Georgia Ensemble shifts to new Marietta base at Jennie T. Anderson Theatre

Sully Brown (left) co-stars with Liza Jaine in the Georgia Ensemble musical “Bright Star.”
Courtesy of Georgia Ensemble Theatre/Mary Saville

Credit: Mary Saville

Credit: Mary Saville

Sully Brown (left) co-stars with Liza Jaine in the Georgia Ensemble musical “Bright Star.” Courtesy of Georgia Ensemble Theatre/Mary Saville

This story was originally published by ArtsATL.

The Georgia Ensemble Theater will move to a new home base at the Jennie T. Anderson Theatre starting with the 2023-24 season.

The 600-seat theater inside the Cobb County Civic Center previously hosted the Atlanta Lyric. Known for professional musical theater, The Atlanta Lyric closed its doors after 42 years last month, citing financial difficulties in the pandemic era.

Founded in 1992, Georgia Ensemble has staged 21 seasons at the Roswell Cultural Arts Center as the city’s resident artist company. The city of Roswell, however, discontinued the program and plans to “change its model for rental programming,” according to a press release.

The company said it will continue to be in conversation with Roswell officials and is open to bringing a “mutually beneficial production back to the Cultural Arts Center” in the future, according to the release.

“We are very excited to welcome Georgia Ensemble Theatre to Marietta,” said Jono Davis, artistic director at Jennie T. Anderson Theatre. “The closing of Atlanta Lyric Theatre left a fairly large hole in our hearts. So, we are honored to host another staple of Atlanta theater in our space.”

These changes won’t affect Georgia Ensemble’s studio and administrative location, which will remain on Hembree Parkway in Roswell. The studio will continue to offer actor training for children and adults and serve as the main box office and rehearsal space.

The first Georgia Ensemble production at Jennie T. Anderson Theatre will run in October 2023 and the productions for the season will be announced next month.

The company’s artistic director, James Donadio, stepped down this month and a search is underway for his replacement.


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