The Center for Performing Arts at Rhinebeck

God bless this sacred place, the wonderful productions they put on, and the culture and invaluable arts education they bring to the Hudson Valley for individuals and families alike to learn and grow together.

I’ve never been one to really enjoy the theater, but take this place with a grain of salt. Even though this place is a restored barn, it doesn’t smell all that barn-​like to me. All the seats are close to the action; you even enter onto the edge of the wooden stage as you proceed from the ticket area to the viewing area. Employees are decent and seem to know what they’re doing.
The only problem I have here are the comforts that their seats provide. The seats aren’t very comfortable at all. For the cost, you’d expect close to movie theater like conditions with a slight gap between the seats, but that’s not what you’ll find here. What you will find are bleacher-​like seating arrangements with no armrest space between the seats, and with the few seats that are theater-​like, these chairs have seen better days.
I do feel that this is a good place to go, if you want to know all the stars of the production, before you actually see the production itself; The entrance doors to the casts’ dressing rooms can be accessed from the main ticketing area, and on top of that, what you’ll also find is the entrance doorway for the instrumentalists to warm-​up, accessible also from here (and as can be heard from this area) too.
I do have a qualm with the staff here when it relates to the snack-​bar food they serve. Food is expensive and never readily available. There’s always a line for the snack-​bar, and when your trying to also buy tickets from the same venue area, it makes it impossible to try and navigate yourself around the backstage area.
Productions tend to be long and drawn out, but for the age and talents of most of the actors, it all boils down to differences in YOUR opinion.

How could you not give it five stars? The sets are always amazing, the actors they find are incredible and you get all the charms of being in a barn without the smell of livestock!

Doesn’t get much better than this for top-​flight community theater that is a cut above the rest. The current production of Godspell is lights out!