The Briggs Opera House

The Briggs Opera House (BOH) welcomes community arts groups of every kind to present performances in the historic theater in downtown White River Junction, VT. As the resident theater company of BOH, Shaker Bridge Theatre (SBT) offer community groups the opportunity to rent BOH during the ~25 weeks available annually between Shaker Bridge Theatre’s regular productions.

The Briggs Opera House offers a highly versatile and storied performance space centrally-located in historic downtown White River Junction, Vermont for community arts groups of every stripe.  Recent productions in the Briggs include shows and events by Junction Arts and Media (JAM), The Junction Dance Festival, Upper Valley 24-Hour Play Festival, We The People Theater, White River Indie Film Festival (WRIFF), Rio Blanco Social Club, Revolution Fashion Show, and more.  The Briggs has also hosted local graduations, workshops, candidate forums, music jams, and burlesque.

A 240-seat, wheel-chair accessible theater, the Briggs is larger than most venues in the area but small enough to feel intimate. Founded in the 1890s as the Gates Opera House, when White River Junction was a booming railroad hub, it fell into disuse after World War II and became retail space in the 1950s. After the closing of the JJ Newberry department store, the opera house was reopened in 1985.

Link to request reservation: https://www.shakerbridgetheatre.org/copy-of-auditions

More info:

2025 & 2025 User Rates:

• Day Rate:  $600/day

• Standard <5-hour block:  $300/block

• Premium <5-hour blocks:  $400/block (Friday/Saturday/Sunday 12PM-12AM)

• Discount <5-hour blocks:  $200/block (Sunday-Thursday 12AM-9AM)

• Weekly Rate:  $2000/week

• Weekly Rate 30% Discount for >4 weeks: $1400/week

• Arts Practice Membership:   $600/20 hours ($30/hr) – Twenty 1-hour blocks to be used within a 6-month period (Think gym membership for the arts!); can be reserved within 48 hours of use