WACO Theater Center kicks off its grand reopening in partnership with the Vision Theatre Performing Arts Center this weekend in Leimert Park.
The celebration, titled “Our Vision: Three Days of Black Art, Culture & Community,” is free but requires reservations. Organizers said they intend to accommodate as many people as they can if reservations are at capacity and there will be other outdoor activations.
“We wanted to make sure that we had something that families could come to, something that would resonate with the younger generations and that the older community could feel comfortable with,” said Shay Wafer, WACO executive director.
For Leimert Park, a neighborhood long recognized as a center of Black culture and activism, the Vision Theatre’s restoration and reopening is an opportunity to strengthen its cultural identity while creating new opportunities for artists and audiences.
The city of LA invested nearly $40 million in the renovation project, which has unfolded in multiple phases and was slowed by funding challenges, the COVID-19 pandemic and supply-chain disruptions, a cultural affairs spokesperson previously told The LA Local.
The weekend grand reopening begins with an invitation-only ceremony Thursday night honoring Leimert Park Black arts and culture pioneers like actress Marla Gibbs, who originally purchased the Vision Theatre in 1990 and lost it to foreclosure in 1997, Wafer said.
“I’m so happy that Marla is still alive to witness this,” Wafer said. “She’ll be in the audience tonight and I know what she personally experienced trying to manage this building on her own.”
Dale Brockman Davis, who opened the first Black-owned art gallery in Leimert Park in 1967, will also be recognized at Thursday’s ceremony. The Dance Theater of Harlem and the Pan African People’s Orchestra will perform, Wafer said.
The next three days will then offer three distinct experiences, according to a WACO Instagram post.
Friday’s “Our Magic: Club 20/20” is a night of entertainment and cultural programming. Rapper Rhapsody will perform and Scott Evans will conduct an interview with the cast members of the rebooted “A Different World” in the theater starting at 8 p.m. The Sankofa Sessions night market will be available on Degnan Boulevard.
Saturday’s “Our Future: Proud on the Block,” will welcome families and younger audiences for a screening of Disney’s “A Proud Family Wizmas” from 1 to 2:30 p.m. and again at 4 p.m. There will also be a panel discussion with the film’s cast members after the first screening. A block party on Degnan Boulevard from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. will include animation and claymation workshops, a scavenger hunt and free food.
Sunday’s “Our Vision: Crossroads,” will close the weekend with a celebration concert from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. There will also be 30-minute theater tours from 3 to 5 p.m.
Wafer said WACO is partnering with an arts cohort that will host events at the Vision Theatre at least once a year. The cohorts include the Pan African Film Festival, Lula Washington Dance Theatre, Leimert Park Jazz, Amazing Grace Conservatory and the Debbie Allen Dance Academy. The theater will also host other national and international groups and be available for community organizations.
Wafer told The LA Local she started her career uplifting Black arts and culture by working with Gibbs and her daughter, Angela. Now they all get to witness a full circle moment together.
“To see the WACO Theater Center and the Vision Theatre worlds collide in this one singular moment, is heartfelt for me,” Wafer said, adding that WACO will present its first season of programming in February.
