Capitol Center for the Arts

The Capitol Center for the Arts is an entertainment venue in Concord, New Hampshire, United States, which features a 1,304-seat theatre designed with an Egyptian motif. The center opened in its current form in 1995 after a multiyear renovation of the Capitol Theatre, which had existed in the same location from 1927 to 1989. The theatre is equipped to host major Broadway shows, and has played host to the Billy Joel musical Movin' Out, pianist George Winston, and humorist David Sedaris.

Capitol Center for the Arts
Capital Theatre (1927-89)
Address44 South Main St.
Concord, New Hampshire
TypePerforming Arts Center
Capacity1,304 (Chubb Theatre)
422 (Governor's Hall)
125 (Kimball House)
Construction
Opened1927
ReopenedNovember 1995
Website
ccanh.com

The renovation of the Capitol Center was made possible by $4.2 million in donations received for the then-newly formed center, with Chubb Life providing the majority of the support. The Chubb Theatre was named in honor of the company that made the center possible. Volunteers, some 250 of them, also contributed 3,000 hours of service to repaint the interior and restore the Egyptian motif. Paul Hodes, who subsequently became a congressman from New Hampshire, was also instrumental in the renovation and reopening of the center, heading up the effort at the urging of fellow lawyer and patron of the arts Martin L. Gross of Concord.[1]

History

The Capitol Theatre, as well as the Star Theatre around the corner, were part of a chain owned by Joseph P. Kennedy's Maine-New Hampshire Theatres Co.

In a piece written in 2011, remembering back to the 1950s and '60s, Paul E. Brogan wrote that "the Capitol Theatre still bore signs of the elegance and lushness that had earned it acclaim when it opened, replete with a pipe organ and stage presentations before the film."[2]

References
  1. "About the CCA". Capitol Center for the Arts. Retrieved September 15, 2014.
  2. Paul E. Brogan (July 15, 2011). "You Oughta Be in Pictures". Concord Patch. Retrieved September 15, 2014.


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