Genesis Theatre

What the theatre is

The district's rental page lists 388 seats in a steeply raked house. Its seating map shows 15 rows, lettered A to O, split into left, centre and right sections. The theatre's own overview calls it a classic proscenium theatre with full sound, lighting and fly systems, and says the raked seating gives every seat a view of the stage. Out front, the district says, are a box office and a lobby with room for small exhibitions and displays.

The district offers Genesis for concerts, dance, drama, lectures and large presentations. Delta Secondary School's theatre company has staged shows here, and Studio West Dance, a Ladner studio teaching dance and theatre arts with its main studios on Delta Street, has put on musicals. The Delta Music Makers, a concert band of amateur players of all ages that runs as a district Continuing Education course, have played here too.

The theatre's events site has also listed touring tribute concerts, comedy nights and community concerts. The theatre says it holds an appreciation concert once a year to thank its volunteers and the community, with local performers in the first set.

Getting there

The district gives the address as 5005 45th Avenue, Ladner. The theatre stands on the south side of the Delta Secondary grounds, facing 45 Avenue roughly midway between Garry Street and 51 Street, and its front doors are set back about 30 m from the street, behind a curved driveway. Give a map app the theatre's address rather than the school's: Delta Secondary's own, 4615 51st Street, is on the east side of the grounds.

From Ladner Village it's about 500 m south in a straight line, or about 1 km by road. Drive south on Delta Street, turn left onto 47A Avenue, right onto 51 Street and right again onto 45 Avenue, and the theatre is on your right.

All the highway routes end the same way: west on Ladner Trunk Road, which becomes 47A Avenue, then left onto 51 Street and right onto 45 Avenue. Coming south through the Massey Tunnel, take Exit 28, the Highway 17A exit, keep right at the fork and follow Highway 17A south to Ladner Trunk Road; it's about 4.7 km from the exit, and our guide has the tunnel's traffic links. From South Surrey or the border, take the Ladner Trunk Road exit and head west across Highway 17A, about 10 km. If you're already on Highway 17A, turn west at Ladner Trunk Road, about 2.6 km from that junction.

OpenStreetMap places TransLink bus stops on 45 Avenue at 51 Street, one for each direction, about 130 m east of the theatre, and a westbound stop at Garry Street, about 150 m west. To see which buses stop there, use TransLink's Trip Planner.

For cyclists, OpenStreetMap shows shared-lane markings on 45 Avenue, covered bike parking beside the front entrance and uncovered school racks nearby.

Parking

The theatre points drivers to two places: the street along 45 Avenue, and the lots in front of Delta Secondary School, which theatre-goers can use outside school hours. The diagram on its parking page marks both: the curb in front of the theatre and the school, and two lots at the southeast corner of the school grounds. Park legally, respect the neighbours and keep driveways clear, the theatre asks.

Those two lots are lit, OpenStreetMap shows, and sit between the theatre and 51 Street, on a one-way lane that comes in from 51 Street and leaves onto 45 Avenue. The nearer one is mapped for 38 cars and is about 90 m east of the front doors. A third school lot, farther north along 51 Street, isn't marked on the theatre's diagram.

If someone in your group has trouble walking, drop them at the curved driveway in front of the theatre. The theatre allows a brief stop there for people with mobility issues, and notes that the driveway is out of the street traffic and shortens the walk to the front doors.

Shows and tickets

The theatre's events site, which runs under the name Genesis Theatre Community Theatre, posts upcoming shows, and most posts say where to buy tickets. Start there, because who sells the tickets depends on who's putting on the show:

• For a show by a group that rents the theatre, buy from that group. The rental terms make the presenter responsible for ticket sales and for running the box office.
• The theatre's own online box office sells tickets for its own events and for Delta Secondary productions.

The district says volunteers can usher, take tickets at the door or help at the concession, and that theatre staff train them. To join them, email the staff contact on the Continuing Education volunteer page.

Accessibility

The theatre describes itself as fully accessible to people with mobility issues and to wheelchair users. It says a concrete ramp rises to the front doors, the lobby inside is level with a gentle slope toward the auditorium's lower entrance, accessible washrooms are just past the lobby, and ushers can help you find your seat.

In Row A, the front row, seats 1 to 4 in both the left and the right section come out to make room for wheelchairs, and the seating map linked from the district's Genesis page marks them. At general-admission shows, the theatre asks audiences to leave the first two rows for people with mobility issues, to spare them the stairs. For a rental show, where the presenter sells the tickets, the theatre suggests asking about wheelchair seating when you buy.

The theatre's page for patrons with mobility issues has the details and a site plan of the drop-off driveway.

Renting the theatre

The district rents out school spaces, theatres among them, to the community, and lists Genesis alongside the theatres at North Delta, Seaquam and South Delta secondaries. The theatre and the rooms around it double as school teaching space, so the rental terms have renters leave them clear for school activities.

