Geva Theatre Center

In 1972, William Markham Selden and Cynthia Mason Selden, a British actress, residents of nearby Avon, co-founded GeVa, an abbreviation for "Genesee Valley Arts Foundation" and its associated theatre company. The company's first shows were short dramas produced at lunchtime in 1973 at the Rochester Business Institute (RBI). Actors appearing at GeVa in the early years included Samuel L. Jackson (in A Raisin in the Sun), Scott Bakula, and Georgia Engel. As of 2018, Geva had presented more than 400 stage productions, as well as other events. World Premieres: • Five Course Love by Gregg Coffin (2004); • Splitting Infinity by Jamie Pachino (2006); • Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, adapted by Mark Cuddy and Marge Betley (2008); • The House in Hydesville by Dan O'Brien (2009); • A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, adapted by Mark Cuddy, original music & lyrics by Gregg Coffin (2010); • Voices of the Spirits in My Soul by Nora Cole (2012); • The Book Club Play by Karen Zacarias (2013); • All Your Questions Answered by Greg Kotis (2013); • Tinker to Evers to Chance by Mat Smart (2014); • Informed Consent by Deborah Zoe Laufer (2014); • ''Katherine's Colored Lieutenant'' by Nora Cole (2014); • The Road to Where by Cass Morgan (2015); • Women in Jeopardy by Wendy MacLeod (2015); • Other Than Honorable by Jamie Pachino (2017); • The Agitators by Mat Smart (2017); • Heartland by Gabriel Jason Dean (2018); • Hard Cell by Brent Askari (2019). == Leadership ==

Geva's current Artistic Director is Elizabeth Williamson. She joined the company in June 2022, succeeding Mark Cuddy, who retired after serving in the role for 27 years. ==Building==

Geva was originally housed in a building located at 168 South Clinton Avenue, then the Rochester Business Institute building, but by 1982, its expansion to a "full-fledged company" meant that it needed an improved facility. After buying the building from the city in 1982, Geva began three years of renovations and the building re-opened as a theatre on 29 March 1985. The new theatre's first production was Planet Fires, a drama by Thomas Babe, a Rochester playwright. Featuring a newly freed black man and a Union deserter who have traveled North together, the play was set soon after the Civil War at a campground near Rochester. In 1997, Geva undertook a major development campaign that included construction of a second stage in the building. The 180-seat Nextstage, subsequently known as the Ron & Donna Fielding Stage, opened in 2000. It is intended for smaller-scale, more intimate productions, theatre for young audiences, and development of new plays. The original, larger theatre space was then called the Mainstage and later the Elaine P. Wilson Stage. The 522-seat Wilson Stage is used for a wide variety of performances, including American and world classics, new plays, and musicals. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on 4 October 1985 under the name "Naval Armory-Convention Hall". ==References==