Naval Armory-Convention Hall
About this property
Geva Theatre Center is a regional, not-for-profit, professional theatre company based in Rochester, New York. It is housed in an 1868 building, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, located in Rochester at 75 Woodbury Boulevard near High Falls. The Center has full seasons of programming, in addition to discussions based on plays and staged readings, and community outreach. In 1972, William Markham Selden and Cynthia Mason Selden, a British actress, residents of nearby Avon, co-founded GeVa, an abbreviation for "Genesee Valley Arts Foundation" and its associated theatre company. The company's first shows were short dramas produced at lunchtime in 1973 at the Rochester Business Institute (RBI). Programming expanded to full-length plays and it became a regional theatre company ranked with similar companies, including those of Buffalo and Syracuse. In 1997, the name of the company was changed to Geva Theatre Center, dropping the CamelCase formatting. In 2011, Geva Theatre Center hosted the 2011 American Association of Community Theatre Festival. By 2017, it was recognized as the best-attended theatre in New York State outside of New York City. Actors appearing at GeVa in the early years included Samuel L. Jackson (in A Raisin in the Sun), Scott Bakula, and Georgia Engel. Others who have graced the Geva stage include Kathy Bates, Josh Brolin, Robert Downey Jr., Carla Gugino, Bill Pullman, Anna Deavere Smith, Robert Vaughn, and Anthony Zerbe. Among Geva's contributors are Academy Award winners and nominees, Tony Award winners and nominees, Drama Desk Award winners and nominees, Emmy Award winners and nominees, and a Pulitzer Prize nominee. Rochester native Philip Seymour Hoffman often cited Geva Theatre in interviews. He would speak of his mother taking him to plays at Geva and how that sparked his interest in acting. As of 2018, Geva had presented more than 400 stage productions, as well as other events. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, adapted by Mark Cuddy and Marge Betley (2008); A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, adapted by Mark Cuddy, original music & lyrics by Gregg Coffin (2010); Voices of the Spirits in My Soul by Nora Cole (2012); Katherine's Colored Lieutenant by Nora Cole (2014); Geva's current Artistic Director is Elizabeth Williamson. She joined the company in June 2022, succeeding Mark Cuddy, who retired after serving in the role for 27 years. Geva was originally housed in a building located at 168 South Clinton Avenue, then the Rochester Business Institute building, but by 1982, its expansion to a "full-fledged company" meant that it needed an improved facility. Toward that end, it purchased a former armory and convention hall at 75 Woodbury Boulevard, diagonally across the street from the RBI building.
Location
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Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).
Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
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Questions about this property
When was Naval Armory-Convention Hall listed on the National Register?
Naval Armory-Convention Hall was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 3, 1985.
What type of historic resource is Naval Armory-Convention Hall?
Naval Armory-Convention Hall is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.
What is the period of significance for Naval Armory-Convention Hall?
The period of significance for Naval Armory-Convention Hall is recorded as the industrial era.
Can I research the history near Naval Armory-Convention Hall?
Yes. Aubrey Research reports search National Register listings, battlefield records, land patents, and other primary historical sources within any radius of a US address. A report for an address near Naval Armory-Convention Hall will include this listing and all other historical records in the area.
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