Destination: Raleigh Little Theatre's teaching theater gets major makeover, opens Friday with family show

Raleigh Little Theatre will unveil a couple of things on Friday.

"Beanstalk! The Musical," part of its youth series, opens for young audiences and offers a light-hearted take on the classic fairy tale about Jack and a giant vine. The show runs on select days through April 1.

And it will be the very first show to take place inside the newly renovated Gaddy-Goodwin Teaching Theatre, a black box theater that provides an intimate setting for theatergoers and is frequently the venue for Raleigh Little Theatre's family shows and education programs.

Charles Phaneuf, RLT's executive director, said this is the first major project at the theater since it opened back in 1989.

"It hadn't been touched since then," Phaneuf said. "We had 1980s lighting and sound and everything. And some of it had failed. We were just using a lot of workarounds."

The theater launched a capital campaign to raise money for improvements to the space and other parts of the campus. About $740,000 was raised.

"A lot of people ended up giving generously," Phaneuf said.

Visitors will see a number of improvements, including better accessibility for those with disabilities. That was a main impetus for the work, Phaneuf said.

They'll also notice new finishes throughout, along with new seats and LED lighting in the theater. The LED lights are not only more energy efficient, but they also provide more options backstage for illuminating scenes.

"They are self dimming and there are a lot of different options for colors," Phaneuf said.

"When it's nice outside, we'll open it up and people can go out there and hang out before the show starts," Phaneuf said. A balcony overlooks the campus.

Before the upgrades, there was just a wall with a few small windows.

"It's amazing, the view," he said. "... When I first saw it, my jaw dropped. It's fantastic."

Phaneuf said the new window wall is the beginning of more efforts at Raleigh Little Theatre to turn an afternoon or evening at the theater into a longer experience that might include a picnic in the rose garden or a puppet show in its outdoor amphitheater.

A few years ago, Raleigh Little Theatre launched a summer outdoor family-friendly movie series. It also just recently announced outdoor classic music concerts with the Raleigh Symphony Orchestra. The first one is scheduled for September. More events and programs like those are to come.

"I get the sense that parents and families - and everyone - want an experience," Phaneuf said. "It's great if I can see a really great show. But if I can see a show, have a lovely picnic and do all of these other things, it's really becomes a grand kind of memory."

Phaneuf said the newly renovated space is perfect for children who haven't experienced live theater yet.

"Theater is about a shared experience. It's about sharing that space with the actors and the other audience members," he said. "There's no substitute for that kind of interaction that you have with other human beings in the theater. You feel that most deeply in a space that seats under 150 people, which is what Gaddy-Goodwin is."

And, afterwards, kids can meet the actors.

The show, which includes some violence and adult language, is recommended for mature audiences, though Phaneuf said it could be an important show for teenagers to watch. Tickets are on sale now.