Ed Moore got an unexpected surprise at the opening of the new Studio Theater Wednesday — it is named after him.

By Peter Covino
Entertainment Editor

Striking up the band just got a whole lot easier at the Osceola Center for the Arts.

After years of having cramped quarters for re-hearsing, as well as old, outdated administrative offices, the center celebrated this week the opening of its new Studio Theater.

The new building was officially named on Wednesday the Edward A. Moore Studio, after the center's executive director.

“We have been looking at this for two years,” Moore said, just a few minutes after he was surprised by the unveiling of the studio name.

The building gives the center a lot of flexibility in what it does, Moore said.

In addition to a rehearsal area for center productions, the expansion includes a 2,300-square-foot studio theater.

Moreover, there's a kitchen so the center can handle more special events that include dinners and banquets, Arin Gullett Thrower, director of marketing, said. The kitchen has two large warming units to heat food, as well as two refrigerators and a double sink and dishwasher.

There's a suite of offices, a conference room and a lobby area, where the public can buy tickets for upcoming productions. The lobby also has seating for visitors.

The Studio Theater already has a first event scheduled: a Big Band event March 7. And it will be available for dance recitals, children’s theatre, plays and more. It's also available to rent for weddings, meetings, seminars and other similar events.

Built with funds approved by the Osceola County Commission, the center will now be able to offer a wider variety of productions and classes.

Because the center's auditorium also was used for rehearsing, many times companies that wanted to rent out the center for shows had to be turned away because it was needed for the center's own productions, Moore said.

With the studio area used as a rehearsal hall for center productions, the main auditorium now can be used more for visiting theater companies.

One large area in the building is now devoted entirely to the center’s large costume collection.

Longtime center volunteer Gail Eck, who has made many of the outfits for center shows such as “Oklahoma!” and many other musicals as well, said it will be so much easier now to find a particular outfit. The wardrobe area, which was practically inaccessible before, now looks like a costume retail shop, with a long row of brightly colored outfits for men and women.

“Now we have a proper costume shop,” Gullett Thrower said.

The center managed to get most of the work done, including moving out old furniture and moving in new furniture to the studio and administrative offices – in about a week, she said.

“It was a solid week of moving, though, since we had 40 years of stuff to move,” Gullett Thrower said.

County officials also are hopeful the project could bring more tourist dollars to Osceola County in the future.

Larry White, public relations manager for the Kissimmee Convention and Visitors Bureau, said he would be meeting with center officials to look at ways the bureau can promote the center.

“It's a wonderful addition with great potential,” he said. “We need to figure out how to use it.”