BACK TO SERIES HOMEPAGE
From Movie Palace to Broadway Stage: Inside PPAC with Alan Chille
Few people know the Providence Performing Arts Center like Alan Chille. He started there in 1984, when the building needed serious work and the budget was close to nothing. Forty-two years later, he’s PPAC’s president and CEO.
In this episode, Alan walks us through the building’s life as a 1928 Loew’s State movie palace, the threat that nearly turned it into a parking lot, and the push that saved it. He shares how "Phantom of the Opera" forced a major expansion into Pine Street, how the team recreated the original carpet from a small surviving swatch, and why PPAC’s rare Wurlitzer organ is getting a full restoration ahead of the building’s 100th birthday in 2028.
We also get into why touring casts love walkable Providence, the stars who have passed through the green room (and the three who never signed their photo), and what’s coming up this Broadway season.
If you’ve ever looked up at that ceiling between acts and wondered about the story behind it, this one’s for you.
In this episode, Alan walks us through the building’s life as a 1928 Loew’s State movie palace, the threat that nearly turned it into a parking lot, and the push that saved it. He shares how "Phantom of the Opera" forced a major expansion into Pine Street, how the team recreated the original carpet from a small surviving swatch, and why PPAC’s rare Wurlitzer organ is getting a full restoration ahead of the building’s 100th birthday in 2028.
We also get into why touring casts love walkable Providence, the stars who have passed through the green room (and the three who never signed their photo), and what’s coming up this Broadway season.
If you’ve ever looked up at that ceiling between acts and wondered about the story behind it, this one’s for you.