Near West Theatre

Near West Theatre is an independent, nonprofit theatre troupe housed in a 275-seat venue in the Gordon Square Arts District of the Detroit-Shoreway neighborhood of Cleveland, Ohio. Located along the major thoroughfare Detroit Avenue, two blocks from Cleveland Public Theatre, Near West specializes in musical productions with casts of all ages, with a special emphasis on serving at-risk youth in the Cleveland area.[1] It was founded in May 1978 by Stephanie Morrison, George Hrbek, and Robert Scullin as the Near West Side Shared Ministry Youth Theatre.[2] Its first musical director was Robert Schenk, who directed a production of Godspell in the summer of 1978. The troupe built its new facility over the course of 2014 for $7.3 million, which it raised as part of a wider $30 million Gordon Square Arts District campaign. From 1978 to 2014, the theatre performed in the third-floor ballroom of St. Patrick Church's Catholic Club Building at 3006 Bridge Ave. in Cleveland's Ohio City neighborhood.[3] Prior to opening its state-of-the-art space in 2015, the company rented out various spaces to mount their sizable productions.