Being creative is what Uptown Theatre owners Briana and Devin Mahoney are all about.
They took over the theater in 2018.
It’s now known as the "Uptown Theatre for Creative Arts."
“People come in and they take a class. Improv has been one our popular ones. We’ve done stand-up. We have classes for kids. We have a kids improv class now,” said Briana Mahoney.
What You Need To Know
- Utica’s Uptown Theatre has received about $500,000 from the city of Utica
- The money comes from the Utica Prosperity Initiative
- The money will be spent on roof work, another step toward opening the theatre’s auditorium
The Mahoneys want to breathe life back into the theater and provide a place for people to meet and explore their creative side.
“The community building has been the part that we’ve been able to do first, which I think has been really good because it just means we’ve had even more people working with us to get the theater open,” Briana Mahoney said.
Among those working with them is the city of Utica.
About $500,000 was given to the Uptown from the city through the Utica Prosperity Initiative for roof work, something that makes Mayor Robert Palmieri proud.
“We’re very fortunate that we’ve had two entrepreneurs that came from, I believe, California, came back to their roots in Utica, New York, and invested their time, their heart, their soul in bringing back the Uptown Theatre to what we feel is going to be a cornerstone for South Utica,” said Palmieri.
Briana Mahoney said there are high hopes for when the auditorium does open.
“That does mean movies,” she said. “It means live performances, and basically anything we can think of. We would like to bring in national touring acts. We would like to do classic movies and new movies. We’re open to everything. We just need to get it open first.”
The Mahoneys said the plan is to have all of the major work done by the end of 2023.