TMCC Theater will soon be calling Oddie District home until they have a more permanent solution on the TMCC campus.
The community college’s Theater and Performing Arts Program will be the primary tenant for a black box theater at The Oddie District, a work-live-create space converted from a former Lowe’s Home Improvement.
“Over the past year, live audiences have been few and far between,” said Nettie Oliverio, arts and culture director of Foothill Partners. “We couldn’t be more excited to provide a consistent space for our community’s burgeoning artists.”
TMCC’s black box theater will seat up to 150 audience members and will take up 4300 sq. ft. at The Oddie District. Besides being a performing space, TMCC will also use the theater as a classroom for not just acting but also backstage theater tech classes, a new emphasis for their performing arts department.
“Although we continue to plan long term for a theater at the Dandini Campus, we are thrilled to move forward with a new performance space at the Oddie District, a space that encourages collaboration and new connections for TMCC,” said Dr. Karin Hilgersom, president of TMCC.
“There’s a lot of potential with this space,” said Ron Marston, TMCC department chair of visual and performing arts. “After a year of COVID-19 and budget cuts, this theater can be a rebirth for our program. We can’t wait to get audiences in the seats.”
Designs will start on the theater in Fall 2021 with hopes to fully open in Fall 2022. TMCC expects to run two main productions per year along with smaller, student-led productions.
“The culture we’re fostering at The Oddie District is all about collaboration and innovation,” said Doug Wiele, president and founding partner of Foothill Partners. “It’ll be incredible to see the ways our other artist tenants will partner with TMCC’s theatrical ensembles.”