Joe Adler headshot2

The Board of the Coconut Grove Playhouse is pleased to announce that, after conducting a formal “Request for Proposal” process, they have entered in to a Memorandum of Understanding with GableStage and their Producing Artistic Director, Joseph Adler.

  • Plans call for the Playhouse Board to follow the recommendations of the planning charrette conducted by the University of Miami’s Center for Urban and Community Design which call for the phased development of the Playhouse site, which is located at 3500 Main Highway, in Coconut Grove.
  • With the selection of GableStage as a theater partner, the charrette’s recommendation to build a new 300-seat state-of-the-art theatre and supporting facilities to accommodate quality professional regional theatre theater can proceed as the first phase of a master plan for the site.  Other components of the master plan include parking, a second, 600-700-seat second theater, commercial development and the preservation of the historic elements of the existing Playhouse structure.
  • There are $20 million in available Miami-Dade County capital improvement funds that will be devoted to the capital costs of the first phase, the building the 300-seat theatre.
  • Pursuant to a long-term agreement that is currently being negotiated, GableStage will manage and operate the theatre, providing professional regional theatre and theatre education programs for the community.
  • The historic Coconut Grove Playhouse was built as a movie theatre in 1926, and was converted into a theatre in 1956.  In the fifty years that followed, the Playhouse played host to many of theater’s most renowned performers, including Maureen Stapleton, Hume Cronyn, Jessica Tandy, Tallulah Bankhead, Carol Channing, Liza Minnelli, Linda Lavin, Beatrice Arthur, George C. Scott, Colleen Dewhurst, and Ethel Merman.  The Playhouse was considered to be one of the premiere theatres in the United States for many years.  It suspended operations in 2007.
  • GableStage has been an integral part of the South Florida theatre scene since it was founded in 1979, as the Florida Shakespeare Theatre.  It has been at the Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables for the past twelve seasons, under the guidance of Producing Artistic Director Joseph Adler.  During that time, GableStage has been nominated for 148 Carbonell Awards, and won 38, including either Best Production or Best Musical Production every year since 2004. Adler has been nominated for twenty Carbonells (thirteen at GableStage) and has won seven Best Director and two Best Director of a Musical awards.  His first Carbonell Award was for a production of The Shadow Box at the Coconut Grove Playhouse.
  • GableStage will be initiating a series of performances and events in Coconut Grove during the interim period prior to the opening of the new theatre.
  • It is anticipated that design work on the new 300-seat theater can commence in 2010.
  • “We are one major step closer to our goal of returning great regional theater to Coconut Grove.  The Playhouse’s selection of GableStage as its theater partner confers instant credibility on the quality of theater that we can expect once again in Coconut Grove.  Most exciting is the prospect that with support from Miami-Dade County, GableStage and the Playhouse can bring great performances back to Coconut Grove as soon as early next year while plans for a new theater also get underway,” said Michael Spring, Director, Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs.
  • ”On behalf of the Board of the Coconut Grove Playhouse, I am pleased to report that we are on the way to fulfilling our promise to bring theater of the highest quality back to Coconut Grove,” stated Shelly Spivack, Chairman of the Board of Directors, Coconut Grove Playhouse.  I want to thank all of the people who continue to believe in our efforts to begin a new era of artistic excellence to the Grove. I especially want to acknowledge the vision and spirit of collaboration of our new partner GableStage, an outstanding theater company that can and will achieve even greater acclaim in its new home on Main and Charles streets.”
  • GableStage Board President Steve Weinger stated, “I could not be more pleased. As a non-profit theater organization, we always welcome the opportunity to have a greater impact. Our entire Board is excited about this incredible opportunity for GableStage to further our mission and provide the community with the highest quality live theater.  We look forward to continuing our year-round presentations of the finest plays, expanding our educational programs and expanding our audience. Our Board of Directors is committed to quality. Under the direction of Joe Adler we will further enrich our community.”
  • “I have always believed that the Coconut Grove Playhouse should be one of the great regional theatres in America, and I am truly thrilled to have an opportunity to play a role in its rebirth.  We are honored that GableStage has been chosen to participate in this fantastic undertaking,” said Joseph Adler, Producing Artistic Director of GableStage.