Born in the Roaring Twenties, the “Civic Players” began producing four plays annually in the St. Cecilia Auditorium in downtown Grand Rapids, Michigan. In 1935, the organization officially changed it’s name to the Grand Rapids Civic Theatre and continued to operate through the depression, WWII and post-war eras. During the 1960s, the Civic Theatre experienced unprecedented growth and emerged as one of the country’s strongest community theatres. By the end of the decade, in a cooperative venture with the Grand Rapids Public Schools, the Civic began offering theatre classes to young people and further strengthened it’s position in the community. Today, the Grand Rapids Civic Theatre & School of Theatre Arts is the 5th largest community theatre in the country noted for the quality of its productions and its School of Theater Arts--one of the largest and most-respected community theatre education programs in the country. As it approaches the dawn of its 2nd Century in 2025, Civic Theatre has developed a beautiful theatre facility in the heart of downtown a quality professional design, education and production staff, inspired students and amazing volunteers. Civic Theatre is committed to becoming a live theatre where the entire community is welcome and included in creating, learning about and sharing live theatre.