Rehoboth Beach
Rehoboth theater drops plans for new buildings in town
Officials end lawsuit aimed at reversing city’s refusal to approve project
The Clear Space Theatre Company in Rehoboth Beach, Del., announced on Wednesday that it has dropped its plans to build a larger theater and an adjacent rehearsal theater in a new in-town location because it no longer has the financial resources to continue its lawsuit challenging local officials’ refusal to approve the building project.
The announcement by Clear Space to end the project comes nine months after it filed a lawsuit charging Rehoboth Mayor Stan Mills and the Rehoboth Board of Commissioners with violating local and state law by voting to overturn a decision by the Rehoboth Planning Commission to approve plans for the two new theater buildings.
Supporters of the theater, including many of Rehoboth’s LGBTQ residents and summer visitors, believe the mayor and commissioners based their action on opposition to the project by a small but vocal minority of homeowners and renters who don’t want the theater buildings near their homes, even though they would have been built on Rehoboth Avenue, which serves as the city’s main business and commercial boulevard.
Opponents have said the back walls of the two proposed theater buildings would face a residential street lined with houses and would create excessive noise and parking problems among other adverse effects. Wesley Paulson, the Clear Space Theatre executive director, has said steps had been taken to minimize noise and parking related issues. He pointed out that plans for the two theaters were in full compliance with local zoning and building codes.
“Following months of serious debate, the board and staff of Clear Space Theatre have decided to end the project on Rehoboth Avenue,” the theater announced in a July 27 statement. “This was an extremely difficult decision, as Clear Space has spent years working on the development with the goal of expanding the vibrant arts community in Southern Delaware,” the statement says.
“The excessive financial commitment to fight the City of Rehoboth in court over approved site plans makes the project untenable,” the statement continues. “As we were met with roadblock after roadblock, legal action was justified and necessary to move forward,” it says. “However, the financial hardship it would require has led the Clear Space Theatre Board of Directors to vote to end the lawsuit. The three lots on Rehoboth Ave., which we’d hoped would serve as an arts destination, will be sold,” according to the statement.
The statement adds, “We will seek other options to allow for growth and the ability to better serve residents and visitors to southern Delaware.”
Paulson told the Washington Blade on Wednesday that Clear Space will continue its operations at it current theater building on Baltimore Avenue near the Rehoboth boardwalk, where it has produced and held Broadway plays and musical performances and instructional classes on theater for young people since 2011.
“We have a full season of shows and classes scheduled for the remainder of 2022 and are excited to produce seasons for many years to come,” the nonprofit theater company says in its July 27 statement.
Some of the theater’s supporters have said the effort by opponents to prevent Clear Space Theatre from moving to the Rehoboth Avenue site, if successful, would likely result in a commercial developer buying the property and building a larger building with restaurants or bars possibly planned for the lower floors that could create far more noise and parking problems than the theater.
Gay D.C. attorney Harvey Shulman, who was one of the leaders of the opponents of the Clear Space building plans for Rehoboth Avenue, has said he was confident that residents of the neighborhood located behind the property where the theater buildings were planned would succeed in stopping another project that would create neighborhood disturbances.
Rehoboth Beach
Rehoboth Beach’s Clear Space Theatre summer 2025 season preview
Main stage musicals include ‘Hairspray’ and ‘Rent’
The Clear Space Theatre Company summer season in Rehoboth Beach kicks off in a few short weeks. This year’s mainstage musicals include “Hairspray,” “Beautiful: the Carole King Musical,” and “Rent.”
“Hairspray” will run from June 24-Aug. 30, with “Beautiful” from June 27-Aug. 28 and “Rent” from July 2-Aug. 26. Clear Space is a repertory theater, meaning that a cast of rotating artists will appear in all of these musicals. Tickets can be purchased at clearspacetheatre.org.
Clear Space was founded in 2004 and is considered Delaware’s second-largest professional non-profit theater and the state’s most prolific producer of professional theater. The “clear space” name refers to a “focus on the process, knowledge, and humanity of arts performance: the idea that we find ourselves in what appears on the stage,” according to its website.
Joe Gfaller, managing director of Clear Space, said the theater has a responsibility to produce work for everyone in the region, which gives them the creative space to do more than just one thing.
“That’s what makes everything at Clear Space so joyful and inventive,” Gfaller told the Washington Blade. “We know that this community that we’re a part of includes all kinds of people, all backgrounds, all experiences, and it’s critical for us to present a variety of work that’s going to move each of those people.”
