MILFORD, Pa. — When audience members walk into the Milford Theater, they're not only entering a new performance space but a piece of history in Pike County that dates back to 1911, according to Beth O'Neil, the artistic director of the Milford Theater.
“Saving the theater and keeping as much as its artistic history was very important.”
Although the pandemic closed doors for theaters throughout the country in 2020, it opened new ones for The Milford Theater.
That initiated a much-needed renovation process to turn what stage manager Chiara Marone calls a forgotten theater into a high-tech performance space.
“It was beautiful at one time, but then it wasn't. So to bring it back to life, to put all of the work and everything into it, was really a beautiful thing to see,” said Marone.
The Milford Theater is giving actors, dancers, and musicians a venue they've never performed in before.
“There really wasn't anything for the arts community here in this town, for this entire area, actually. For our local actors, artists, for the entire community actually, I don't know where they would go before this,” O’Neil said.
The theater is now making its own history, putting on the first musical next month.
“This is our first musical since we reopened the theater, actually, so we're so excited,” O’Neil added.
"Company" is the musical which some actors drive an hour and a half every day to rehearsal just to play a part.
“It's meaningful to the theater that our first musical inaugural on the renovated stage is a really big deal,” Marone said, adding that it's not just a theater but a community center.
“It's going to be part of the backbone of this community, and we hope to only grow the program even further,” said O’Neil.
To see the cast of "Company" bring the newly renovated stage to life, The Milford Theater will be putting on the musical for two weekends in mid-November.
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