Venturing Out

Entering into the group’s seventh season, New Venture Theatre’s founding artistic director Greg Williams Jr. wanted to expand on the growth he’d seen in recent seasons.

Last year’s performances of A Raisin in the Sun, The Wiz, Little Shop of Horrors and more saw sold-out shows at BRCC’s Magnolia Pavilion and BREC’s Independence Park Theatre.

This year, New Venture is calling Manship Theatre its home.

“We were ready to kind of step up the level of production quality,” Williams says. “The Manship has more equipment to handle everything we wanted to bring to the stage.”

Manship Theatre and Hartley/Vey Studios, both in the Shaw Center, will also house New Venture’s education workshops and administrative offices.

The new season starts this month with Shout! and continues with seven more productions throughout the year, including Aida, In the Heights and more with a mixture of musicals and dramas, many of which are geared toward adult audiences. Williams says the team has built a strong rapport with their audience that gives them the freedom to try new things.

“Every time we do a new show, we’ve wanted to open it up to a new market of people. We have to be diverse and go into realms that might make certain people uncomfortable, but it’s art, and you are able to do that with art,” Williams says. “Over the years, we have worked on cultivating and expanding the cultural landscape in Baton Rouge. We believe in building a community as opposed to doing something for just one community. All of those successful shows really helped to build the foundation for this season.”

As for working in the Manship Theatre, which offers less seating than their previous venues but puts the shows smack in the middle of Baton Rouge’s entertainment district, Williams says they’ve used the rehearsals for the family-friendly musical Shout! to get used to the space.

“It’s totally different—the stage is much smaller, but in a good way,” he says. “The audience is instantly connected to the stage at the Manship.”

For ticketing, venues and more information, go to newventuretheatre.com.

FEB. 6-9
Shout! A Good News Musical
APRIL 24-27
The Women of Brewster Place
MAY 15-18
Step Off
JULY 10-13
AIDA
AUG. 7-10
The Trip to Bountiful
SEPT. 11-14
In the Heights
OCT. 23-26
Choir Boy
NOV. 6-8
Love, Whitney