Reno Little Theater

Far from the great white way yet they do some interesting productions. Located just off Wells on pueblo street. it’s Reno’s longest running community theater.
Not only do they offer their regular season they teach theatre to kids from kindergarten through high school. La Gente Latino Theater calls RLT home. Plus they do senior reading @ lunch time once a month. They host numerous visiting productions throughout the year.
The lobby is set like an art gallery with a reasonably priced bar with moderate offering of beer, wine. Water, soda & snacks. I love that the art is themed to the plot of the plays. So far I’ve voted for a favorite painting, interacted with the activity wall or made a sugar skull. I really dig the interactive art before the show.
The good:
Solid performances.
Nice array of pieces shown.
They do a lot with minimal sets.
Not a bad seat in the house.
The space can be rented for private events.
Very reasonably priced.
The not so good:
Short runs on the shows. So for me scheduling is at times is an issue.

Today’s performance of Radium Girls was outstanding. The best thing I’ve seen at Reno Little Theater this year… and I’ve enjoyed everything else. The cast did an outstanding job. Play runs about 2 hours and the time flew by, because the show was that good. Only 2 more days for this production… I highly recommend it.

W e have never been to the Reno Little Theatre. Located off wells ave on pueblo, it is a small theatre, but they definitely make due with what they have.
Parking is right next to the building, in a private lot.
At the entrance of the building is the ticket office. You can either purchase tickets online or at the venue.
They sell concessions in the lobby, soda, water and snacks.
The theater itself is fairly small and is considered a black box theatre. You are literally sitting right next to the actors as they perform. There are no elaborate backdrop changes, what you see is what you get.
We went and saw the Odd Couple, female version. It was fabulous. The acting was fantastic, and the set was always changing, but with several items always there.
We will definitely be back.

Love this little theater. This was the second show and was again very good. The acting was good and I felt like I was sitting in the living room listening and watching my friends carry on. A trio a old class mates comparing life and thinking the grass is always greener.. . As the saying goes. It gets more complicated when they decide to change life’s. Some very funny lines a few adult words and suggestions of provocative scenes I would not suggest this one for children but for adults nothing you haven’t heard or seen before.

RLT has been around for 80 years (as of 2014), and there are many generations of Renoites that have fond memories of RLT shows through the decades… Though it seems to have already been forgotten, RLT has only had their new building for about 3 years or so. When their original (proscenium) theatre in downtown Reno was demolished in the late 90’s, many thought they were done. Hug High was kind enough to offer them a home for many years, and at the beginning of 2012, RLT finally had their fabulous new 99-​seat blackbox theatre up and running!
Though their black box theatre can be configured a number of ways, they perform most of their shows in ¾ thrust, which means that the audience partially surrounds the stage. Because RLT has such a history in our community, they also have a strong financial base. The theatre is so beautiful, but I do wish that they’d invest in better seats for their patrons– they certainly have the resources to be able to do so! The seats are just stackable chairs that you’d find in any convention center, and it’s difficult to feel comfortable in them.
RLT is the most traditional of our local theatre companies and has the widest audience base. The talent here can be mixed, because they work with a broad range of experience levels. If you’ve ever wanted to try out for a play, RLT is a good place to start. This is also probably the best theatre to visit if you’ve never been to a play. They produce crowd-​pleasing shows with broad appeal– no need to be afraid of weird, alienating, experimental theatre here!
They also rent out their venue for special events and offer a free children’s show during Artown. The Jester’s League, a local improv group, regularly performs here. It is also the new home of Ageless Repertory Theatre (ART), which offers reader’s theatre productions of classics read by talented seniors. Last summer, a new company called Rising Tide Productions mounted a production of «Chess», the pop opera created by the duo behind ABBA. You can even host a quincañera here!
The RLT staff and volunteers are professional, organized and helpful. I do wish it was a more welcoming environment to socialize in after the show, like the other theatres offer. They have such a beautiful venue, and it’s a shame to feel like I need to immediately disperse from the theatre. All in all, RLT is a solid bet, and you will very likely enjoy your time here!

I absolutely love RLT! This place is so adorable and has been around so very long! I also learned that RLT is the longest running community theater and I can definitely see why! I have seen several plays here and really have loved each of them! The actors and actresses are wonderful entertainers! I appreciate the wide variety of genres they cover! There really is something for everyone! There are so many dedicated volunteers that make this place incredible!
I have only ever been to this new location and was introduced through a friend of mine. They really have made it comfortable and aesthetically pleasing! They have a confession stand where you can get beer, wine, tea, water and snacks. Some of the items for purchase are from local business! Way to support our community that is so amazing when you see businesses coming together!

This theatre is old, but is now operating in a brand new building on Pueblo Street. The building is nice, but the location can be difficult to find. When you get there, the layout is straightforward — you enter through the box office and pass the concessions and go back to the small theatre which has great acoustics, lighting, and stage setting. The stage is right in the middle and you really feel the delivery and emotion regardless of where you sit. Check out their improv if you get a chance.