Community groups and presenters can rent Genesis outside school hours by sending the district a booking request form. The district's Genesis page links the form, says when the theatre can be booked and covers staffing, deposits and marketing. It also links the rates sheet and the rental terms, and it gives the theatre manager's email address for anything else.

For planning a show, the theatre's specification sheet gives a proscenium opening 12 m wide and 6 m high, nine trap doors, each 1.2 m square, and 15 m from the floor to the gridiron, with 22 counterweight line sets plus hemp sets in the fly system. The district lists a cushioned stage floor and two large dressing rooms, each with make-up stations, a shower and washrooms.

The district's Continuing Education site also lists a high-brightness laser projector with a short-throw lens, which puts images on the rear cyclorama. Ask for it when you book; the site's projector page has the charges.

What's nearby

Memorial Park, a City of Delta park, borders the north side of the school grounds, with a splash park about 250 m north of the theatre. Near the park's northern edge stands the Delta Cenotaph, a granite war memorial shaped like an obelisk, put up in 1921 and listed on the City's heritage register. Remembrance Day ceremonies take place there each year.

The Fraser Valley Regional Library's Ladner Pioneer Library is about 300 m away, at 4683 51 Street. Around 47 Avenue and 51 Street, about 400 m northeast, are the Ladner Community Centre, the Ladner Outdoor Pool and the McKee Seniors Recreation Centre, and the Delta Community Music School is about 450 m northeast.

Ladner Village's 48 Avenue, home of the village market, is about 500 m north. The Ladner Clock Tower, outside the former Delta Municipal Hall on Delta Street, is about 600 m north.

Across the street from the theatre, at 4994 45 Avenue, is the McKenzie Residence, a Craftsman bungalow from 1921 that the City lists on its heritage register. Once W.H. Ladner's land was split into building lots, this house was the first to go up on the street. View it from the sidewalk.

History

Delta Secondary's own history dates the theatre to 1990, the first step toward the school building there today. The school's redevelopment followed in stages, from the design's approval in 1992 to a formal dedication in 1998.

Genesis closed for about a year for renovation and seismic work and reopened late in 2016. The work came during Delta Secondary's seismic upgrade, paid for through the Province's Seismic Mitigation Program, and the Province's Building Envelope Program funded improvements to the theatre that the district carried out at the same time. The district's director of facilities and planning told the Delta Optimist the theatre was one of the upgrade's three main parts, with the shops and the school's central core, and that foundation work tied the three together. Crews took out the first few rows of seats to get underneath, he said.

The seats themselves were "50 years older than the building", he told the paper, because they came out of the old Paramount Theatre in New Westminster. The renovation replaced them and brought a new stage floor, fresh paint and carpet, upgraded house lighting, and polished concrete floors and counters in the lobby.

In its 2016 reopening notice, the district said the theatre had recently hosted performances by Jim Byrnes, Harry Manx and Valdy, along with a number of local dance groups. In 2018 the district opened a Genesis season of its own with Marion Bridge, a stage play whose cast included Nicola Cavendish, followed by concerts.

Questions and answers

Where is Genesis Theatre?

At 5005 45th Avenue in Ladner, in the City of Delta, joined to the south end of Delta Secondary School, with its front doors facing the street. It's about 500 m south of Ladner Village in a straight line, or about 1 km by road.

How do I get tickets for a show at Genesis Theatre?

Check the show's post on the theatre's events site; most posts say where to buy. The theatre's own events and Delta Secondary's productions sell through its online box office, and for a show by a group renting the theatre, that group sells the tickets.

Where can I see what's on at Genesis Theatre?

On the theatre's events site, which posts upcoming shows. The site goes by the name Genesis Theatre Community Theatre.

How many seats does Genesis Theatre have?

The Delta School District's rental page lists 388 seats in a steeply raked house, and its seating map shows 15 rows, lettered A to O. Eight front-row seats in the side sections can come out to make room for wheelchairs.

Where do you park at Genesis Theatre?

The theatre says to park on the street along 45 Avenue, or in the lots in front of Delta Secondary School outside school hours. Its parking page has a diagram of where to go.

Is Genesis Theatre wheelchair accessible?

The theatre describes itself as fully accessible to wheelchair users and people with mobility issues. It says a concrete ramp rises to the front doors, accessible washrooms are just past the lobby, and eight front-row seats can be removed to make room for wheelchairs.

Can you rent Genesis Theatre?

Yes. Community groups and presenters can rent it outside school hours by sending the Delta School District a booking request form. The district's Genesis page links the form, the rental terms and the rates.

Is Genesis Theatre part of Delta Secondary School?

It's joined to the school, but the Delta School District runs it and rents it to community groups as well. Delta Secondary's theatre company has staged shows there.