Local News in Brief : Norris Theatre Changes Name

The Norris Community Theatre in Rolling Hills Estates, which opened in September, 1983, has changed its name to the Norris Theatre for the Performing Arts. The change was voted by the theater’s management board because of the problem the word community posed in promoting professional events and attracting grants.

“There is a stigma when you hear ‘community theater,’ ” said Norris spokeswoman Renata Daroszewska. “It sounds like a school hall or folding chairs in a basement.” She said that with community in its name, the Norris was limited in press coverage and grants it could obtain for its professional activities. Grant-givers “do not support community endeavors,” she said.

Uses of the Norris are 40% professional and 60% community, which includes performances by schools and community performing arts groups and annual meetings of Peninsula organizations. There is no change in theater policy as a result of the name change, Daroszewska said.