So there’s new kid on the theatre block in Worcester – well maybe not so new, but definitely renovated. Early in 2008 the former Poli Palace Theatre in Downtown Worcester reopened as the Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts.

There’s been a gap on the Worcester artistic scene ever since I arrived in the area back in 1981. Yes, we have the DCU Center for sports events, rock stars and ice shows, and we have Mechanics Hall for concerts, and the Foothills Theatre Company continues to pump out outstanding provincial productions. But there really wasn’t a venue for Broadway tours or a setting to showcase world-class theatre performers.

With the opening of the Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts on Main Street, Worcester finally has a world-class venue to attract major headliners.

There is a lot of history tied-up in the building. Originally called the Franklin Theatre and built in 1904 the building was expanded in 1925 and renamed the Poli Palace Theatre. Early pictures of the façade show a prominent stained glass window. In 1967 Showcase Cinemas took over the premises and it entered the age of celluloid and popcorn. The cinema closed in the 1990s and after a decade of gathering dust and many years of planning by the WCPA Board of Directors, the Performing Arts Center finally opened in March 2008.

The first full season of 2008-2009 has already seen acts such as Aretha Franklin, The American Belles, Lily Tomlin, the Nutcracker, Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, Nunsense, Lisa Williams, and the list goes on.

Acts due up in 2009 include: CATS, Kenny Rogers, Cirque Dreams, Bill Crosby, Swan Lake, Annie, Chicago, Mandy Patinkin in Concert, and the Rat Pack is Back – can you guess what that is all about?

The DCU Center and so-called “Medical City” have revitalized portions of the downtown Worcester area and I hope the trend continues and spills over into more of the Main Street area with the introduction of the Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts center.

Now if they could only figure out what to with the old Worcester Galleria to liven up that section of Worcester we’d be well on our way to declaring the city downtown area not just alive but thriving.

For information on upcoming performances, tickets, directions and parking, visit the Hanover Theatre for Performing Arts web site here.

For lots more ideas on things to see and do, and places to stay in Massachusetts check out my special Massachusetts vacation guide here.

Another New England post by one of our writers is being prepared right now so be sure to visit again or just subscribe to our RSS Feed here and get notified automatically of events and news.

Cliff Calderwood
Publisher
The New England Online Magazine

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