TheatreWorks Silicon Valley is a professional non-profit theatre company based in

Palo Alto, California Palo Alto ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for ) is a charter city in northwestern Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a Sequoia sempervirens, coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. Th ...

, United States. It was founded in 1970 by Robert Kelley.

History

1970s

Robert Kelley, a Bay Area native and

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

graduate in creative writing, founded TheatreWorks in July 1970. The company's inaugural production was ''Popcorn'', an original musical reflecting the social changes of the era, which premiered in July 1970.

1980s and 1990s

In the 1980s, TheatreWorks continued to emphasize diversity and innovation under the leadership of Associate Artistic Director Anthony J. Haney. The company premiered productions such as ''The Fireworks Rag'' (1981), featuring a predominantly African-American cast.

2000s

In 2002, TheatreWorks developed the musical '' Memphis'' at its New Works Festival. TheatreWorks then produced the world premiere of ''Memphis'' on its main stage in 2004. ''Memphis'' later opened on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

in 2009 and won four

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...

s, including Best Musical.

2010s and 2020s

Founding Artistic Director Robert Kelley retired in June 2020 after 50 years with the company. In 2019, TheatreWorks received the

Regional Theatre Tony Award The Regional Theatre Tony Award is a special recognition Tony Award given annually to a regional theater company in the United States. The winner is recommended by a committee of drama critics. Background Initially presented in 1948 to Robert ...

References

{{Reflist, refs= {{cite book , last=Young , first=Steve , title=TheatreWorks: 20 Years of Magic , year=1989 , publisher=TheatreWorks

External Links

Official website
1970 establishments in California League of Resident Theatres Palo Alto, California Mountain View, California Theatre companies in California Culture in the San Francisco Bay Area Performing groups established in 1970