I was lucky enough to be invited to a personal tour of ZACH Theatre’s new mainstage, The Topfer (pronounced top-fur) Theatre earlier this week. This theatre allows ZACH to truly make the jump from a small professional theatre to premiere regional theatre by providing a new, state of the art performance facility as part of downtown Austin’s already growing culture and arts scene. Downtown Austin needs a real regional theatre, and this structure and the excitement it will bring to the theatre and arts community is a huge step in the right direction.
Per an article in the Austin Chronicle (link) – ZACH Theatre had been contemplating building a third theatre in its complex as early at 1985, when they held over some funds from that year’s bond election to help fund building a third theatre. In 2000, the economy stalled, putting the project on hold, but, through a kick-start of funding of $10 million through the 2006 City of Austin bond election, and then fueled by direct private donation – the project was revived in 2007. Overall, it’s a $22 million project, and they still need to raise about $2 million for completion.
The ZACH Theatre compound falls within the Zilker Neighborhood Association, but it is easily accessible to downtown Austin condos and homes and, really, feels like a part of downtown to many. I was told the ZNA was supportive the variances Zach Scott needed to build the Topfer Theatre.
As a college Theatre Major and all around theatre nerd, I was soooooo impressed with the Topfer Theatre and Kuykendall Stage.
Some tidbits:
- Celebrated Austin actress Karen Kuykendall has her ashes kept under the stage, isn’t that crazy?! (What’s even crazier is that there are no “r”s in “Kuykendall”!)
- The Topfer Theatre has a LEED Silver Certification
- Over 70 new parking spots have been added to the ZACH Theatre compound
- 40 new trees were added to the lot, as well
- The AC and other mechanical components of the theatre have a separate foundation from the stage – this is to minimize any possibility of noise and rumbling during performances.
- The theatre’s design is taken from the Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago (the house is a little narrower)
- The theatre house seats ~420
- The theatre was designed by the same architects who did The W – Andersson-Wise Architects
For more incredible pictures and theatre fun facts – check out Bryan Kosarek’s Gay in Austin Texas Blog.
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Additionally, here are some condominiums in Downtown Austin that are near the theatre – to learn more about these individual buildings, visit their pages:
