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NoHo's Avery Schreiber Theater Shutting Down After 10 Years
The Avery Schreiber Theater in North Hollywood. (Photo by vmiramontes via Flickr)
NoHo's Arts District is losing the Avery Schreiber Theater: After 10 years, they will close their doors at the end of June.
The North Hollywood theater, which opened on July 1, 2003, will become a gastropub called Fat Dog, the theater said today via email.
Owner and Total Improv Kids founder Linda Fulton will continue to host improv next door at The Sherry Theater.
Fulton says the decision was "heart-breaking" but that the timing was right. "After my husband passed away a couple years ago, my focus began to change and I found I couldn’t be as present," she said. "My passion for my work with Total Improv Kids has grown and I decided I wanted to focus more of my time and energy on that rather than running a theatre."
Over the years, the theater has played host to shows like The Columbine Project, Black Angels Over Tuskegee, and The Big Voice.
The 65-year-old building was once the Bitter Truth Theatre, where Fulton performed with comedian Avery Schreiber, the Second City alum who taught improv up until his death in 2002. Fulton purchased the space and renamed it in honor of her late mentor.
"For years, Linda Fulton and The Avery Schreiber Theater has served as a neighborhood anchor, reminding us that North Hollywood was and always will be about the arts," said L.A. councilman Tom LaBonge. "Thank you for giving our community the gift of a stage."
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Nancy Bianconi, president of the NoHo Communications Group, said, "Linda is the best kids' improv teacher I know and while she’ll be missed as a theatre owner, her legacy lives on. Linda worked tirelessly for over 10 years in developing NoHo into Los Angeles’ premiere arts district."
Her mentor's name will live on in a sister theater, to be called the Avery Schreiber Playhouse and run by Joanne Mosconi.
"I set out to create one of the best places in L.A. for someone to put on a show and I feel like we did that at the Schreiber," Fulton said.
The theater's final show will be a revival of Total Improv Kids' Kids of Comedy. "I originally opened the theater for the kids so it’s fitting," Fulton said. "I am so grateful to the community for their support and thankful to NoHo and the City of Los Angeles and everyone who has come through these doors over the years. I feel very blessed."
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