About Auburn Public Theater

Our Values

  • Audience Service
    Our highest priority is serving the needs of our audiences to their satisfaction by offering a place where they can joyfully experience local, regional, national and international artists and performances.
  • Quality
    We consistently strive to meet the highest standards we can reasonably achieve.
  • Programs and Performances
    We present and produce performing and related arts that challenge, educate and entertain a broad community audience.
  • Sustaining an Intimate Performance Space
    We maintain an intimate performance space for actors, musicians, comedians, poets, dancers and other artists.
  • Partnerships and Collaboration
    We work toward our goals by combining the strengths of the APT board, staff and volunteers with those of others within and outside our community.
  • Accountability
    We use the resources entrusted to us in the most effective way possible to ensure the fulfillment of the APT mission.
  • Courage
    Expressing ourselves with honesty and civility, we act courageously as we pursue the APT mission and vision.
  • Audience Development
    We are committed to developing regional audiences by offering distinctive programming of interest to a growing audience base.
  • Diversity
    We demonstrate our commitment to celebrating diversity in all aspects of audience development, programs, performances, services, staffing and volunteer support.
Sign outside of Auburn Public Theater

Our Mission

Auburn Public Theater enriches the social, cultural and economic growth of our region by bringing people together through affordable access to live performance, cinema, arts education and community events.

Our Vision

By providing an excellent performance space for local and visiting artists, Auburn Public Theater makes art a common experience in downtown Auburn and is recognized as a cultural, economic and social asset for the greater Auburn community. 

Our Programs

Since its founding in 2005, Auburn Public Theater has welcomed more than 150,000 patrons to experience year-round programming in our multi-venue performing arts and community center. As a hub for theater, art, music, education and creative expression, Auburn Public Theater has brought new life to downtown Auburn through the following key programs:

Education

Auburn Public Theater offers year-round learning opportunities through its educational arm, offering ongoing, dynamic programs in filmmaking, theater, music and other creative arts for children and adults. Auburn Public Theater challenges and educates our community, fostering creative growth for all through shared performance experiences. In fulfillment of its mission to provide affordable educational opportunities to all, and thanks to our sponsors, we offer full and partial scholarships to support performance arts education for children from economically and culturally underserved families throughout Central New York.

CLICK TO LEARN MORE

Community

Auburn Public Theater provides a multi-venue community center that serves as a gathering space for a variety of events in any one of our four spaces. Once a month on a Thursday, the organization hosts Open Mic Night, an event which regularly draws a diverse group of over 60 people, from children to the elderly, for an evening of music, spoken word, stand-up comedy and poetry from local and regional talent in a relaxed cafe setting. Many local organizations, schools and community groups utilize Auburn Public Theater spaces to conduct meetings or presentations, stage a show, teach a class, screen a film, or throw a party. Auburn Public Theater is also available on select dates for wedding, bridal shower, and other special events packages, which include exclusive use of our building the day of your event. Auburn Public Theater offers a versatile, affordable venue in the heart of downtown Auburn, New York for events ranging from a few hours to several days or weeks.

CLICK TO LEARN MORE

Arts Grants

New York State provided Auburn Public Theater with $150,000 this year to support our arts grants program. With our five county service area (Cayuga, Ontario, Seneca, Wayne, and Yates), we offer Individual Artist, General Operating, and Public Arts grants to expand our mission and vision for accessible arts throughout the greater Finger Lakes Region. 

CLICK TO LEARN MORE

Cinema

Auburn Public Cinema is an independent, 65-seat art-house cinema that engages the community by providing affordable and accessible cinema programming to a diverse range of community members. Our Cinema Space seeks to increase film literacy and cinema appreciation through the screening of independent, documentary, foreign, classic and family films in a comfortable, convenient downtown theater with the highest quality digital projection and HD sound.

CLICK TO LEARN MORE

Performing Arts

Auburn Public Theater brings nationally touring acts, live music, musical theater, plays, spoken word acts and comedians to our 199-seat Mainstage for compelling and diverse programming throughout the year.

CLICK TO LEARN MORE

Employment

Auburn Public Theater is always looking for talented Arts Instructors and Support Staff. If interested, please contact our Artistic Producing Director, Angela Daddabbo at angela@auburnpublictheater.org.

Form 990

During 2022, we changed over from our usual fiscal year (September-July) to our new fiscal year, which reflects the calendar year. 

APT is a Proud Member Of: