Downtown Las Vegas is soon to welcome the Beverly Theater, a new independent film cinema and performance space set to open next year. The theater will be a venue for “uncommon cinematic, literary, and live experiences,” part of a contribution by the Rogers Foundation to Las Vegas arts. An application for a special use permit was filed recently with the Las Vegas Planning Commission to allow sales of beer and wine, rounding out the experience.
The Rogers Foundation is also the owner of the Lucy, a nearby complex which is home to Writer’s Block, an independent bookstore and coffee shop, as well as artists- and writers-in-residence lofts.
“In combination with the existing Lucy complex to the south, the 152-seat multipurpose theater will be the centerpiece to ‘the most creative corner in Las Vegas,’” Rogers Foundation CEO Rory Reid wrote in a letter to the Planning Commission.
The letter highlights, above all, the theater’s flexibility as an event space.
“While primarily programmed as an independent cinema theater,” Reid writes, the Beverly Theater also has “the ability to host Sundance Film Festival Screenings and subsequent discussion panels, readings programmed by the Black Mountain Institute, or banquet events sponsored by the Rogers Foundation.”
According to recent coverage on OfftheStrip.com, the theater’s seats are to be placed on a retractable platform, allowing for added flexibility in seating and standing-room space. The project is part of a commitment of nearly $30 million by the Rogers Foundation to support the arts in Las Vegas.
What Now Las Vegas reached out on Monday to Michelle Sanders, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at the Rogers Foundation. Sanders was unavailable for comment.
The theater is working toward a mid-2022 opening.
