Sophia Rooksberry
Staff Writer
For 13 nights of the 2026 Summer Season, the lights of Roe Green Theater Center will shine into the late evening hours. In addition to hosting rehearsals and playwriting fellows during the daylight hours, this newly constructed venue will offer an assortment of cabaret-style events throughout the summer, all at 10 p.m. with food and drink offerings from the lobby bar.
Vice President of Performing and Visual Arts Laura Savia programmed the late-night series alongside her team and in collaboration with Chautauqua Theater Company.
“I’ve always felt that there was an opportunity at Chautauqua for an additional venue that could have more adult programming, that could have programming that is a little bit edgier or a little bit sexier,” Savia said.
This opportunity presented itself when plans for RGTC came to fruition and provided a space to curate an invigorating lineup in a more intimate space.
“My aim was to program this inaugural pilot season of late-night offerings with a mix of comedy and music that really features the incredible talent we already have right here on the grounds at Chautauqua Institution,” Savia said.
The goal of spotlighting local talent commences tonight with the series’ first event: Mike Thorton & The Midnight Quartet. The Chautauqua-based jazz ensemble will kick off the late-night series with a mix of jazz standards and more modern tunes, like jazz arrangements of Beatles songs.
“It’s going to be very high-quality music, and also very accessible and very fun,” Savia said.
The fun will carry on throughout the summer as the series presents programs including “On Being American: An Evening of Poetry and Music with Kwame Alexander” in collaboration with the African American Heritage House, singer-songwriter Sarah James, musical trio Bandits on the Run and, along with other nights of comedy, “Unscripted! An Evening of Musical Improv.”
“That is a group of really seasoned, accomplished improvisers who also happen to be teaching artists for Chautauqua Arts Education’s Young Playwrights Project, so they are already people who work in our community many times a year,” Savia said. “… That’s another example of how to let it rip after hours. It’s going to be silly … It’s going to be a chance to let our hair down and have a great laugh with a drink in our hand with some people we already know and love.”
Although there is no formal content advisory for the series, Savia said some of the comedy nights will likely include some mature themes and “PG-13 language,” like the show presented on July 30 and Aug. 18 titled “Sally Love & Friends: Sleep is the New Sex.”
“I’m particularly excited about that show because it’s what happens in Chautauqua anyway, but a more professional version of it,” Savia said. “Don’t we all already gather on our porches late at night and crack each other up and swap stories and let it rip, often with a drink in our hand? We do. Now, this is a space to do that as an art form.”
In addition to helping create a fresh atmosphere for CTC’s new home, the proceeds from Sally Love’s two shows will be donated to the Friends of Chautauqua Theater. Tickets for each late-night event cost $25 and can be purchased online or in-person at the Janet & Av Posner Box Office at RGTC.
