Village Theatre

The building on Front Street had already been a house of performance for decades before it ever hosted a live play, put up in 1914 for silent films and doubling as a hall for dances and graduations [1]. A movie house standing empty in a town filling up with young families is what drew a director named Carl Darchuk out from Montana, and in 1979 the company raised the curtain on its first production, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying [1] [2]. Two years later it bought that old movie house as its first historic home [1]. The company built a second Issaquah venue in 1994 and took on residency at the Everett Performing Arts Center in 1998 [1] [2]. New musicals became its calling card; its Village Originals program has launched more than 160 of them since 1995 [2]. Million Dollar Quartet and Next to Normal both came through, and each went on to Tony recognition [1] [2].