Dover Foxcroft
Maine
Center Theatre for the Performing Arts
About Us:
The Center Theatre is a historic movie theater and local landmark located in downtown Dover-Foxcroft, the County Seat of Piscataquis County, Maine. The theater was built circa 1939 and enjoyed a long run as the area’s cultural hub. Unfortunately, due to the advent of television and other forms of entertainment, Center Theatre closed in 1971 and was essentially forgotten. Abandoned and obscured from public view, Center Theatre was in danger of being torn down to make room for new development.In 1998, a group of citizens formed a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization called Center Theatre, Inc. to protect and raise awareness of the historic landmark. They also recognized a lack of cultural activities and entertainment in Piscataquis County and saw an opportunity to use Center Theatre as a way to make such activities available. To that end, in 1999 Center Theatre Inc. bought and began renovating the building, and started planning the creation of Center Theatre for the Performing Arts, a regional performing arts center.
After 8 years and 2 Million dollars raised, the Center Theatre for the Performing Arts held it's grand opening in August of 2006. Since then, it has provided a year-round schedule of affordable entertainment, arts, education, and cultural programming. Our community theater group, The Slightly Off-Center Players produce several productions every year along with a variety of educational programming including the Center Theatre Children's Summer Drama Camp.
In 2009, the Center Theatre hosted the first ever Maine Whoopie Pie Festival. That first festival drew 600 people to the parking lot behind the Center Theatre. Now the largest festival in Piscataquis County, the annual festival draws over 8,000 to downtown Dover-Foxcroft on the 4th Saturday in June. Visitors celebrate the taste of Maine's Official State Treat, enjoy a wide variety of other food vendors, artists, and crafters, listen to live music and children enjoy bounce houses, rides, and activities.
Upcoming Events at Center Theatre for the Performing Arts
Movie - The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare
Movie - The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare
Film - Charlie Chaplin's Gold Rush with Live Accompaniment
Movie - The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare
Movie - The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare
Movie - The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare
Recent News
Center Theatre For The Performing Arts News - August 11, 2023
Hello fans and friends of the Center Theatre, Summer isn’t over yet, but we can see the end from here. Our final drama camp is finishing up in Dexter today. That will mean we’ve had 6 camps, in 5 towns, over the past 7 weeks.…
Read More »Center Theatre For The Performing Arts News - August 4, 2023
Click here to View the Information About "Center Theatre For The Performing Arts News - August 4, 2023"
Read More »Center Theatre For The Performing Arts News - July 27, 2023
Hello fans and friends of the Center Theatre, Yes, that’s right! We have a limited number of free tickets for tomorrow night’s performance: Boppa Chua! Marc Black takes you on a musical/historical journey through the 50’s and…
Read More »Center Theatre For The Performing Arts News - June 29, 2023
Click Here To read more Information Center Theatre For The Performing Arts News - June 29, 2023
Read More »Center Theatre for the Performing Arts Happenings Newsletter - May 25, 2023
Hello fans and friends of the Center Theatre, We have a little event coming up on June 24th, it’s the Maine Whoopie Pie Festival! Not only is it the Center Theatre’s biggest annual fundraiser, but it also benefits dozens and dozens…
Read More »Center Theatre For The Performing Arts News - May 20, 2023
Hello fans and friends of the Center Theatre, If you’ve talked to anyone about our production of Honk! Jr. then you’ve heard what a fun show it is for the whole family! Or cast of kids from area schools have put together a wonderful…
Read More »Center Theatre for the Performing Arts Happenings Newsletter - May 5, 2023
Hello fans and friends of the Center Theatre, If you drive by the Theatre Saturday, honk in solidarity with Dani Buschmann. She’ll be stuck on the roof deck starting at 10:00am until she raises $3,000 for our 25th year of Children’s…
Read More »Center Theatre for the Performing Arts Happenings Newsletter - April 28, 2023
Click Here to view the Center Theatre for the Performing Arts Happenings Newsletter - April 28,…
Read More »Registration Open for Year 25 of Summer Drama Camp!
Hello fans and friends of the Center Theatre, Let’s start out with good news and then we’ll move on to even better news! We’ve been able to reschedule Buster Keaton’s Steamboat Bill, Jr. with live accompaniment by Doug…
Read More »Center Theatre for the Performing Arts News - March 31, 2023
Hello fans and friends of the Center Theatre, Let’s start out with good news and then we’ll move on to even better news! We’ve been able to reschedule Buster Keaton’s Steamboat Bill, Jr. with live accompaniment by Doug…
Read More »Center Theatre for the Performing Arts -Scratch Tickets, a Food Drive, April Camp, James Taylor, and more
Hello fans and friends of the Center Theatre, I’m starting to regret promising all this new programming every week! It has to slow down sometime, right? Not this week! New to the calendar you’ll find the SOCP’s famous Scratch…
Read More »Center Theatre for the Performing Arts - Both Silent and Talkies Added to our Movie Schedule!
Hello fans and friends of the Center Theatre, In 1928 Buster Keaton released his silent film Steamboat Bill, Jr. to rave reviews. 95 years later, the Center Theatre brings the movie to our big screen! We’re showing the movie on Sunday,…
Read More »Center Theatre for the Performing Arts - Marley, One Acts, Movies, and More
Hello fans and friends of the Center Theatre, I’m excited for the next few weeks! I’m going to be able to announce a lot of new events for the rest of the year. For this week, I get to announce the return of Maine’s king of…
Read More »Center Theatre for the Performing Arts - The British National Theater in Dover-Foxcroft!
