the art fly-rail system, new dressing rooms and central air conditioning, which allows for year-round programming. Additionally, the capital campaign led to the completion of the Theatre’s suite of education studios, which allows the Theatre to offer performing arts education classes to both children and adults. The upstairs balcony was renovated in 2011, with new restrooms, Art Gallery space and concessions.

In May 2011, the Theatre officially changed its name to Mayo Performing Arts Center, completing a three-year transition.

Transportation

New Jersey Transit bus line stop is located adjacent to the theatre. The theatre is approximately 0.3 miles from the Morristown train station.