Richmond CenterStage, Richmond

The Richmond CenterStage, formerly known as Carpenter Theater for the Performing Arts, is located at 600 E. Grace Street in downtown Richmond. Originally known as Loew's Theatre, the movie palace was developed by the Loew's Theatres company and was designed by John Eberson. Construction of the building began in 1927 and its doors were opened in 1928.

As a prominent New York architect, John Eberson conceived a design for the Loew's Theater Corporation influenced by both Moorish and Spanish baroque structures. According to architectural historian Calder Loth, "Loew's was considered the most up-to-date theater in the South when it opened on April 9, 1928." Eberson was famous for having invented the "atmospheric theatre" design in which the theater walls resembled an elegant villa or streetscape under a night sky. The Carpenter Theater design evokes a Spanish setting with a faux sky ceiling containing stars and moving clouds.