Hello fans and friends of the Center Theatre, Great news for fans of live theater! You don’t have to go across the pond to see the best of the British National Theatre. We’ll have select productions coming to our movie screen!…
Read More »Just Another Quiet Week At The Center Theatre
Hello fans and friends of the Center Theatre, If you have your browser’s sarcasm filter engaged, then that subject line probably didn’t make any sense. This last week has been anything but QUIET. We’ve sold almost 450 tickets to…
Read More »Center Theatre for the Performing Arts - The Holiday Season Starts Friday!
Hello fans and friends of the Center Theatre, It’s Hometown Holidays weekend in Dover-Foxcroft and there’s lots going on! You can check out the full schedule right here. Everything going on at the Theatre is down below - and…
Read More »Center Theatre for the Performing Arts Happenings - November 17, 2022
Hello fans and friends of the Center Theatre, Yes, unfortunately we had to cancel our Lip Sync Battle for Friday night. We had 4 of our 8 entrants drop out over the past few days and were not left with enough people to have a show. But we still…
Read More »Center Theatre for the Performing Arts News - Ticket to Paradise and Halloween Too!
Here we are on the cusp of Halloween weekend and, as usual, it’s a busy time! We have the 2022 collection of Maine-made horror films called Damnationland, a great bluegrass concert by the Rock Hearts, the Rocky Horror Picture Show, and Black…
Read More »Center Theatre for the Performing Arts - Who Do You Want To See Live Next Year
Hello fans and friends of the Center Theatre, Fall is upon us and we’re making plans for 2023. Since the movie industry is a bit unstable these days, we’re planning to have more live programming in 2023. So we need to know from YOU…
Read More »Center Theatre for the Performing Arts - The New Projector Is Up And Running!
Hello fans and friends of the Center Theatre, It finally happened! After almost a year of manufacturing delays, our new Barco Laser projector is up and running in the big theater! If you’re very observant, you’ll notice the picture…
Read More »Center Theatre for the Performing Arts - Scratch Tickets, Raffle Calendars, and Great Events Too
Hello fans and friends of the Center Theatre, Thanks to everyone who supported Dani on the Roof Deck! We raised over $1,200 for our mission to make arts, education, and entertainment accessible to our rural communities to engage and inspire. Thank…
Read More »Center Theatre for the Performing Arts - Dani is on the Roof Deck, movies are on the screen, and live music is on stage!
Hello fans and friends of the Center Theatre, If you haven’t heard, our board member Dani Buschmann is sitting up on our roof deck right this minute. You can watch the live stream here. Dani will be stuck on the roof until we raise at…
Read More »Center Theatre For The Performing Arts : Both Screens Are Up And Running With Great Movies
Hello fans and friends of the Center Theatre, You probably heard that the projector in our main auditorium broke down. We’re planning to replace it next month and I think it heard us talking and just quit out of spite. Luckily, we could rush…
Read More »Center Theatre for the Performing Arts - New Movies and, just maybe, a new projector
Hello fans and friends of the Center Theatre, You may remember we were talking about getting a new projector for our main auditorium late last year. We got some grants and some donations (thank you!) and it was scheduled to happen last February.…
Read More »Center Theatre for the Performing Arts News - Center Theatre Audition Announcement!
Center Theatre Audition Announcement! Hello fans and friends of the Center Theatre, A special mid-week email to announce auditions for our 2022 Holiday show! We’re thrilled to announce that auditions for Kris Kringle the Musical will be…
Read More »Center Theatre for the Performing Arts - We're Back and the Movie Schedule is Filling Up!
Hello fans and friends of the Center Theatre, We had a quiet week to clean the carpets and get some work done and now we're back. And just in time for National Cinema Day - tomorrow, Saturday September 3rd! All movies all day will be $3 - so come…
Read More »Center Theatre for the Performing Arts : Harris in Paris, Shrek, Shorts, and Nope!
Hello fans and friends of the Center Theatre, Starting tomorrow (Friday the 19th) we’re showing Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris and Nope. We’re also adding to the Monson Bicentennial festivities on Saturday the 20th and showing Shrek by…
Read More »Center Theatre for the Performing Arts : One Busy Summer Day at the Center Theatre
Hello fans and friends of the Center Theatre, We have some great events this weekend (Larry John McNally, Summer Travelling Shorts at the Red Hot Dog Festival, Where the Crawdads Sing, and Bullet Train). But I wanted to take some time to tell you…
Read More »Center Theatre for the Performing Arts - 100 Years of Movies, Only now with AC!
Hello fans and friends of the Center Theatre, This weekend Dover and Foxcroft celebrate the 100th anniversary of their marriage and the Center Theatre is part of the celebration! Keep an eye out for our float in the big parade. (Spoiler Alert: You…
Read More »Center Theatre for the Performing Arts News - June28, 2022
Hello fans and friends of the Center Theatre, Thanks to everyone who made the 2022 Whoopie Pie Festival such a great success. Record-breaking attendance and sooo many Whoopie Pies :-) The Festival is the Center Theatre’s largest annual…
Read More »Center Theatre for the Performing Arts Happenings - May 23, 2022
Hello fans and friends of the Center Theatre, What has two thumbs and wonders what the heck he was thinking with the schedule this weekend? Yah, this guy right here. But that just means there’s lots of great stuff going on this weekend, no…
Read More »Center Theatre for the Performing Arts Happenings - May 2, 2022
Hello fans and friends of the Center Theatre, The Slightly Off-Center Players community theater group is doing another of their popular scratch ticket raffles, with a bonus! Not only can you win $108 in scratch tickets and a crisp $100 bill, but…
Read More »