Summer & outdoor theater / Aquinas College Performing Arts Center (East Grand Rapids area)
Circle Theatre
Grand Rapids' summer community theatre since 1953. It started in a hotel room, then played a park pavilion that housed the zoo's monkeys in winter. Today it's at Aquinas College's Performing Arts Center.
Quick facts
- Resident companies
- Circle Theatre · Magic Circle (children's series)
01 / Playbill
Now on stage
Nothing on our calendar from this venue right now. Its full, current lineup is on its own site.
Full lineup on the venue’s site ↗02 / The story of this place
Make time for these
Circle Theatre was founded in 1952, with its first season in 1953. It began in a rented room of the Rowe Hotel, where the room's shape put the audience all around the actors, which is how it ended up with arena staging. Later it played the Pantlind Hotel's Continental Room and then a disused pavilion in John Ball Park that also sheltered the zoo's monkeys in winter. Today it performs at the Aquinas College Performing Arts Center on Robinson Road, with a summer main stage season, a summer concert series and the Magic Circle children's shows; summer 2026 brought Sister Act, Newsies, Lend Me A Tenor and Forever Plaid. More than 300 volunteers work alongside about 127 paid contractors each year.
- Summer community theatre since 1953
- Magic Circle shows for kids
- More than 300 volunteers a year
Plan your visit
The theatre is at the Aquinas College Performing Arts Center, 1703 Robinson Rd SE. The 2026 summer season has wrapped, so watch circletheatre.org for the next one. Phone: (616) 456-6656.
Box office
Box office Monday-Friday, noon to 5 p.m.
A closer look
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