We've taken a residency at the Cohoes Music Hall!
The Creative License Theater Collective is thrilled to announce that they have taken a residency at the Cohoes Music Hall, entering into an agreement with Playhouse Stage Company, the organization that manages the Hall.
Beyond PSC’s musical productions, Creative License will be the primary presenter of non-musical theater at the venue. The company will launch this new venture at the historic venue with its upcoming production of the hit Broadway romantic comedy Significant Other by Joshua Harmon, premiering on November 12, 2021, followed by Yazmine Reza’s God of Carnage, premiering on May 6, 2022.
Creative License was founded in 2014 by local theater artists Aaron Holbritter and Casey Polomaine with a goal to create a theater company in the Capital Region that was small in scope but offered a high-quality product, enlisting the area’s top-tier performing artists in their endeavors. Finding a home to perform at the then newly opened Albany Barn, an arts incubator in the heart of Albany’s Arbor Hill, allowed them the space and support to grow and flourish. Their first show, the dark drama A Steady Rain opened to rave reviews.
“Frankly, Creative License wouldn’t exist without the Albany Barn,” says Holbritter. “Their willingness to open their space to us and allow us to perform there was instrumental in us finding our way, which, I think, is exactly what the Albany Barn sets out to do. We literally grew up in that space.” In addition to the Barn, Creative License has performed at several locations around the Capital Region, including special events at The Arts Center of the Capital Region, Albany Center Gallery, and The University Club in Albany, along with site specific productions at the Frear Building in Troy and the Ten Broeck Mansion in Albany. “Being invited to partner with Playhouse Stage and to perform at Cohoes Music Hall is a tremendous honor,” adds Polomaine, “And while we will always be on the lookout for other unique spaces in the area in which to perform, including The Barn, we are incredibly excited for this next chapter of our company.”
Creative License’s 2019 production, Turn of the Screw at Ten Broeck Mansion, was their last full show before the pandemic shutdown. A production of Diana Son’s play Stop Kiss had to be cancelled in March of 2020. The past year they’ve been honing their digital content with fiction podcasts and interviews. “We’re proud of the work we’ve done during the last year, but knew we’d be back on stage as soon as we could,” says Polomaine. “So, when Owen reached out to us with this offer, it was like a new and very exciting path was suddenly laid out before us. The team at Playhouse Stage have always been such cheerleaders and supporters of ours, and have certainly set a benchmark for quality theater in the Capital Region that we are more than ready to live up to.”
“For the Music Hall, and the greater Cohoes community,” Smith said, “This is a real win. When we took management of this historic venue, we stated our intention to broaden its programming to create a sort of boutique performing arts center for Capital Region audiences. Having Creative License producing plays in the Hall helps us to accomplish that goal.” Smith noted that Creative Licenses productions join a growing list of events for the upcoming season. “We’ll soon be able to announce an upcoming slate of more than twenty live music and comedy events, and more are booking daily,” Smith said. “Creative License’s two offerings this season are an incredibly exciting addition to that lineup.”
Significant Other will run at Cohoes Music Hall from November 12-21, 2021, and God of Carnage will run May 5-16, 2022. Tickets will go on sale through the Cohoes Music Hall box office later this summer.