Arts & Culture

Olney Theatre Center rings in new era after eight-year transformation

$36.5 million project adds two buildings, reopens a historic theater space

By

Jacqueline Kalil

August 10, 2026 11:29 a.m.

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After eight years of construction, fundraising and pandemic-related delays, Olney Theatre Center on Sunday celebrated the completion of its $36.5 million campus transformation with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and community open house.

 “We wouldn’t exist without the community,” Executive Director Debbie Ellinghaus said. “Everything we do is in partnership with the community.”

The project, called “Staging the Future,” includes a renovated Bernard Family Theatre and two new facilities: the Jim and Carol Trawick Education Center and the Gana L. Dunlop Makers’ Center.

The Sunday ceremony was part of Summerfest, Olney Theatre’s annual free open house, which featured performances, workshops, classes, behind-the-scenes tours, food vendors and a used costume sale. The day ended with a benefit concert by Broadway star Sutton Foster.

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The project grew from an initial $24 million plan to $36.5 million. Ellinghaus said the theater has raised nearly all of the funding, with about $600,000 left to go. 

Fundraising was one of the project’s biggest challenges, followed by the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced Olney and its design team to rethink their plans.

“We could have just said, ‘Forget it. There’s too much going on in the world,’” Ellinghaus said. “Our board could have said, ‘Forget it. We don’t know when we’re going to return.’ But they didn’t.”

Christian Rodriguez, principal and practice leader of EskewDumezRipple’s Civic/Cultural studio, said his firm began working with Olney Theatre Center after winning a national design competition in 2018. The architects repeatedly had to adjust their plans as the theater’s circumstances changed.

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During the pandemic, the team shifted its focus from interior renovations to the outdoor Pavilion at the Root Stage. Later, as costs and priorities changed, the interior plans were redesigned to fit the available budget.

“Having to sort of imagine things, design things, and then have the game change on you and course correct alongside Olney was the unique challenge compared to any other project that I’ve worked on,” Rodriguez said.

He said the theater’s perseverance became one of the most rewarding aspects of the project.

“They’ve faced challenges with passion and grit and creative integrity,” Rodriguez said.

One of the biggest changes was the Bernard Family Theatre, a 1938 space that has not regularly hosted season productions for decades. Artistic Director Jason Loewith said the $10 million renovation was designed to make the historic theater more intimate and immersive.

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“We are now going to be reinaugurating this with a brand new show,” Loewith said.

That show will be Some Like It Hot, the regional premiere of the Broadway musical based on the classic film. The production begins performances in September.

Loewith said the renovated theater also reflects a larger purpose: creating places where people can gather in person.

“In this crazy internet moment where we are all connected to each other via the phone that you’ve got right in your hands … how vital is it that we have gathering spaces?” he said.

The new campus expands those opportunities beyond performances. The education center will support classes and arts programming, while the Makers’ Center provides new space for the theater’s production and artistic work.

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Originally published at Bethesdamagazine