Save the Grand Theatre Inc

Save the Grand Theatre, Inc. is a 501(c)3 organization formed in 2002 for the purpose of renovating the historic Grand Theatre and establishing it as the “center for the arts” in Kentucky’s Capital city.  After five years of fundraising, sponsoring arts events and building public support, renovation began in 2007 and the Grand opened in September 2009 as a 5 million dollar facility with 428 seats.  August 2016 we began our eighth season of live shows. 

The Grand operates primarily as an "all volunteer" staffed theatre.  Members of the Grand's Board serve as house managers, work our events and raise money for the theatre.  Our volunteers serve as ushers, work concessions, sell tickets, serve in technical crew positions and also provide maintenance for the theatre. With our mostly “all volunteer” staff, the Grand has averaged approximately 100 events each season with an average annual attendance of 13,000 patrons.

The Grand Theatre serves Franklin County; the surrounding counties of Scott, Woodford, Anderson, Shelby, Henry and Owen; and the state-at-large in bringing live events (our season runs August/September through May each year), MET Opera performances (live-streamed), art programming, art exhibits in our gallery, children's summer programming (usually 6 live events), children's theatre workshops (in partnership with the Lexington Children's Theatre), live arts programming for K-12 students during the school year and a summer series of critically acclaimed films to patrons of the Grand.

The Grand also partners with a nationally prominent residential school for students of all ages who are intellectually disabled and attend many of our events, a community center for at-risk youth, young adults and their families, all of whom live below poverty level and receive free tickets to our shows, and senior citizens.  Our entire facility is handicapped-accessible, the stage is accessible to wheelchair users and additionally the theatre provides wheelchair seating at orchestra and balcony levels.

As arts education budgets in schools has been in decline for several years the Grand endeavors to bring affordable programming during the school year for students in the area.  Other than the Grand's events, Franklin County families must drive to Lexington or Louisville for arts activities, limiting arts education to families with financial resources, time and commitment to the arts.

For our 2016-17 season we have an ambitious schedule of school programming that includes three days of programs by Dance Kaleidoscope, who performed in September on the Grand's stage and also at 3 local schools; the Olney Theatre National Players will stage a matinee performance of The Giver for grades 7-12; Italian director, actor and bubble artist Enrico Pezzoli brings his magic to the Grand stage with "The Underwater Bubble Show", an entertaining and educational show that incorporates drama, pantomine, dance, puppetry, and juggling paired with original music of famed Latvian composer Valdis Zilvers; and finally during the school field trip period in spring we will host “Johnny Peers and the Muttville Comix” a very entertaining dog act.  The suggested student ticket price does not cover the cost of bringing these many entertaining and educational arts programs to our community. The Grand wants to make the arts accessible to students in this area that may not have any other opportunity to be able to experience live shows, theatre and dance!