The Gordy, Stages

Founded in 1978, Stages is a professional not-for-profit theatre company based in Houston that develops original productions and provides educational and community outreach programs. They previously operated out of a two-theatre facility in a converted engraving factory, with a separate building on site for scenic construction and storage. The new facility encompasses a new building connected to a converted warehouse that together house three new theatres, two rehearsal rooms, scene shop, and all supporting spaces.

From the project’s conception, Charcoalblue advised on the overall building planning for all theatres and support spaces. Charcoalblue designed the auditoria, seating, stagelighting and audiovisual systems, stage engineering, and acoustics design for the entire building complex.

The three new theatres expand the former performance capacity with larger thrust and arena theatres, and a flexible theatre in the warehouse building. Unique to the Houston theatre scene in scale and proportion, the new theatres offer a more intimate atmosphere: audience members are closer to the stage and to each other, improving the sense of community. The theatres now have more efficient circulation, more height with easy technical access overhead, and state-of-the-art technical infrastructure. Scene shop space directly behind the two main theatres will improve workflow and increase their ability to create immersive scenic environments, allowing Stages to reach new heights of production quality.