FC Buzz: More to come at the Fairfield Theatre Company

BY JOHN REID

I”™ve been at Fairfield Theatre Company (FTC) for almost three years and during this time we have produced more than 550 live music concerts, presented about 50 feature-length films and several film festivals, hosted two seasons of children”™s theater and opened an art gallery.

We also expanded our concert productions into a new venue ”” the 1000-seat Norwalk Concert Hall, which is in addition to the 1450-seat Klein Auditorium in Bridgeport and our own 225-seat StageOne in downtown Fairfield. We have welcomed approximately 140,000 patrons to our concerts, plays, films, gallery openings and other events.

None of this would be have been possible without the talented FTC team, our generous and engaged board of directors, numerous donors, sponsors, members and volunteers, and literally thousands of artists and musicians. It has truly been a labor of love and it has occurred to me many times that I may actually have the best job in Fairfield County (and beyond).

There”™s more to come, though. We”™ve listened carefully to our patrons and one theme that we hear over and over is that the community wants more. More music. More theater. More art. More film. More culture.

In response, we have just started construction on a new 640-capacity venue ”” The Warehouse at FTC, which is being built next door to StageOne in downtown Fairfield. We are transforming an existing 8,000-square-foot raw warehouse into an open-seated venue with state-of-the art sound and lighting and all the necessary accouterments of a world-class performance space.

From a programming perspective, this will allow us to present many great artists we can”™t otherwise book because they are too large for StageOne and too small for the Klein and Norwalk Concert Hall. From a community perspective, the Warehouse will bring many more patrons to surrounding businesses in downtown Fairfield, which is already buzzing from the vibrant and growing arts scene that has become a hallmark of our town.

We expect the Warehouse to be open for business by next September. Stay tuned; there is more to come. Much, much more. It”™s going to be another busy year!

John Reid is producing artistic director, Fairfield Theatre Company, a member of the Cultural Alliance of Fairfield County.