In March 2026, we began the renovation of our future Mt. Airy Theater, and each week seems to bring a new milestone – framing, plumbing rough-in, etc. We anticipate that this renovation will take approximately 12 months and that we will be outfitting the new theater with a lighting grid, risers, and new seating in spring 2027.

The Lantern has produced plays at St. Stephen's Theater in Center City since 1994, and we will continue to present our mainstage subscription season in Center City. The Lantern's core audience comes from over 500 zip codes in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware; for many of you, Center City remains the most convenient place to enjoy Lantern plays.

In late 2023, we secured a long-term lease for, with an option to purchase, the former Mt. Airy Presbyterian Church on Germantown Avenue in the Mt. Airy neighborhood of Northwest Philadelphia. We had long searched for a second performance venue to accommodate the artistic and educational programming that we have been producing in other rented venues over the years, including Plays & Players Theatre, The Drake Theatre, the Theater at the Independence Seaport Museum, and Drexel University's Mandell and Black Box Theaters. Renting other theaters is costly and operationally challenging.

A second performance space that the Lantern controls and operates will save time and money over the medium and long terms, and it will ensure our ability to produce the high caliber theater you have come to expect from the Lantern.

We fought the good fight for the Arts Bank. The Lantern was the successful bidder for the theater, and we had a fully executed agreement to purchase the property from the University of the Arts Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Estate. The champagne had been uncorked. Unfortunately, Federal Bankruptcy law allows overbidders to emerge; one did, and the Lantern was not the highest bidder in the second auction.

Our hopes were raised again when the Attorney General of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania objected to the sale to a private party, asserting the Commonwealth's interest in retaining the Arts Bank for educational and artistic uses for the public. There was a bankruptcy trial at which Lantern Executive Director Stacy Dutton and William Penn Foundation Executive Director Shawn McCaney were called to testify. The Commonwealth lost its suit, and the Arts Bank was sold to a small private real estate developer who has chosen to remain anonymous. We pivoted immediately to inquire if the new owner would be interested in renting the Arts Bank to the Lantern; unfortunately, a mutually agreeable deal could not be obtained.

St. Stephen's has been the Lantern's theater venue for two decades, and its flexible black box performance space has shaped the company’s aesthetic and performance style. But the building has substantial limitations – for audiences and for theater artists – and we continue to search for a better, fully accessible, forever artistic home for the Lantern in Center City. We believe that we are close to securing just such a property, and we think it will knock your socks off. Stay tuned!

Yes! Our theater in Mt. Airy will have 180 seats, guaranteeing the same intimacy you enjoy at St. Stephen's Theater (150 seats) but with improved sight lines and amenities, including full accessibility and plentiful public bathrooms.

The interior of the former church building is a beautiful space, and our design plans retain the innate beauty of its former sanctuary. The major elements of the interior renovation will include new HVAC, public bathrooms on the main and lower levels, and modern facilities for our actors and stage management crew.

Yes! We will hold hard hat tours this fall for curious Lantern patrons. If you are interested in learning more about this project and in visiting the site, please reach out to Stacy Dutton, Executive Director, at sdutton@lanterntheater.org.

With the renovation now underway, we have excellent visibility that we will open the Mt. Airy Theater in 2027. Our plan is to hold a series of short programs as "soft opening" events in late spring/summer and then the Grand Opening in early October 2027 with the Philadelphia premiere of a major American play set in Germantown.

The opening of the Mt. Airy Theater will enable us to restore our annual productions of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, featuring creator/performer Anthony Lawton, in December 2027 and our Romeo and Juliet for middle school and high school audiences in Spring 2028. Both plays will be presented in Mt. Airy.

The goal of our comprehensive capital campaign is to raise up to $4 million, including $2 million for the renovation of the Mt. Airy Theater, $200,000 to equip the new theater, $1.6 million for artistic programming at both Lantern theaters, and $200,000 to rebuild critical cash reserves depleted during Covid.

We have raised over $2.3 million to date, including major grants from the Wyncote and William Penn Foundations, the Lantern's Board of Directors, and many dedicated individual donors like you, and we have adequate funds to complete the renovation project. We continue fundraising for artistic and educational programming in Center City, Northwest Philadelphia, and at our partner schools in the Philadelphia School District.

If you are interested in learning more about supporting our Comprehensive Capital Campaign, please reach out to Stacy Dutton at sdutton@lanterntheater.org.