In addition to the three main stage musicals, Clear Space offers Saturday morning children’s theater productions and Sunday cabarets, which will feature Tony and Emmy nominated artists, a “RuPaul’s Drag Race” star, and other popular entertainers this year.
“What we’re always looking to do as we create our full season, including the summer, is to produce work that’s going to delight and excite and engage the audiences that are here in Rehoboth Beach and coastal Delaware,” Gfaller said. “There’s always a mix of old and new, of plays and of musicals. There’s really something for everyone across our season for each year.”
Summer flex passes are available for purchase as well, which allows patrons to see three or more productions in the summer repertory season and save 15% off the price of single tickets. Passes can be used for the three main stage musicals and for cabaret shows.
Gfaller said the musical “Rent” “speaks to what musical theater is capable of doing” and is a piece that is “deeply grounded” in the experiences of the LGBTQ community.
“There’s always going to be a piece of that in the work that we do because we know that the community that we serve here in Rehoboth Beach and beyond has a lot of folks who are connected meaningfully to the queer community,” he said.
Another facet of the company, the Clear Space Arts Institute offers voice, dancing, and acting classes during the summer. This year, many are at capacity and a waitlist is being offered.
The Rebecca Luker Theatrical Partnership was developed within the last few years to honor the life and career of Luker, a Broadway star, after she passed away in 2020. The partnership aims to create professional leadership opportunities in the theater for individuals from underserved communities.
“Through the Rebecca Luker Theatrical Partnership, CSTC is paving a path forward to create a more inclusive space for future arts leaders of color while honoring the company’s mission and Ms. Luker’s commitment to racial justice,” a press release from Clear Space said.
Clear Space has been growing, according to Gfaller. Over the last 21 productions, 17 have sold out all performances. Though the theater seats just 170, it saw more than 24,000 attendees over the course of one year. Gfaller is excited that there’s been so much growing enthusiasm and wants patrons to feel joyful and connected to each other after watching the shows.
“We want people to fall in love with seeing great live theater … in an intimate space. You can see amazing things on Broadway, and you might need to bring your opera glasses to see what’s going on,” Gfaller said. “What’s wonderful at Clear Space is you are no more than three to six rows from the stage anywhere you sit in the theater, and there is something so much more magnetic and dynamic and inspirational about seeing theater in that context, because you feel that you’re there in the room with the artists, while the artists are making it happen. And there’s really nothing that compares to that.”
The city of Rehoboth Beach in Delaware will host a public ceremony to commemorate the beginning of Pride month.
The event includes a proclamation and flag-raising ceremony outside of city hall at 12 p.m. on Sunday, June 1. The LGBTQ Pride flag will be flown during the month of June.
Rehoboth Beach is known for being an LGBTQ-friendly resort town. The year-round population of about 1,500 residents swells in the summer months, reaching more than 25,000, according to Travel US News.
“Rehoboth Beach is home to a vibrant LGBTQ+ community, which greatly contributes to the social and economic vitality as well as the character of our city,” Mayor Stan Mills said in a press release. “The City of Rehoboth Beach strives to foster diversity among its residents and visitors and to be a welcoming community to all.”
Rehoboth Beach Pride is scheduled for July 16-20.
Rehoboth Beach
Ashley Biden to speak at Blade’s Summer Kickoff Party in Rehoboth Beach
May 16 event to honor Beau Biden, feature speech from Gov. Matt Meyer
The Washington Blade’s 18th annual Summer Kickoff Party is scheduled for today in Rehoboth Beach, Del.
Ashley Biden, daughter of President Joe Biden, has joined the list of speakers, the Blade announced on Friday. She will accept an award on behalf of her brother Beau Biden for his LGBTQ advocacy work as Delaware attorney general.
Delaware Gov. Matt Meyer has also joined the list of speakers.
The event, held at the Blue Moon (35 Rehoboth Ave.) from 5-7 p.m., is a fundraiser for the Blade Foundation’s Steve Elkins Memorial Fellowship in Journalism, which funds a summer position reporting on LGBTQ news in Delaware. This year’s recipient will be introduced at the event.
The event will also feature remarks from state Sen. Russ Huxtable, who recently introduced a state constitutional amendment to codify the right of same-sex couples to marry. CAMP Rehoboth Executive Director Kim Leisey and Blade editor Kevin Naff will also speak. The event is generously sponsored by Realtor Justin Noble, The Avenue Inn & Spa, and Blue Moon.
A suggested donation of $20 is partially tax deductible and includes drink tickets and light appetizers. Tickets are available in advance at bladefoundation.org/rehoboth or at the door.
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