About | Short North Stage

About Short North Stage

Short North Stage is a professional regional theater company creating exceptional live theater for Columbus, Central Ohio, and audiences beyond. From our home at the historic Garden Theater in the Short North District, we bring artists and audiences together through bold, joyful, and imaginative productions that spark conversation and celebrate the power of shared experience.

From beloved Broadway classics to contemporary musicals and works that deserve to be rediscovered, we honor what audiences love about these stories while bringing fresh perspectives, exceptional artistry, and our own distinctive point of view to the stage.

We believe great theater can entertain, surprise, challenge, and connect us. Whether someone has been coming to the Garden Theater for years or is walking through our doors for the first time, we want you to feel that this is a place that belongs to everyone.

Theater That Belongs To Everyone

Local arts organizations have the power to transform neighborhoods, strengthen economies, and create places where people feel connected to something larger than themselves. From Washington, D.C. and Cleveland’s Playhouse Square to New York City’s Theater Row, thriving regional theaters have long served as anchors for vibrant communities. Short North Stage believes Columbus deserves that same kind of cultural destination—one that is distinctly our own.

At the historic Garden Theater, we are creating more than a place to see a show. We are building a gathering place where neighbors come together, artists make bold work, young people discover what is possible, and audiences from across the nation can see themselves and their stories reflected onstage. Every performance brings people to High Street, supports the businesses around us, and adds to the energy that makes the Short North one of Columbus’ most dynamic neighborhoods.

As Columbus continues to grow, Short North Stage is growing with it. Our ambition is national, but our heart is here. We want the Garden Theater to be a cultural home for Columbus—a place that welcomes everyone, strengthens our community, and helps define what this city can become for all future generations.

Our Mission

Short North Stage creates live theater that brings joy, welcomes new perspectives and builds a vibrant community for all.

OUR VISION

Short North Stage will become an enduring hub of

professional theater with national impact.

Our VALUES

WE CARE
We invest in our artists, our team, and our community—ensuring everyone feels seen, valued, and supported.

WE ARE BOLD
We take artistic risks and make provocative, innovative choices that inspire, challenge, and spark conversation.

WE ARE FUN
We create experiences that are personal, intimate, welcoming—and always a joy to be part of, onstage or off.

WE COLLABORATE
We plan, build, and perform through shared vision—empowering creativity through open communication and teamwork.

The Garden Theater

In 1920, the Garden Theater opened on High Street as the premier entertainment destination north of downtown Columbus. Originally a vaudeville and movie house, the Garden became a neighborhood landmark just south of Fifth Avenue and welcomed generations of Columbus audiences through its doors.

Following the death of longtime owner Ethel Miles in the 1960s, the Garden entered a very different chapter in its history, eventually becoming a striptease house and later an adult entertainment venue. A local church took up residence in the building in 1996 before relocating in 2007. After the property was purchased by real estate investors, the historic theater sat dormant for several years.

Then, in 2011, Short North Stage gave the Garden a new life!

An extensive restoration brought the nearly century-old theater back to its roots as a home for live entertainment. Short North Stage produced its first show at the Garden in October 2011, beginning a new chapter for this historic Columbus landmark.

Today, the Garden Theater is an intimate 275-seat venue where audiences experience professional live theater remarkably close to the action. More than a century after its doors first opened, the Garden is once again what it was built to be: a gathering place for artists, audiences, and community.

Short North Stage Believes...

The beauty of live theater is in bringing people together. Our goal at Short North Stage is to do that in a meaningful way. Whether you are in the audience, a cast member, on the creative team, in the band, working backstage, or on our staff; it is extremely important to us that we are creating a space for all people to feel included, safe, heard, engaged, supported, valued, and affirmed. We are committed to putting diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility at the center of everything we do from casting to programming to the expansion of physical accessibility for our audience. Listening, learning, and taking action are important to us as we work together with our community to grow into a stronger theater company that reflects the rich fabric of Columbus. At Short North Stage we are committed to this intentional work and have begun initiatives to enhance our knowledge, address and unlearn personal biases, practice inclusive behaviors, and create positive experiences for everyone who enters our space. Thank you for your support and patience as we continue this perpetual work.

INITIATIVES

The work will be continuous. Here is what we are doing now:

Staff trainings throughout the season.
Cast, crew, creative team workshops for each show focused on Adaptive Strategies, Implicit Bias, and more.
Resident Culture and Diversity Management Consultant on staff from The Ohio REST Collective.
Engaging in continuous conversations with the community.