Welcome home - performing arts companies moving venues

When people think about ‘going to the theatre’, they often think about the venues that performing arts organizations inhabit. That venue becomes a part of the identity associated with the organization. It’s important that the venue serves the needs of the company, since it is the face of their programming.

There are a wide range of circumstances that could necessitate having to change venues. Sometimes companies have the chance to make an exciting move into a new venue with the support of their board and donors. Some companies need to find a venue that aligns more closely with their mission and values. Whether a venue move is the result of a capital campaign, a budgetary or programming change that demands a creative space solution, or an unexpected challenge or crisis that forces an organization out of its home (a flood or fire, for example), there are a myriad of reasons companies seek out new spaces. What drives these decisions is ensuring the valuable services arts organizations offer are available to their audiences.

Performing arts companies need to think about how their performance venue communicates their programmatic mission. Even though moving venues has its challenges, getting a company into the more appropriate location can provide a springboard for new possibilities. Some current examples show venue moves companies have made to support their mission and goals.

A recent, highly publicized, venue change announcement came from the Washington National Opera (WNO). The organization has left its home at the Trump-Kennedy Center and will be staging their remaining 2025-2026 season at local venues. WNO had been performing at the Kennedy Center since 1977, and the Center is where WNO established itself as one of the nation’s top opera companies.

The 2026-2027 season marks the Washington National Opera’s 70th anniversary, and while this change of venue was not originally planned, the organization has already secured the Lisner Auditorium at George Washington University for two of their upcoming productions. WNO General Director Timothy O’Leary said in a statement, "We will soon announce our 2026-2027 season at an array of great venues. For this moment, returning to Lisner Auditorium is both a homecoming and renewal. Thanks to our community of support, WNO will continue to be a source of beauty, connection, and free expression for another 70 years and beyond."

While the impetus and timing for the company leaving the Center, a venue that has been their home for almost 50 years, appears to be connected to actions taken by the Trump administration that directly impacted WNO’s donations and ticket sales, the company has publicly stated that the change of venue this season has been necessitated by finances, and that the move also provides the organization with a chance to reframe and restructure how they envision their programming and their footprint in the community. Importantly, to engage their audiences and local community, the WNO are planning several upcoming town hall events for the public to ask questions. WNO has made the leap to find new spaces to perform, relying on prior relationships with other venues and continuing to adapt quickly to ensure the season moves forward. It will be exciting to see how WNO will continue to evolve as they plan their next full season of programming.

Recent changes in the governance and management of the Trump Kennedy Center have also left another company, the National Symphony Orchestra, with an uncertain future as President Trump has announced that the Center will close for renovations. As more details of moving plans emerge, it will be interesting to see how each organization moves forward with programming and which new venues these storied organizations will eventually call home in Washington, D.C.

The NSO is now in a similar position to WNO. They have been tasked with changing their venue for the next two to three years. The NSO and WNO are companies who provide cultural cache to Washington, D.C. The mission of these organizations is to engage nationally, but also locally. Having a significant performing arts presence in Washington, D.C. is a priority for both organizations and watching them step into this new chapter will provide important lessons for the arts moving forward. It will show how they are working to fulfill their mission to support their communities as they look to redefine what ‘home’ looks like.

While Washington National Opera sees their near future with a degree of uncertainty about the number of venues they will be performing in, The New Group in New York City has finally put down roots in a city where real estate is notoriously challenging. The New Group is an Off-Broadway theatrical troupe that has been producing work since 1995. The company has mounted and co-produced a number of signature works, including Avenue Q in 2003. Over the course of that time they have worked in multiple venues, including the John Houseman Theatre, the INTAR Theatre, Theatre at St. Clement's Church, Acorn Theatre, and the Pershing Square Signature Center.

The New Group was no stranger to moving venues, but their founding Artistic Director, Scott Elliot, began to look ahead to the future and he realized putting down roots in a venue would allow his organization to grow after his departure, observing, “It was a choice of mine in the old days where I was like, 'There's plenty of spaces. We don't need to have more’…I realized that the legacy of the New Group could go on after I'm dead. And the way that is going to happen is by the New Group having a home and its own destination...Its ability to make art won't die if I die and that this place will live on."

