Hotel companies give Seacoast Rep. furniture makeover

A truckload of assorted furnishings arrived at the Seacoast Repertory Theatre last month.

The furniture was donated by local firms XSS Hotels and Colwen Hotel Management of Manchester and Portsmouth, respectively. The donation included approximately 12 chairs and sofas, and were offered to the theatre by the development partners Leo Xarras, and Mark Stebbins, who is also an XSS Hotels managing partner.

The donation came as Xarras and Stebbins began renovations on a nearby hotel and decided to pay it forward by donating the gently-used pieces to the theatre. The previous lobby furniture was more than 10 years old, but with nearly 300 productions per year and about 30,000 overall patrons, it had deteriorated considerably.

“To say that our previous lobby furnishings were ‘shabby’ is to understate things dramatically, and this donation has enabled us to create the comfortable, more elevated public space that our patrons deserve,” said Alan Gold, president of the theatre’s board of trustees.

The nonprofit, professional theatre at 125 Bow St., seats 230 people, and its hundreds of annual productions are designed to appeal to diverse audiences. The lobby is an atrium area that seats patrons before, during, and after the show.

“Our lobby has always been a sore spot for us,” said the theatre’s Executive Director Kathleen Cavalaro. “It is people’s first impression of the theatre and it’s not always been a good first impression.”

Gold said public response has been so positive it has encouraged additional donations to the theatre’s capital improvements. However, for the theater leadership and staff, the general feeling was best summarized by Cavalaro, who said, “I never work in my office anymore. Nobody does. It’s too comfortable down here.”

XSS Hotels will open the first AC Hotel by Marriott in New Hampshire when Portsmouth’s newest hotel opens on Vaughan Street this summer.