The Ansonia Theatre was originally built in 1925 as a vaudeville theatre by L. L. (Lemuel Lanier} Drake, grandfather of Wadesboro resident Brookie Drake Craft. The vaudeville stage became venue to silent movies and later the “talkies” and eventually a full time movie theatre.  Notables who have appeared on the Ansonia stage included Gene Autry, Lash LaRue, The Tennessee Ramblers, and Fred Kirby. The theatre sat empty for several years before being donated in 1995 to the Anson County Arts Council by the Poulnott family. Then began a more than 10 year initiative to renovate the theatre into a performing arts center.

The very first event was for school children by Glynis Redmond, a performance poet, with borrowed chairs because the theatre seats had not been completed. The first community play was A Christmas Carol in 2011 directed by David Arial followed by You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown in 2012.  

Our current artistic director is Tommy Wooten who came to us via Disney and is responsible for all our successful community plays.  We are in the middle of our current season with rehearsals for Dearly Departed underway. The Ansonia is truly a community theatre, but our community has expanded.  We not only draw talent from counties around us but our tickets sales are from over 50 demographics. We are proud of the Ansonia Theatre and the contribution it makes to our community.

Gypsy

August 9TH - 11TH, 16th - 18th, 2019

Speculated by many to be the greatest of all American musicals, Gypsy tells the story of the dreams and efforts of one hungry, powerhouse of a woman to get her two daughters into show business. Gypsy is loosely based on the 1957 memoir of famous striptease artist Gypsy Rose Lee, entitled Gypsy: Memoirs of America’s Most Celebrated Stripper. The memoir and the musical focus on the story of Gypsy Rose Lee’s mother, Rose, and earned Rose a place in the theatrical and literary canon as the quintessential, archetypal “Stage Mother.” The musical features songs that have become standards of the musical theatre canon, including “Some People,” “Let Me Entertain You,” “Rose’s Turn,” and the show-stopping “Everything’s Coming Up Roses”. Gypsy is famous for helping launch lyricist Stephen Sondheim’s career, and features a book by Arthur Laurents that is widely considered to be one of the classic examples of a traditional “book musical.” At the heart of the musical is the gregarious Rose, whose journey made critic Frank Rich call Gypsy, “Broadway’s own brassy, unlikely answer to King Lear.”