Elmwood Park Zoo has partnered with the Centre Theater to produce all of the cultural exhibitions and theater productions to be hosted and performed at the historic building, located in the heart of Norristown. 

The partnership was forged when the zoo played an integral role in opening the Charles L. Blockson Exhibition at the theater in 2022, and it is set to continue through 2023 and beyond, with stage musicals that include Tuck Everlasting, which debuts Friday, March 3.

“We believe this collaboration between the zoo and the theater is a crucial piece in the revitalization of Norristown,” said Al Zone, Elmwood Park Zoo’s Executive Director and CEO. “Like the zoo, the Centre Theater is a destination for guests to learn and have fun. We hope that through the zoo’s support, the theater will attract more visitors and increase support of the arts in Montgomery County.” 

The Charles L. Blockson Exhibition opened at the theater in June 2022, and featured selections from Charles Blockson’s private collection of over 700,000 items and artifacts that are related to the global Black experience. The theater’s staging of Tuck Everlasting begins on March 3, with additional select dates running through March 19. Tickets are available on the theater’s website at www.thecentretheater.com.

The Greater Norristown Society for the Arts owns the Centre Theater, which has been the anchor of Norristown’s Arts Hill since 1996. Elmwood Park Zoo currently leases the theater space and runs its daily operations. The zoo has begun including the theater in various promotions and benefits it offers to its visitors, and it has plans for a shuttle service that will whisk guests from the zoo to the theater and back via a vintage trolley car.