Broadway Sacramento (formerly California Musical Theatre) is the largest

nonprofit A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

arts organization (primarily producing

musical theatre Musical theatre is a form of theatre, theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, ...

) in the state of

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

and the city of

Sacramento Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the seat of Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento and American Rivers in Northern California's Sacramento Valley, Sacramento's 2020 p ...

's oldest professional

performing arts The performing arts are arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. They are different from the visual arts, which involve the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art objects. P ...

company. Its summer stock theatre, Music Circus, has been producing Broadway-style musicals since 1951. In 2002 Music Circus produced its last season under a traditional canvas circus tent. The following year the company opened the

Wells Fargo Pavilion The UC Davis Health Pavilion is a theatre venue, located in Sacramento, California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to th ...

. Built over the original concrete tent foundations, the new facility was designed to emulate a circus tent to continue the Music Circus tradition of a canvas big top. The enclosed, permanent architecture of the arena theatre is covered by an insulated space-age fabric. Recently in 2021, the Wells Fargo Pavilion has been renamed to the UC Davis Health Pavilion.

History

In 1949 the original Music Circus began its operations in a vacant field in Lambertville, New Jersey. Begun by St. John Terrell as a summer stock theatre hybrid, mixing musical theatre within a circus tent, the new musical theatre performed in the round. The unique experience gained popularity through the 1950s and 1960s. Theatres copied the format and name, eventually spawning similar Music Circus theatres along the East Coast as far south as

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

. In California, producers Russell Lewis and Howard Young began scouting a location to build their theater and were lured to Sacramento by

Sacramento Bee ''The Sacramento Bee'' is a daily newspaper published in Sacramento, California, in the United States. Since its foundation in 1857, ''The Bee'' has become the largest newspaper in Sacramento, the fifth largest newspaper in California, and the 2 ...

president Eleanor McClatchy. The theatre opened with a production of ''Show Boat'', the same show which opened the original Lambertville theatre as well as the North Shore Music Theatre. In 1951 the Sacramento Music Circus tent went up for the first time under the operations of what was originally known as the Sacramento Light Opera Association. McClatchy had been a patron of the Sacramento Civic Theatre (now known as Sacramento Theatre Company). Its facility had a large parking area that would be the home to the original Music Circus tent. In April 2018 President and CEO of California Musical Theatre, Richard Lewis, announced that the company would be officially changing its name to Broadway Sacramento.{{Cite web, url=https://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/news/2018/04/20/heres-whycalifornia-musical-theatre-changed-its.html, title=Here's why California Musical Theatre changed its name, date=April 20, 2018, website=www.bizjournals.com, archive-url=https://archive.today/20180511170947/https://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/news/2018/04/20/heres-whycalifornia-musical-theatre-changed-its.html, archive-date=2018-05-11, url-status=dead, access-date=2018-05-11 Before the name change, Broadway Sacramento was the name of their Broadway musical touring season. During his announcement of the parent company name change, he also said that the name of both theater series would be changing. The touring series at the Safe Credit Union Performing Arts Center is now called Broadway On Tour and the summer series at the now, UC Davis Health Pavilion is now called Broadway At Music Circus.

Broadway at Music Circus

From 1951 to 1989 the summer Music Circus program was the only season produced by the Sacramento Light Opera Association. Most of those years under the direction of Lewis and Young. Its summer stock performances have been located in nearly the same location since its conception. Actors, directors and designers from all across the country travel to Sacramento to build productions entirely original. The current executive producer, Richard Lewis, is the son of the original producer Russell Lewis. Sacramento Music Circus was once one of many summer stock musical theatres performing in the round. Today it is now one of only a few professional theatres producing musicals in an arena setting.

Broadway on Tour

Originally known as the Music Circus Winter Season and later as The Broadway Series, productions presented by ''Broadway on Tour'' are performed during Music Circus' "off season". Generally, these are touring productions of current musicals performed at the Community Center Theater. Starting in 1989, the series of shows has included '' The Unsinkable Molly Brown'', '' The Phantom of the Opera'', ''

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

'' and '' The Producers''. Broadway Sacramento is a founding member of the National Alliance for Musical Theatre and Executive Producer Richard Lewis is a member of the League of American Theatres and Producers.

References

Theatre companies in California Buildings and structures in Sacramento, California Tourist attractions in Sacramento, California Musical theatre companies in the United States