Enjoying Live Theater at the Maverick Theater

A storefront theater located in the city of Fullerton, Maverick Theater has hosted a number of productions over the years since it was founded in 2002 as a venue to run an Elvis Presley musical. Today, you can see a variety of great shows at the theater, with new shows added on a regular basis.

The History of the Maverick Theater

The Maverick Theater was founded by Artistic Director Brian Newell in 2002 out of his need for a venue to run his Elvis Presley musical called The King. As part of this effort, Newell rented a space at The Block at Orange that was formerly occupied by Mars Music for his show. After finding a large M cemented into the floor of the space, he decided to name the theater Maverick.

The King ran successfully from September 6, 2002 through December 22, 2002. The theater also sated productions of The Rocky Horror Show and Amadeus. The Block at Orange presented certain problems for the theater, however, and so it was moved to a different location in June 2004.

As part of the move, Newell employed theatre designer Joseph Musil to give the new theater space an art deco look. The new venue featured two stages: a cabaret stage to be used for musicals and a block boxstage to be used for larger-scale plays. This new space opened in June 2005 with a revival of The Rocky Horror Show. Since then, the Maverick has also become known for its Staged Cinema Productions wherein they stage adaptations of lesser-known films such as the annual Halloween production of Night of the Living Dead and the annual Christmas production of Santa Claus Conquers the Martians.

Past Maverick Productions

The Maverick has hosted number of productions over the years. Among these have been the Shakespeare plays of Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet. The following comedies have also been performed at the Maverick:

• Below the Belt
• Father of the Bride
• Noises Off
• Picasso at the Lapin Agile

Dramas performed at the Maverick have included:

• A Few Good Men
• American Way
• Angels in America
• The Hobbit
• The Manchurian Candidate
• One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
• Rising Water
• Stalag 17

The following musicals have also been performed at the Maverick Theater:

• Cabaret
• Chicago
• Debbie Does Dallas: The Musical
• The Full Monty
• Giant Green Lizard! The Musical
• “It’s a Bird, It’s a Plane, It’s SUPERMAN!”
• Little Shop of Horrors
• The Producers
• Reefer Madness
• Rent
• Urinetown
• The Wedding Singer

Upcoming and Current Productions and Screenings
Productions and screenings that are scheduled for the 2017 season at the Maverick Theater include:

• Plan 9 From Outer Space: Screenings November 4th through the 18th starting on Saturdays at 6:00 pm and on Sundays at 4:00 pm
• Santa Claus Conquers the Martians: September 25th and 26th, December 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 8th, 9th, 10th, 15th, 16th, 17th, 21st, 22nd and 23rd, with Thursday and Friday shows starting at 8:00 pm, Saturday shows starting at both 4:00 and 8:00 pm and Sunday shows starting at 4:00 pm.
• The Mistletones: Performances on December 13th, 14th, 19th and 20th, all starting at 8:00 pm.