Stage events and history
Visible Voice Stage Events
Visible Voice Books is home to a historic stage that dates back 120 years. Now the stage is echoing back to what it was originally built for: bringing people together.
We host three types of performance series on our restored stage. See all of our events click here
Music Concert Series
Image above: Bethany Joy with Josee McGee and Dan Socha
Join us for our highly anticipated Friday and Saturday evening concert series, which showcases an exceptional lineup of musical talent, featuring some of the most talented and renowned musicians from the local community, surrounding regional areas, and even nationally acclaimed artists. These concerts offer a unique opportunity to experience live performances by outstanding performers across a diverse range of musical genres, ensuring memorable and high-quality entertainment each night.
Echoes Music Series
Image above: From Kitchen Table Songs with Host Brent Kirby (right) and RA Washington (left).
A free community series celebrating live music, songwriting, vinyl records, poetry, and music education. Programs include:
Saturday Sessions - Live performances every Saturday from 2–4 p.m.
Kitchen Table Songs - Songwriter interviews, including discussions on the craft of songwriting on the second Wednesday of each month.
Drop the Needle - Vinyl lovers from around the city play their favorite albums and share how the music has made an impact in their lives and our culture.
ROOTS: Masters of American Music - Concerts and storytelling celebrating influential American musicians on the fourth Wednesday.
Poets Jam with Ray McNeice - An open poetry and spoken word night with live accompaniment on the fourth Thursday.
Author/speaker Series
Image above: Cortney Ellis reading a passage from her book Weathering Change: Speaking Peace Amid Life’s Tough Transitions.
Engage in thought-provoking and enlightening conversations through a series of live sessions with a diverse array of distinguished authors, acclaimed poets, talented visual artists, esteemed scholars, and other distinguished guest speakers. These dialogues are designed to foster intellectual curiosity, inspire creative expression, and provide valuable insights into their respective fields, offering attendees a unique opportunity to connect directly with influential figures and gain a deeper understanding of their work, ideas, and perspectives.
History of the Stage
What do vaudeville performers, early silent movies, adult films, a federal obscenity investigation, WIC fraud, and an independent bookstore have in common?
One stage in Ohio City.
When Visible Voice Books purchased its new home at 4601 Lorain Avenue, owner Dave Ferrante thought he was renovating an old storefront. Instead, construction crews uncovered a long-hidden theater stage and orchestra pit buried beneath decades of renovations.
The discovery revived a piece of Cleveland entertainment history that stretches back more than 120 years.
The building first hosted live performances during the vaudeville era, including illustrated song shows, traveling entertainers, and even a hypnotist whose assistant reportedly spent 24 hours under hypnosis before being awakened in an ice bath. As entertainment changed, the venue became the Lorain Theater before later operating as the infamous Denmark Theater, part of Robert Sturnman’s national adult film and bookstore empire that was ultimately shut down in a federal obscenity case (at the time, the federal government called it one of the largest purveyors of smut in the country). In the 1990s, the building became a grocery store before another federal investigation into a $2 million fraud ring closed that chapter as well.
“It's remarkable that this stage survived at all," owner Dave Ferrante said. "We had no idea it was there until we started renovations. Now it's back doing what it was built to do over a century ago."
The stage echoes its original purpose: bringing people together.
The image to the right is a before-and-after of the reconstruction of the stage portion of the Lorain Theatre building. The image in the middle is what the stage looked like right before construction started.
Maura Rogers and the Bellows
"It's remarkable that this stage survived at all," Ferrante said. "We had no idea it was there until we started renovations. Now it's back doing what it was built to do over a century ago."