{"id":224554,"date":"2026-06-21T19:58:37","date_gmt":"2026-06-21T19:58:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/224554\/"},"modified":"2026-06-21T19:58:37","modified_gmt":"2026-06-21T19:58:37","slug":"mt-airy-theater-owners-creating-phillys-ave-of-the-arts-northwest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/224554\/","title":{"rendered":"Mt. Airy theater owners creating Philly’s ‘Ave. of the Arts Northwest\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Love Philly? So do we. Let\u2019s be friends. Sign up for the Billy Penn newsletter today<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Some people shop for clothes, cars or coffee.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Not Stacy Maria Dutton.<\/p>\n

For the last half decade, she\u2019s been theater-shopping, looking for a second home for Lantern Theater Company,<\/a> the theater company she leads in Center City.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In Center City, where Lantern holds its subscription series in the basement of St. Stephen\u2019s Episcopal Church,<\/a> there\u2019s the Avenue of the Arts. There are theaters on almost every corner, from the Walnut Street Theater,<\/a> the nation\u2019s oldest, to InterAct Theater Co.,<\/a> which created two theaters from a ballroom in the Drake, an architectural wonder of an apartment building with a history of poshness.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Of course, Center City offers a plethora of restaurants, bars, stores and museums.<\/p>\n

So why Mount Airy \u2014 which does have restaurants, bars, stores, and museums, just not as many.<\/p>\n

Because it\u2019s a neighborhood, Dutton said, that already has a proven audience for theater \u2013 just down the block Quintessence Theatre Group<\/a> will mount a seven-play season starting in September.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Because there\u2019s parking on Germantown Avenue or in a supermarket parking lot half a block away with two train lines and two bus routes nearby.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Because she and Lantern\u2019s co-founder Charles McMahon live in the neighborhood and Lantern\u2019s offices are across the street, next to the Mount Airy Art Garage<\/a>, a nonprofit arts incubator.<\/p>\n

(Oh, and by the way, there are three bars\/restaurants sharing the block with Quintessence and the church.)<\/p>\n

And also, because the former Mt. Airy Presbyterian Church is beautiful, with soaring stained-glass windows, and most importantly, height and a clear-span, meaning no Academy of Music-like pillars to block the view of whatever is on stage.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are super-excited about this Mount Airy theater,\u201d Dutton said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Quintessence Theatre\u2019s production of Moli\u00e8re\u2019s The Hypochondriac ran in April and May of 2026. (Kimberly Paynter\/WHYY)<\/p>\n

The Lantern, which had tried and failed to secure both the Painted Bride Art Center\u2019s former mosaic-adorned building and the former University of the Art\u2019s Art Bank building, is now in the middle of a $4 million capital campaign. Just under half is earmarked for the Mt. Airy theater, creating space for 180 seats, plus new bathrooms, dressing rooms, and a green room for the actors. A Philadelphia premiere of a well-known play will launch the theater in the fall of 2027, Dutton promises.<\/p>\n

The Mt. Airy Presbyterian congregation,<\/a> which has moved a few blocks away, sold the church and its education wings to developer Ken Weinstein<\/a>, who converted the education buildings to condominiums.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Some might wonder whether Mt. Airy, a middle-class neighborhood with plenty of college graduates among its residents, can support two professional-grade theaters. But the leaders of the two theaters aren\u2019t worried.<\/p>\n

\"\"Quintessence Theatre\u2019s production of Moli\u00e8re\u2019s The Hypochondriac ran in April and May of 2026. (Kimberly Paynter\/WHYY)<\/p>\n

\u201cThe more art that\u2019s available the better \u2013 and that\u2019s very exciting,\u201d said Alexander Burns, artistic director and founder of Quintessence, housed in the Sedgwick, a former movie theater. \u201cWe want as much theater as possible within walking distance. Theater is a habit, and the more people practice that habit, the more they can attend.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can become the Avenue of the Arts Northwest,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Quintessence is also in the middle of a capital campaign, having raised most of $5 million, he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Pre-show dining<\/p>\n

P.J. McMenamin, who is the grandson of the bar\u2019s first owner, runs McMenamin\u2019s Tavern directly<\/a> across the street from Quintessence. McMenamin\u2019s is its own Mt. Airy institution.<\/p>\n

\u201cI never tried to be anything other than the neighborhood bar,\u201d said McMenamin, who took over the business after his father died in 1989. He threw out some of the miscreants who had turned the place into their hang out, and in return got his tires slashed.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI had to buy a $1,000 burner car to drive to work,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That was then. These days, it\u2019s a place full of regulars, families, and newcomers who can get a full-course meal, choose from many beers on tap, or just grab wings, fish and chips, or a burger. \u201cWe get all walks of people who come in here \u2014 white, Black, gay and lesbian and stuff like that. We\u2019ve catered to everybody and we\u2019ve never had an issue.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd now,\u201d he laughed, \u201cwe\u2019re a theater bar for the five weeks there\u2019s a show. It\u2019s been great for us. They run in and know they can get a BLT or a sandwich and be out the door\u201d in time for the opening act.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Historic restoration<\/p>\n