Returning to the Theatre at St. Clement's provides the New Group an opportunity to update the theatre to better serve its audience. These plans include, “adding an elevator to take patrons from the lobby up to the theatre (which currently requires a flight up a grand wooden staircase). It includes changing the 160-seat proscenium theatre into a flexible space, able to accommodate different types of seating configurations of up to 300 people. The entryway, which currently houses a ticket booth and office space, will be turned into a lobby and bar. Behind the scenes, the company plans to install air conditioning, turn a portion of the church basement into a rehearsal room and a Blackbox theatre, improve the restrooms, and transform the upstairs storage rooms into office space. So, for the first time in its history, the New Group will be able to manage, rehearse, and perform in the same space.”

One particularly interesting feature about this move is that the theatre’s new home will serve the community in another capacity, “Much about the church will remain the same, including its weekly Sunday service and the food pantry that runs out of its large rec space. The character of the space, the history of the space, all of it—it becomes part of everything that we do. It's almost like another character in a show, so we're leaning into that," notes Adam Bernstein, Executive Director of the New Group.

The New Group has been successful moving venues multiple times in New York City in the past, but their leadership saw the possibility of establishing their company’s legacy by making a more permanent space. Returning to the Theatre at St. Clement's allows the New Group to create their own space in New York City, using a unique venue to serve their artistic needs. Keeping the space as a place of worship and access for resources for the community feels authentic to the company’s artist-ensemble vision, “As productions are held and the space gets revamped, the directors rejoice at the idea of becoming a host, extending invites to attendees for the first time, and hope that the church-theatre becomes synonymous with The New Group’s legacy’.” Creating a permanent home space allows them to align with their vision of collaboration and relationship building, seeking to build connections with the community, both artists and audiences, that they serve.

Another organization that recently moved to a new, larger venue is the Minnesota Dance Theatre (MDT). In August, the company announced that it would be leaving their current venue, the Hennepin Center for the Arts, which has been their home since 1979. “Starting in September, construction will begin for the approximately 8,600-square-foot space in Minneapolis’ Marcy-Holmes neighborhood that will host world-class dance training, choreographic exploration and residencies, community education and programming, and public events. The project is scheduled for completion in late December, with classes beginning at the new MDT Center for Dance in 2026.”

MDT has not always been able to consider an expansion. The organization paused operations of its performance company in May of 2024, following the retirement of their longtime artistic director, Lise Houlton. In a statement, the organization said it remained dedicated to keeping its dance school going, but that the impact of the pandemic and lack of returning support made their current performance schedule unsustainable.

Lauren Post assumed the role of Director in 2024, and Joanna Mednick joined as Artistic Associate in 2025. New leadership prompted a conversation about where MDT wanted to position their organization moving forward. Their mission is focused on creating and inspiring the next generation of classical and contemporary dancers and their enthusiasts through superior and inclusive dance education, performance, and academics. New leadership in 2024 provided a chance for the organization to reevaluate where they were, and align their mission with their vision of the future.

Post said, “We just have more opportunity to expand programming, bring in choreographic residencies, and it will support us as we grow throughout the years.” This overlapped with robust backing of several key donors. Post notes, ‘“I am so proud to announce our plans for this bold, exciting new chapter for our school, as we look ahead to the new era of MDT…The MDT Center for Dance is a true reflection of Minnesota’s status as one of the nation's leading arts hubs, and will significantly increase MDT’s ability to support our artists, to train and nurture ballet’s next generation of performers and choreographers, and serve our community in Minnesota and beyond.”

Even though the company had drastically reduced operations in 2024, there remained a clear desire from the community and the audience to bring back the type of professional dance opportunities MDT had previously provided to their audience. “MDT is a school deeply committed to excellence in classical ballet training and to engaging with our community through the transformative power of dance,” Scott said. “Our ten-year strategic plan includes building the foundation for a world-renowned company and apprentice program. This is an organization that is energized and excited about its future. This new space will allow Minnesota Dance Theatre to establish a home for the company to expand and grow.”

These four examples illustrate how organizations align mission with venue, how performing arts organizations can envision what a new space can mean for their programmatic identity and priorities. Whether it is watching WNO move out into the unknown to see what their future can hold in different spaces, NSO thinking about how to approach a short term relocation during a renovation, the New Group returning to a prior venue to create a new home, or MDT building a brand new facility, performing arts organizations have to think about how they can use their performance spaces to move their missions forward.

Laine Goerner is the Production & Rental Manager at the Center for the Arts at Virginia Tech and is working towards an MFA in Theatre in Arts Leadership.