After 30 years providing theater opportunities to local actors, the Theatre Factory in Trafford will move into a New Kensington-based arts hub at the end of the summer.
Theatre Factory leadership decided last fall it would accept an offer to become the resident theater company for Aluminum City Arts — a collection of art-related organizations housed in a former Alcoa building along Freeport Road. It officially announced the move this month.
But Trafford won’t necessarily be left without a nonprofit theater company.
A group of 10 former Theatre Factory volunteers aims to keep theater alive on Cavitt Avenue by opening their own company.
New partnership could ensure longevity
Aluminum City Arts, which held a soft opening in November, is now home to about eight arts organizations, said Art Director and Curator Ernesto Camacho Jr. Among them are a fashion designer, photo studio, historical society and art gallery.
Co-founder Brian DeFelices purchased the Aluminum City Arts building from Citizens General Hospital last year for $245,000, according to Westmoreland County real estate records. Each resident artist can choose a three-month, six-month or one-year lease, Camacho said.
The addition of Theatre Factory will tie the arts hub together, he said.
“It’s something that’s only going to create the whole picture of what we’re trying to envision here with this building,” Camacho said.
Theatre Factory leaders were drawn to the invitation amid rising costs associated with producing plays and musicals — including lumber, paint and hardware for sets; items for costumes; and the rights to shows, said Olivia Hartle, board member and associate artistic director.
Hartle cited the merger of Pittsburgh Public Theater and Pittsburgh CLO — announced last month — as an example of the impact of rising costs.
“Even our biggest theaters are struggling to keep the lights on, keep making theater,” she said. “It’s always been a priority of the board to make sure that we can continue serving Westmoreland County with doing community theater.
“When the opportunity to join Aluminum City Arts came about, we saw that as a way for us to help guarantee that our work can continue into the future.”
‘We’re sad to be leaving Trafford’
The Aluminum City Arts partnership comes with more parking and a more updated venue than Theatre Factory’s Trafford location, Hartle said. Being housed in the same building as several other organizations also means Theatre Factory will save time and money on building maintenance.
Hartle also is excited about the opportunity to provide local theater to the New Kensington community, home of the now-closed New Kensington Civic Theatre, which staged its final show in May 2019.
“That’s a big deal for us as well — to be one of many opportunities in one place for the community to come and create art together,” she said.
Theatre Factory aims to be moved out of its Trafford building by Sept. 1, Hartle said. It will host an open house of its new space in the fall and aims to perform its first show in December.
But the move to New Kensington is bittersweet for Hartle, who has volunteered with Theatre Factory for seven years.
“At the same time, we’re sad to be leaving Trafford. We love the community there,” she said. “We’re really grateful, and we’re going to miss that community.”
Trafford Performing Arts aims to fill gap
That’s what inspired Michael Temple to band together with a group of Theatre Factory volunteers to maintain a performing arts opportunity in Trafford.
Under the name Trafford Performing Arts Center, the group is in the process of negotiating a lease for the Cavitt Avenue building, Temple said. The group aims to start its lease in September and hold its first show in October.
“I wish them nothing but the best,” Temple said, “but I don’t want to lose my local community theater, and I’m not the only one that feels that way. A bunch of us are just stepping up to fill the hole, but not to replace the theater itself.”
The new name holds familiarity with the local theater community, Temple said. Theatre Factory has been called Trafford Performing Arts Center since it welcomed Delmont’s Apple Hill Playhouse in 2021.
Trafford Performing Arts plans to offer similar programs to the Theatre Factory, including children’s summer camps and adult mainstage performances, said Sarah Bender, vice president of the new company.
“The Theatre Factory is so close to our heart, and the way they do their programming, it really works for the community,” she said.
Bender has painted sets, created logos and graphic designs, done marketing work and directed shows at Theatre Factory for about 15 years. She has watched as local actors — including her siblings — have grown and gained confidence through performing with the theater company.
“I grew up there,” Bender said, “and all of us have dedicated a lot of time and energy to making sure that the Theatre Factory is successful and making sure that it provides really great experiences for local artists.”
Temple met his wife at Theatre Factory and, in more recent years, has watched his daughter perform on its stage.
“(Theater) just changed my life on such a fundamental level that it’s a part of me,” he said. “It’s part of me just like my heart. I feel like there’s never a bad reason to have a theater.”
How to find them
Theatre Factory
Where: Aluminum City Arts, 200 Freeport Road in New Kensington
When: An open house of the space will be held in the fall. It will host its first production in December.
More information: theatrefactory.org
Contact: hello@thetheatrefactory.org
Trafford Performing Arts Center
Where: 235 Cavitt Ave. in Trafford
When: Leaders aim to start their lease in September.
More information: traffordperformingarts.org
Contact: traffordperformingartscenter@gmail.com