Dover Foxcroft
Maine
Center Theatre for the Performing Arts
About Us:
The Center Theatre is a historic movie theater and local landmark located in downtown Dover-Foxcroft, the County Seat of Piscataquis County, Maine. The theater was built circa 1939 and enjoyed a long run as the area’s cultural hub. Unfortunately, due to the advent of television and other forms of entertainment, Center Theatre closed in 1971 and was essentially forgotten. Abandoned and obscured from public view, Center Theatre was in danger of being torn down to make room for new development.In 1998, a group of citizens formed a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization called Center Theatre, Inc. to protect and raise awareness of the historic landmark. They also recognized a lack of cultural activities and entertainment in Piscataquis County and saw an opportunity to use Center Theatre as a way to make such activities available. To that end, in 1999 Center Theatre Inc. bought and began renovating the building, and started planning the creation of Center Theatre for the Performing Arts, a regional performing arts center.
After 8 years and 2 Million dollars raised, the Center Theatre for the Performing Arts held it's grand opening in August of 2006. Since then, it has provided a year-round schedule of affordable entertainment, arts, education, and cultural programming. Our community theater group, The Slightly Off-Center Players produce several productions every year along with a variety of educational programming including the Center Theatre Children's Summer Drama Camp.
In 2009, the Center Theatre hosted the first ever Maine Whoopie Pie Festival. That first festival drew 600 people to the parking lot behind the Center Theatre. Now the largest festival in Piscataquis County, the annual festival draws over 8,000 to downtown Dover-Foxcroft on the 4th Saturday in June. Visitors celebrate the taste of Maine's Official State Treat, enjoy a wide variety of other food vendors, artists, and crafters, listen to live music and children enjoy bounce houses, rides, and activities.
Upcoming Events at Center Theatre for the Performing Arts
Recent News
Center Theatre For The Performing Arts News - August 11, 2023
Hello fans and friends of the Center Theatre, Summer isn’t over yet, but we can see the end from here. Our final drama camp is finishing up in Dexter today. That will mean we’ve had 6 camps, in 5 towns, over the past 7 weeks.…
Read More »Center Theatre For The Performing Arts News - August 4, 2023
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Read More »Center Theatre For The Performing Arts News - July 27, 2023
Hello fans and friends of the Center Theatre, Yes, that’s right! We have a limited number of free tickets for tomorrow night’s performance: Boppa Chua! Marc Black takes you on a musical/historical journey through the 50’s and…
Read More »Center Theatre For The Performing Arts News - June 29, 2023
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Read More »Center Theatre for the Performing Arts Happenings Newsletter - May 25, 2023
Hello fans and friends of the Center Theatre, We have a little event coming up on June 24th, it’s the Maine Whoopie Pie Festival! Not only is it the Center Theatre’s biggest annual fundraiser, but it also benefits dozens and dozens…
Read More »Center Theatre For The Performing Arts News - May 20, 2023
Hello fans and friends of the Center Theatre, If you’ve talked to anyone about our production of Honk! Jr. then you’ve heard what a fun show it is for the whole family! Or cast of kids from area schools have put together a wonderful…
Read More »Center Theatre for the Performing Arts Happenings Newsletter - May 5, 2023
Hello fans and friends of the Center Theatre, If you drive by the Theatre Saturday, honk in solidarity with Dani Buschmann. She’ll be stuck on the roof deck starting at 10:00am until she raises $3,000 for our 25th year of Children’s…
Read More »Center Theatre for the Performing Arts Happenings Newsletter - April 28, 2023
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Read More »Registration Open for Year 25 of Summer Drama Camp!
Hello fans and friends of the Center Theatre, Let’s start out with good news and then we’ll move on to even better news! We’ve been able to reschedule Buster Keaton’s Steamboat Bill, Jr. with live accompaniment by Doug…
Read More »Center Theatre for the Performing Arts News - March 31, 2023
Hello fans and friends of the Center Theatre, Let’s start out with good news and then we’ll move on to even better news! We’ve been able to reschedule Buster Keaton’s Steamboat Bill, Jr. with live accompaniment by Doug…
Read More »Center Theatre for the Performing Arts -Scratch Tickets, a Food Drive, April Camp, James Taylor, and more
Hello fans and friends of the Center Theatre, I’m starting to regret promising all this new programming every week! It has to slow down sometime, right? Not this week! New to the calendar you’ll find the SOCP’s famous Scratch…
Read More »Center Theatre for the Performing Arts - Both Silent and Talkies Added to our Movie Schedule!
Hello fans and friends of the Center Theatre, In 1928 Buster Keaton released his silent film Steamboat Bill, Jr. to rave reviews. 95 years later, the Center Theatre brings the movie to our big screen! We’re showing the movie on Sunday,…
Read More »Center Theatre for the Performing Arts - Marley, One Acts, Movies, and More
Hello fans and friends of the Center Theatre, I’m excited for the next few weeks! I’m going to be able to announce a lot of new events for the rest of the year. For this week, I get to announce the return of Maine’s king of…
Read More »Center Theatre for the Performing Arts - The British National Theater in Dover-Foxcroft!
Hello fans and friends of the Center Theatre, Great news for fans of live theater! You don’t have to go across the pond to see the best of the British National Theatre. We’ll have select productions coming to our movie screen!…
Read More »Just Another Quiet Week At The Center Theatre
Hello fans and friends of the Center Theatre, If you have your browser’s sarcasm filter engaged, then that subject line probably didn’t make any sense. This last week has been anything but QUIET. We’ve sold almost 450 tickets to…
Read More »Center Theatre for the Performing Arts - The Holiday Season Starts Friday!
Hello fans and friends of the Center Theatre, It’s Hometown Holidays weekend in Dover-Foxcroft and there’s lots going on! You can check out the full schedule right here. Everything going on at the Theatre is down below - and…
Read More »Center Theatre for the Performing Arts Happenings - November 17, 2022
Hello fans and friends of the Center Theatre, Yes, unfortunately we had to cancel our Lip Sync Battle for Friday night. We had 4 of our 8 entrants drop out over the past few days and were not left with enough people to have a show. But we still…
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