Seacoast Rep opens new studio space in Portsmouth: 'This is now happening!'

PORTSMOUTH — The Rep Studios, Seacoast Repertory Theatre's new performance art studio space, is up and running.

Brandon James, co-executive artist director, sums up the new addition succinctly: "It's such a gift."

That gift is a 5,000-square-foot rental space at 2800 Lafayette Road, tailor-made to fit the company's dream of a full-time, performing arts center. He said it "landed in our lap" just as the Rep had begun imagining a center as a future possibility.

"We thought it was a pipe dream, we were looking (for space) in Kittery, and Eliot, and thought we'd be lucky to find anything there," James said. "When we found exactly what we wanted here in town, we were very excited. … This is now happening, today!"

How The Rep Studios will be used

The Rep Studios was a turnkey space. The Block Collaborative, its previous tenant, had completed extensive work on the business during the COVID-19 shutdown.

The building features three dance studios, complete with mirrors, sprung dance floors and bars, all planned for mixed use.

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Studio B, the largest, can accommodate a full-scale Rep main stage configuration for rehearsals, complete with key set pieces.

There is a large lobby, a changing room, a small area designated as a vocal studio, and a "self taping studio," which will offer classes on recording auditions.

If all goes to plan, a 75-seat, black box theater will be functional in Studio B, no later than May. The small theater will host auxiliary productions, play readings, recitals, concerts and additional events and entertainment.

The Rep Studios lease was signed in February. Rehearsals for The Rep's production of "Parade" moved in immediately. The company's usual programs and classes followed soon after.

The plan is to have rooms filled with programs, meetings, rehearsals, classes and camps from morning through evening — something for all ages, James said. Mornings will start with mom and child classes. There are plans for an innovative senior lineup, traditional youth workshops, classes and camps, and a full lineup of adult programming.

The Rep's Portsmouth Academy of Performing Arts program offers the educational programs, led by Shaina Schwartz, the new dean of the program.

"Shaina is an innovator," he said. "She has really exciting things planned, and has a lot of ideas."

The site will also host yoga and fitness classes.

What new space means for Seacoast Rep's future

The Lafayette Road location allows for growth, previously limited due to a lack of space, James said.

Until The Rep Studios space opened, the Portsmouth Academy of Performing Arts rented between nine and 12 spaces to accommodate programming and main stage auxiliary needs.

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"We were taking scraps," James said. "It was the off-hours … at other studios, dance companies, a high school, even at the Bahai center."

The cost of the Lafayette space is equal to the previous multiple rentals, "or very little more," James said. "And this offers us potential."

A performing art program is a necessity to the Rep's long-term survival. The Reps' "glass ceiling" stands at $3 million, the max, gross achievable income if it sells every ticket at every show. Currently they stand between $2.3 million or $2.5 million annually, "so we've been looking at what else we could do," James said. "This is it."

The dream of a space with "exactly" 5,000 square-feet, multiple rooms, a black box theater etc. presented, just as the board began envisioning one within its strategic plan, "for a couple of years down the road."

"We feel we manifested this space. It's what we need in our next evolution, a robust, multi-studio complex," James said.

"I have to tell you, the vibes in there are impeccable. During the day it's full of classes, people around every corner stretching or practicing, a board meeting in another room," James said. "It's already a thriving, exciting space."

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Seacoast Rep opens new performance art studio space in Portsmouth NH