Oakland Theater Project to Turn the New Parish Into a Performing Arts Center
Music fans who worried about the New Parish’s closure late last year can rest assured that the Oakland venue won’t be turning into condos. On Oct. 22, Oakland Theater Project announced that it was taking over the San Pablo Avenue space and converting it into a hub for theater, music and performing arts.
“Oakland is just a mecca of resilience — a passionate, incredible, diverse community — and it’s full of creatives and artists,” Oakland Theater Project Managing Director Colin Mandlin tells KQED. “So to be able to have people to share and present their work in their hometown … it’s going to be this kind of common-sense but also really celebratory and wonderful accomplishment.”
The theater company signed a 10-year lease on the 13,000-square-foot building, with the option to buy it in the future. Oakland Theater Project’s vision is to create a 200-seat main theater, a second smaller theater, backstage areas and an expanded marquee lobby, bar and outdoor courtyard. Their goal is to have the space ready for audiences in the late spring of 2027.
In addition to the Oakland Theater Project’s own productions, the new performing arts center will host concerts, talks, screenings and classes. Given the building’s long history as a music venue — first as Sweet Jimmie’s, then the New Parish — Oakland Theater Project is partnering with a concert presenter that they plan to announce in the coming days.
Over the years, the New Parish hosted shows by musical greats, including The Jacka and Nipsey Hussle before both of their untimely passings. In its final year of operation, Oakland rap star Mistah F.A.B., R&B legend Teedra Moses, Chilean rapper Ana Tijoux and local, experimental techno outfit Cel Genesis all had events there.
In the building’s new incarnation, Mandlin says the musical programming will include an eclectic array of local and touring artists. “We very much value the history of a space, both in terms of its cultural significance, as well as the physical building and attributes itself,” he says. “And the fact that this space has hosted musical events for decades is definitely something that we want to honor and continue.”
The new performing arts center comes at a time of expansion for Oakland Theater Project, whose next play She Se Puede (A Chorus of Huertas) premieres at their current, smaller Downtown Oakland location on Nov. 20. Mandlin says they regularly sell out performances in their 80-seat space without much advertising, and have had to take productions to larger venues, often outside of Oakland, to accommodate their growing audience.
“We have a really passionate and powerful community that supports us and that follows us,” Mandlin says.
Though the Oakland Theater Project lost tens of thousands of dollars due to National Endowment for the Arts and National Endowment for the Humanities funding cuts, Mandlin says donors and foundations have rallied around the theater company. The organization’s budget has quadrupled since 2021. He’s also hopeful about former arts nonprofit leader Lyz Luke’s appointment as the Oakland’s Cultural Affairs Manager at the start of the year, and says she’s working behind the scenes to secure more funding for the performing arts.
“It’s great timing for us to now take on this new venue and growth opportunity,” he says.