It dates back to the early 1920's and vaudeville, but soon the Robins Theatre in Warren will begin a new life as a center for entertainment.

The historic theatre has been under renovation since December 2017.

As workers continue the extentive renovation work, the partners held a new conference Monday to announce the grand opening, and the theatre's first year line-up of entertainment.

Sunrise Entertainment LLC of Warren, who currently presents River Rock at the Amp at the Warren Community Amphitheatre will manage Robins Theatre.

"We just want to do everything and make it not just one genre, one kind of entertainment, but everything," said Ken Haidaris, President of Sunrise Entertainment, which is a partner in the theatre with the Downtown Development Group.

Some acts coming in 2020 include Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Blue Oyster Cult, ABBA Mania and Shrek the Musical.

Mayor Doug Franklin says the new venue will be another positive asset to Warren. "You add in the movies and the holiday events they're going to bring here, it's very exciting,  it's going to build on the momentum that's already going on downtown," Franklin said.

While the theater may still look a little rough on the inside, they say they're on track for opening night on January 9th.

"The seats are done and go in November first.  The carpet has been sitting in the warehouse for a while and is ready to go in, so we're way further along than it looks," Haidaris said.

Craftsmen are putting the final touches on the restored architecture, and the Mayor is impressed by what he sees.

"The attention to detail that you're doing to this construction project is exactly what this grand old theater needed," said Franklin.

On line ticket sales begin on Thursday and the box office opens on Friday. The complete line-up is available on the theatre's website.  

The 2020 schedule can be viewed below: