Claire DeMarco and Erika Cuenca Join Forces to Save Venue for Local Theater Companies
By SHARON EBERSON
Claire DeMarco has put her money where her theater dreams are, and partnered with theater artist and administrator Erika Cuenca to save Carnegie Stage, that vital black box at 25 W. Main Street in Carnegie.
There had been no other takers to keep the building as a theater, with the pending end of the lease, held by Hans and Virginia Gruenert, founders of off the WALL productions. Their company was in residence at the site for 15 years, while they also made it an affordable rental space for other small companies and independent productions.
Carnegie Stage has been the most recent home of Pittsburgh International Classic Theatre, Kinetic Theatre, The Collective, and Throughline Theatre, which this week will hold the third annual Living News Festival there.
(Image: Sharon Eberson/onStage Pittsburgh
Without DeMarco and the persistence of Cuenca, who will continue to maintain and operate the theater for the foreseeable future, it might have been curtains for the venue, which features nearby eateries and free parking, and is about 6 miles from Downtown.
The Greunerts, having pulled up stakes to live in Iceland, had entrusted the running of the theater to Cuenca. They decided to leave permanently, having found receptive audiences and arts funding in Europe. When the last off the WALL production took place in April, DeMarco had quietly emerged as a potential buyer for Carnegie Stage.
DeMarco is a retired IT specialist and a storyteller — she writes about local theater for ’Burgh Vivant — so I’ll let her tell the tale.
“This is just me being corny, maybe, but I’m on the Pittsburgh New Works [Festival] board, and I’ve been on there for a thousand years. And we never had a physical home. We were at Carnegie Stage for a while; now we’re at Genesius Theater. We’ve been all over the place. And I kept telling them at the board meetings, ‘When I win the lottery, I’m going to buy a theater.’ Now I can say, ‘No, I did not win the lottery. But I bought a theater.’ ”
(Image: Sharon Eberson/onStage Pittsburgh)
DeMarco also had been on the board of off the WALL, which is how she became acquainted with Cuenca. About seven months ago, they ran into each other, and Cuenca passed along that the fate of Carnegie Stage was in doubt.
That’s when their planned partnership started to take shape: DeMarco would finance the venue; Cuenca, who has been gifted the equipment (light and sound systems, for example) from the Gruenerts, would continue to maintain and operate the theater.
Observing what was going on with other theater companies Downtown and studying the business of ownership, the two decided to form separate LLC’s. Cuenca’s is Heartful Work.
Her first thought had been to keep Carnegie Stage in the title.
“We will still do business as Carnegie Stage,” Cuenca said, “but I was thinking about the mission behind everything that we’re trying to do, and the notion of that phrase, to me, emphasizes genuine connections and sincerity and cooperation — all the stuff that in the best-case scenario of a theater production, when you have those elements (the group is) creating something that’s very beautiful.”
She added that she and DeMarco are not in this as producers, rather, “We’re trying to support these other companies, to still have a home base.”
Cuenca and DeMarco both praised the work of previous Carnegie Stage owner Shane Franklin, of Shapel General Contracting Inc., to complete the sale.
Franklin “was very, very kind,” DeMarco said. “He repaired some of the things that were necessary because we had an inspection, and there were some issues with the roof and some other things that had to be done” before the transaction could move forward.
Cuenca is a Point Park University alum known for roles with, among others, Quantum, City, and Pittsburgh Public theaters and off the Wall, where she had been in the position of Associate Artistic Director while running the theater in the Gruenerts’ absence. She stepped in, script in hand, when Kinetic Theatre needed a last-minute replacement for a role in A Sherlock Carol last year.
She helped close off the WALL’s 15-year run in Carnegie onstage, starring alongside Virginia Gruenert in the two-hander Breadcrumbs, directed by Ingrid Sonnichsen.
“I didn’t want anyone to buy this building and think they could make a bunch of money off of artists. … That wasn’t the legacy that I would like to see for the space, and the companies that have found a home in Carnegie,” Cuenca said. “Claire and I are of a similar mind, and we recognize that it might turn my position into somewhat of a volunteer position, ultimately, but we have a grace period where Hans and Virginia are going to lend their support through this transition.”
Cuenca said you can find DeMarco’s mindset in the name of the LLC chosen by Carnegie Stage’s new owner. It’s called: Performers Have a Home.
DeMarco, of Kennedy Township, retired in 2016 after 28 years at BNYMellon, where she was a leader in the Information Technology field, specializing in systems development auditing, IT risk assessments and programming.
She has used what she has called her “play time” to continue seeing as many local theater works as possible and participate in other cultural events.
Her goal, and Cuenca’s, is to keep Carnegie Stage as an affordable, accessible, go-to spot for local companies to call home.
“My hope,” DeMarco said, “is that it will remain a theater forever.”
Categories: Arts and Ideas, News, Our Posts, Venue
This is brilliant! Claire and Erika are heroes! Long live Carnegie Stage.