The little Theatre that could!

---

---

Our History and Our Name

We are located at the intersection of Allen St, Western Avenue, and Madison Avenue in Albany, NY. In 1828 this was the starting point of the first train in New York State - the Dewitt Clinton, a passenger train which went to Crane St. in Schenectady. More than half a century later, in 1891, our building was constructed as the tenth firehouse in the city of Albany to house a steam-powered fire engine. In 1910 the city started experimenting with automotive fire trucks and by 1925 had committed to them. At this time, the city tore down the horse barn and added the hose tower as well as Central Station - a police station - to the firehouse.

Although the adjoining police station is still active Albany eventually stopped using the Steamer No. 10 Fire Station in 1989. The steam powered fire engine was long gone, but Steamer No. 10 was, and still is, carved in stone above the door. When we moved in and had to choose a name for ourselves, what choice did we have? We kept it!

Steamer No.10 Theatre opened on February First, 1991, after a two year, $300,000 renovation of the firehouse. We created a 120 seat proscenium theatre with excellent sightlines and acoustics, a state-of-the-art theatrical lighting system and office space. We installed new seats in the fall of 2005 with the help of grants from Verizon Wireless and the New York State Council on the Arts, replacing seats which served in the now absent Hellman Theatre from 1959 to 1989. New carpeting and fresh paint on the walls complete the interior makeover. We’ve also undertaken another addition to the old firehouse…a lobby, which is under construction even now. Once complete it will evoke the image of a fantasy castle, complete with drawbridge, while maintaining the architectural integrity of the original fire station. To see just what we're doing, take a look at the castle. One of our mottos is that “Many hands make light work”, so if you would like to help this project along why don’t you volunteer!

Our Mission and How We Achieve It

We want to get children, adults, teachers, grandparents...everyone...excited about theatre and the performing arts. Everyone should attend live performances with a burning desire to see more.

Today, Steamer No.10 Theatre, Inc. is a non-profit, tax-exempt professional theatre producing and presenting shows for children and families, and touring to schools and theatres throughout the Northeast. We produce five shows per year as part of our Kids' Fare Series. Our Vacation Daze Series feature a different performer for each day of the major mid-year school breaks. Creative Arts at Steamer Ten (C.A.S.T.) is our theatre arts school, which introduces kids to performing and our audiences to performing kids! All told, we reach between 10,000 and 15,000 people each year.

Other Activities

We have a responsibility to use our talents and facility for the benefit of the community's children and families while remaining true to our mission. To this end we have begun our Eclectic Performance Series, providing a venue for works which might have trouble finding such. We host Theater Voices, producers of free staged readings of classic theatre, and Too Deep Entertainment, Albany's Multi-Cultural Performing Arts Troupe. We are a source of classes and workshops to educate children interested in theatre. Boy Scout and Girl Scout troops sometimes enlist us in their quests for theatre merit badges.

But it's not all theatre. There is no doubt that we can only exist through the goodwill and efforts of our community, so we seek to not only further the interests of our community, but the solidarity of that community. We have served as a polling location. We are a meeting place for such groups as New Albany Neighborhood Association, Pine Hills Neighborhood Association, and Capital District Community Gardens. We are an integral component of the burgeoning Taste of Madison events. It is our belief that there is a symbiotic relationship between the theatre and the public: we all grow together.

---