Miami New Drama at the Colony Theatre

The Colony Theatre has anchored the 1000 block of Lincoln Road since 1935, when it was built as a movie house during the Art Deco building boom that shaped so much of Miami Beach’s early architecture. The building survived decades of changing fortunes on Lincoln Road, from its years as a first run cinema through the corridor’s long decline and eventual revival, and it has been restored more than once to keep its marquee and period details intact. Today the theater operates as a live performance venue rather than a movie house, and it serves as the home stage for Miami New Drama.

Miami New Drama is a nonprofit professional theater company founded in 2016 by playwright and director Michel Hausmann along with director Moises Kaufman. The company built its identity around producing work that speaks directly to Miami’s bilingual, multicultural population, staging original plays alongside adaptations that reflect the city’s Cuban, Haitian, Jewish, and broader Latin American communities. Several of its productions have premiered at the Colony before moving on to other stages, and the company has become known for taking on subject matter that larger regional theaters sometimes avoid.

A typical season runs several productions between fall and late spring, mixing world premieres with revivals and the occasional anniversary staging of a past hit. Season subscriptions are available through the box office, which keeps regular hours Monday through Friday from noon to 5 pm for ticket purchases and general inquiries, though individual showtimes vary by production and usually run in the evening with weekend matinees added for longer runs.

What makes the Colony worth including here is that it remains a small, locally rooted operation rather than a touring house booked by an outside promoter. Miami New Drama controls its own programming, commissions new work from playwrights connected to the region, and runs education and community outreach programs tied to its productions. The theater seats a modest audience by regional touring standards, which keeps the experience more intimate than a big traveling show and gives most seats a reasonably close view of the stage.

For visitors exploring Lincoln Road, the Colony sits right in the middle of the pedestrian mall, steps from restaurants and shops, which makes it easy to build an evening around a show. Anyone curious about what is currently running, or interested in season tickets, can reach the box office directly by phone or email, or check the Miami New Drama website for the current lineup and showtimes. The combination of a historic Miami Beach building and a working nonprofit theater company still producing new work is part of what keeps Lincoln Road feeling like more than just a shopping strip.