What has McMenamin excited are Quintessence\u2019s plans to restore the theater\u2019s art deco exterior.<\/p>\n

Built in 1928 as a silent movie theater, it was named after Sedgwick Tourison, a local family that owned a lot of land in the area. (A nearby street and train station also carries his name.)\u00a0<\/p>\n

In 1994, David and Betty Ann Fellner bought the building, saving it from ruin. They still own the back of the building \u2013 the massive 1,600 seat theater. Quintessence moved into the front in 2010, building its performance space into the movie palace\u2019s elegant oval lobby. In 2024, it bought the front<\/a> and some adjacent storefronts for $2.3 million.<\/p>\n

McMenamin said his older brothers told him about going to the movies at the Sedgwick, but he was too young. \u201cI never made it to the old theater,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Burns said work will start in June on cleaning the terra cotta molding on the outside of the building with restoration of the historic movie marquee set to begin in September.<\/p>\n

He was enthused about \u201cthe sheer light it is going to create. The whole fa\u00e7ade is going to come to life and I think that energy is going to transfer on this block.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Ways to bring a full community together\u2019<\/p>\n

To Burns, what he\u2019s doing at Quintessence and Lantern\u2019s plan for the former church speak to the nature of Mt. Airy as a neighborhood.<\/p>\n

\u201cI grew up in Mt. Airy and know its history since the 1980s,\u201d he said. \u201cThe part that is so magical about Mt. Airy is that it is such an integral part of the city.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s the expanse of the Wissahickon [park] going right through the middle of it,<\/a> as well as the people\u2019s very intentional mission of celebrating humanism and bringing the community together whenever possible, despite differences of race, age, gender, and sexual orientation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPart of what is so exciting about building a world class cultural place is that it gets to be a celebration of that spirit and that intentionality of thinking forward and progressively and looking to the future and looking at the ways to bring a full community together,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The neighborhood, Burns said, gives him an audience of people who are willing to be challenged by Quintessence\u2019s roster of classic works and adaptations of classics.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are excited to get engaged with the materials and to be open to the experience of being challenged, of engaging one\u2019s own imagination,\u201d he said. \u201cMost people think of theater as entertainment, where they can sit there half-asleep and be mildly titillated and that\u2019s not what Quintessence does.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nor Lantern.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s that same energy and intentionality that\u2019s driving new growth on Mt. Airy\u2019s second business district, about five blocks south on Germantown Avenue, said Philip Dawson, executive director of the nonprofit Mt. Airy Community Development Corp.<\/a> The two districts are separated by a playground, where everyone\u2019s kids played softball, a library branch, an Acme supermarket, the fire station, and a large senior citizen complex.<\/p>\n

There is a new bakery, the Downtime Bakery<\/a> with its excellent breads and homemade bagels. A few blocks away, Jennifer Low, owner of The Frosted Fox Cake Shop,<\/a> baked her way to the winner\u2019s slot on the Netflix\u2019s \u201cSugar Rush.\u201d Adelie Coffee House<\/a> serves lattes across a driveway from a favorite Mt. Airy ice cream parlor, Zsa\u2019s Ice Cream.<\/a> Several restaurants are opening in the area and ReAnimator Caf\u00e9<\/a> says its Mt. Airy location on the 6500 block of Germantown is coming soon.<\/p>\n

Other newish businesses include a gift shop, Pax Flora Goods;<\/a> Mt. Airy Biergarten<\/a> with brews from Tired Hands; a mosaic studio, Bella Mosaic,<\/a> offering classes and workshops, and a Grocery Outlet supermarket.<\/p>\n

Bridging the two districts is Malelani Caf\u00e9,<\/a> a restaurant where you can settle in with souvlaki and listen to open-mic poetry, or jazz, or just bring your knitting for a twice-monthly gathering.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a wonderful neighborhood with the diversity it is known for, both racially and economically,\u201d Dawson said. \u201cThe resident ethic of supporting small businesses is very strong and that is something that really strengthens the district.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Thinking about Mt. Airy and its people, \u201cthe first things that come to mind are welcoming, resilient and vibrant,\u201d Dawson said. \u201cThat\u2019s what the people believe and live.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Love Philly? So do we. Let\u2019s be friends. Sign up for the Billy Penn newsletter today. Some people…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":224555,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[4877,60,14580,54078,8409,69,71,70,97511],"class_list":["post-224554","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-arts","tag-business","tag-germantown-avenue","tag-lantern-theater-company","tag-mount-airy","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-headlines","tag-philadelphia-news","tag-quintessence-theatre-company"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224554","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=224554"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224554\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/224555"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=224554"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=224554"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=224554"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}