Custom Made Theatre is moving
Custom Made Theatre is moving to 533 Sutter St. the former space of SF Playhouse.

Custom Made Theatre makes biggest move in its 17-year history.

Summer slowdown? Try selling that idea to the San Francisco Bay Area theater community. The news just keeps rolling in. Trying to keep track of it all is almost (almost) as much fun as attempting to follow the trade shenanigans in the NHL.

Yesterday, we learned that The Book of Mormon musical (review) broke house records at the San Jose Center for the Performing Arts.

Earlier this year, the iconic A.C.T. opened its new Strand theater space to the public (story behind the renovation, plus interview with artistic director Carey Perloff). The re-birth of the historic property that will now be used to showcase up-and-coming playwrights and new works designed to appeal to a younger generation of theater-goer.

And to recap another move in theater, a few years back San Francisco Playhouse re-located to a lovely new space at 450 Post St (2nd floor of the Kensington Park Hotel). Which leads us to the latest bit of theater news to come out of San Francisco…

Custom Made Theatre announced that it will take over the former space occupied by SF Playhouse and Tides.

Located at 533 Sutter St. (a block away from Union Square), the new space will open with Kenneth Lonergan’s This is Our Youth this September.

Artistic director Brian Katz said, “We have always admired SF Playhouse, and we are tickled pink to be able to grow in the theatre where they became a regional institution.”

In conjunction with the news, Custom Made is launching a “moving campaign” aiming to raise $20,000. Organizers say the funds will fund the relocation and help defray costs related to higher rent, new equipment, beautification, and moving costs.