Beverly Theater Celebrates Start of Construction With ‘Groundtaking’ Event
Construction is officially underway on Las Vegas’ only indie movie house and performance theater as The Beverly Theater hosted an uncommon GroundTaking event on Friday, October 29 at the site in downtown. A traditional groundbreaking but with an unexpected twist, the event celebrated the development milestone for the fully funded project that is expected to debut mid-late 2022.
With live music provided by headlining composer and Raiders bandleader Dave Perrico joined by the neighboring Las Vegas Academy Jazz Band, the event began with Kip Kelly, the founding creative director of the new theater, serving as master of ceremonies. He revealed The Beverly Theater logo and announced the upcoming availability of it as an NFT, explained what a GroundTaking is and proclaimed that all in attendance would now be known as the official Beverly Theater Groundskeepers and would be presented with a commemorative jar of dirt to take with them as proof. Immediately following, remarks were made by Rory Reid, Chief Executive Officer of The Rogers Foundation and Beverly Rogers, Chairman of the Board, The Rogers Foundation and Ward 3 City Councilwoman Olivia Diaz who provided congratulatory remarks before the traditional and ceremonial shovel photos were taken.
The event concluded with a surprising appearance by what seemed to be a bungling construction worker but was actually the talented RJ Owens who is widely known as Bebe Francois from Cirque du Soleil’s Mystere. Owens masterfully fooled the crown and ultimately performed a disruptive poetic recitation to the enthusiastic crowd.
Once complete, The Beverly Theater will host independent film, music happenings, artistic performances, literary experiences, and educational programming seven days a week. The not-for-profit venue is perfectly situated next to the popular independent bookstore, The Writer’s Block at The Lucy. The Beverly Theater will further catalyze creativity and enhance the already burgeoning cultural scene in Las Vegas.
The two-story, 14,306 square-foot film house and performance theater will feature three distinct areas including the main theater, terrace, and courtyard, each thoughtfully designed and purposefully dialed-in to allow for unique content offerings and consistent programming. Additionally, The Beverly Theater will have an on-site box office, retail/concession space, fully loaded green room (affectionately named The Teddy), catering kitchen, and educational workspaces.
The main theater will feature raked seating of just over 150 seats resting on a retractable platform that can allow for expanded standing room capacity and convert the venue into a multi-purpose black box theater with the push of a button. Multiple lighting plots will allow the theater to be used in a variety of different ways and can be staged in multiple directions. With extraordinary emphasis on the film-watching experience, the 360 square-foot screen is coupled with a motorized cinema masking system and has been designed to maximize viewing angles from every seat in the house.
Overlooking 6th Street, the terrace is strategically wired for audio and sound. Perfect for intimate performances, secondary cinema screening, and social happenings. The courtyard provides a more intimate space ideal for book clubs, educational gatherings, reading, working, coffee-drinking and more.
Powered by Meyer Sound, Cirque theater’s sound system of choice, The Beverly Theater will feature a custom audio experience with Constellation, a platform that integrates high-quality loudspeakers, microphones, digital processing, patented algorithms, and proprietary certification techniques in a flexible package. This enables The Beverly Theater to transform its architectural acoustics with a finger tap, affording incomparable sonic flexibility. The Constellation system provides audiences with a robust surround cinema package, gives performers a microphone-free experience, and provides maximum flexibility for music performances, allowing multiple musical genres to enjoy the perfect acoustics for their performance.
The Beverly Theater’s exceptional design is the work of Carpenter Sellers Del Gatto Architects. Bringing the theater to life as general contractor will be Whiting-Turner Contracting Company. Grand Canyon Development Partners will manage the construction process on behalf of the Foundation.
The brainchild of namesake philanthropist Beverly Rogers, The Beverly Theater further underscores The Rogers Foundation’s ongoing commitment to supporting the arts.
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