Earlier this morning, the brass at both the Kimmel Center and University of the Arts announced a join partnership that will see Broad Street’s Merriam Theater — a property belonging to UArts — now booked and managed by the Kimmel Center home office. The five-year-deal was hatched with the intent being, so far as we can tell, to have the Merriam go dark less frequently than it does currently. (If you’ve never seen something here, it really is a beautiful, old-style charmer; last winter’s Magnetic Fields show there was a treat indeed.) To that end, the Kimmel will continue to place its Broadway series in the Merriam, as well as an expanded roster of Kimmel Center Presents concerts and events, and — here’s the kicker — also manage the rental to “commercial and non-profit organizations,” meaning that the Merriam could be seeing more contemporary acts (such as the aforementioned Magnetic Fields show and, next month, David Cross) passing through. Meanwhile, UArts will continue to present its main-stage student performance season in the theater, so everybody wins.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 29th, 2009 at 9:51 am.