Forget any expectation of getting a bad seat! The actors Will look you in the eye and you aren’t looking up skirts on a huge raised stage by being in the front row.
They offer cost friendly drinks and snacks, which you can take in with you, and the vendor (who shared will be in a play come Jan and director of some of the latest) gave me a free glass of tap water in lieu of no drinking fountain on premesis (tasted fine and yes I did cheap out on the measly $ 1 bottled version, but I’m local so know what I’m in for– the tap water is just fine).
I didn’t scan the reviews (lesson here) before coming to know what I might expect in venue, and was reminded of the side theater room of UNRs Performing Arts (not Nightingale, the step-​child just down the hall with bit plays and occasional murder mysterys, though RLT has better sound and lighting). Aka– small stage and limited audience. This is a good thing, though not a small challenge to put on a large-​feature (like the musical «Chess» I saw).
While disappointed that they didn’t sing my favorite bit (Embassy Lament), it was impressive what was done with a small raised stage and painted boxes to create the right ‘location’ for each scene (darn it not taking pics!).
The singing was well done yet not Spectacular (had some Great moments and overall well-​done but having a music background I can be picky), and I’m not ashamed to say they led me to tears (having sold the plot of a familiar storyline with good acting and good singing). It did make me chuckle a few times that the accompaniment was a lone keyboard (this play is still a full-​blown Broadway feature to my memory) who did well following the singers; I half expected them to sing to a canned back track.
1^st time here and really glad I trusted my phone map app to get me there as it is unpretentious in the dusk and was lucky to have seen the temporary small sign for parking down the side and back of the building (whereas my friends who came separate did not).
I will come again as whim will have it, keeping an eye on what else is next to entertain us.

Very entertaining. We saw The Complete Works of William Shakespeare… in 90 minutes. It was a tongue in cheek redux by three actors. The audience was kept engaged and familiar scenes knit things together. The small intimate venue made it a very personal experience. I highly recommend it.

We recently attended a very well done and entertaining show here. The theater has a nice intimate feel with a hip modern vibe to the exterior and lobby area.
The talent is solid and the production was seamless. A very enjoyable evening overall.
There is ample parking in the area — a big plus for any midtown venue.
The staff are friendly and we felt very welcome.
We are looking forward to coming back to see more of their offerings.

Wonderful venue, wonderful actors and truly a Reno treasure. My daughter performed last summer and we’ve been to two performances this year. I can’t say enough good about this acting group. I enjoy finding local art and talent, I’m sure if you enjoy theater you will love Reno Little Theater

Great little theatre! Small seating area with good views from any seat. What’s really great is the professionalism of the actors. I’ve seen many plays in NYC and London and this theatre doesn’t suffer by comparison. I can’t recommend attending often enough.

Posted after my first visit to the new space on Pueblo.
The space:
Exterior of the building is modern and «artsy» looking, which I love, but the signage isn’t very visible from the street. I knew which side of the street I needed to be on and still missed the venue as I drove past. It wasn’t until I turned around at the end of the block that I could see the sign on the building.
The lobby is great! Open and bright, huge windows, more modern angles and colors and furniture, and a nice concession area. I love the combination of tall tables and regular height tables, combined with LOTS of standing room. There’s also an upstairs area where I could hear people commenting on how beautiful the space was, although I didn’t venture up there myself. All in all, this building has the feel of a legit professional theatre. A huge move up from the days of the Hug High School stage!
The bathroom was beautiful. Three private stalls and two sinks. However, there’s more area in the little entryway/​waiting-​in-​line area than is probably needed, and not much space between the stalls and sinks, which struck me as a little odd and potentially problematic during a rush at intermission on a sold out show. Tonight, though, there was no discomfort.
The stage! It’s a black box theatre with a thrust stage (stadium seating on three sides of the stage). The tech booth is above the entrance to the theatre area, so the lights in there are completely out of the line of sight of audience members. I love that the tech is so non-​intrusive. The lighting is hung from the ceiling, as you’d expect in a top-​quality theatre space. From a technical standpoint, I couldn’t see any shortcomings. They seem to have spared no expense or thought in providing a current, professional space.
Performances:
I’ve seen a couple of shows here, although only one in the new space. My overall impression of this theatre company is that they have wonderful people working for them, they thoroughly enjoy what they do, and they embrace a wide range of experience levels in casting. This makes it a great place for would-​be performers or tech staff to audition, even if they haven’t done a show before, or not in a very long time.
Great place to see a show. Inexpensive tickets, beautiful venue, loving people, and somewhere you should go audition if you’ve got a love for the stage!

We attended our first show last night, «Noises Off». First, the Reno Little Theater is in a new, modern building. Secondly, the performance space is at floor level with tiered seating on three sides — first time I have seen a performance space like this. There are no bad seats at this theater. Their is a small concession area at the front of the space. The performance of «Noises Off» was very entertaining, the time put in by the actors to perfect their lines and timing — especially with the use of props made the show a success. My husband and I are both glad we decided to check out the local theater scene. We will definitely be back for future performances.

This place is great! I love the stage set up. The show is put on in the middle of a square with seating on three sides. This was at least the setup for the show I saw, Birdmen. This place feels a little more upscale than Bruka, but that doesn’t make it any better or worse. They were serving wine and beer, among other drinks and snacks, but it seemed a little bit like an afterthought compared to Bruka’s downstairs bar. RLT is within a short walking distance of Midtown, so I’ll definitely be back.

Having seen every production in the new theater this season I would like to say how impressive each show been! Reno Little Theater is a gem and I look forward to each upcoming show.

I’ve been coming to shows at RLT for several years now. I’ve participated in several as well. I really admire this organization for its tenacity and, while the shows are not always amazing or memorable, more and more I am finding that the quality is quite good, the acting is often very, very good, and the overall quality of the productions keeps getting better. I am really looking forward to when they have their own space.