Blackbird Theatre plans move downtown

The Blackbird Theatre — a small, independent live-theater company that has made a home on Pauline Boulevard for the last six years — announced today it hopes to move to an as-yet-unannounced location in downtown Ann Arbor.

The Blackbird has launched a capital campaign of $50,000 to pay for the move, according to Founding Artistic Director Barton Bund. Of that total, a matching grant of $20,000 has already been raised from an anonymous donor. Bund said the gift came in memory of the late Jim Posante, a pillar of the local theater community for many years. The goal is to raise the rest of the money by the end of the current season next summer.

“We have loved being where we are,” Bund said in a press release. “But we feel that we have reached a bursting point. Our schedule has expanded, our productions are much bigger, and we are ready to make a huge leap forward.”

The theater's current seating capacity of around 90 is not expected to change, Bund said. The theater expects to announce the new home in the coming weeks, but it will be a more central location close to downtown restaurants.

“For years, our patrons have asked us when we plan on moving into a more comfortable location. The company needed time to grow. It became more and more clear that the theatre will really benefit from a new location,” Bund said in the press release.

The theater will go forward with its upcoming production of "If Only in My Dreams," a collection of Christmas/winter stories; watch for a preview next week on AnnArbor.com. The production will start out in the Blackbird Theatre, but its final weekend (Dec. 11-13) will move to the sh\aut\ Gallery and Cabaret, a performance space in the Kerrytown area's Braun Court.

After that show, however, the company will suspend its season while preparing to make its move.

“The plan is to postpone our January production of 'Quills' and open our fall 2010 season with it”, Bund said. “Our season will pick up and move, and we will open our new space with David Harrower’s ‘Blackbird,’ followed by ‘Death of a Salesman’ and our new musical ‘Patty Hearst.’ The new location allows us a lot of new artistic freedom as well. This is a bold season, with some very risky choices. These plays will all play much better outside of a school environment."

The theater currently operates in a space in the Children's Creative Center, 1600 Pauline Blvd. The theater and the center have cooperated on several ventures over the years, such as scholarships, fund-raising and youth-theater programs.

“On December 6, the lights will go down in the ‘old’ Blackbird. I’ll always love this place. We have loved being in the CCC, and we will never forget our experience here. This is where it all began. But with new change comes new possibilities, endless possibilities.”

Bob Needham is director of entertainment content for AnnArbor.com. Reach him at bobneedham@annarbor.com or 734-623-2541, and follow him on Twitter @bobneedham.