Denver Academy’s Louise McCabe Performing Arts Center: A 250 Seat Gem

Mark Smiley • November 12, 2025

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Denver Academy (DA), an independent private school for students with varied learning profiles in grades two through 12, opened the Louise McCabe Performing Arts Center in October. They also recently celebrated the completion of Denver Academy’s $25 million 50th Anniversary Building on Excellence capital campaign launched in 2016. Construction on the Performing Arts Center began in June 2022 and was completed in September 2023.

The Grand Opening kicked off with a dedication of the Catherine N. D’Amato Plaza in honor of her generous support of the Performing Arts Center.

“A lot of our students find their home in the arts, and we are glad to be able to give them a first-class home,” said Denver Academy Dean of Arts & Media Katie Bradford. “I can’t wait to see what they do on this brand-new stage!”

The Denver Academy Louise McCabe Performing Arts Center is 16,000 square feet and replaces the school’s previous 49-seat theater on campus. The new Center provides an inspiring setting for students to create, perform, and thrive. Some building highlights include a grand 250-seat theater with sectional seating and a mezzanine; a black box theater; music classroom spaces; improved sound, lighting and AV systems; a scene shop with rollup doors; and a central lobby with a ticket office and room for pre- and post-performance functions. It also provides a DA community gathering space for events such as keynote lectures and the school’s biannual symposium on teaching and learning, as well as schoolwide assemblies.

The building is named in honor of Louise McCabe who worked at Denver Academy from 1977 to 2000.

Having started her career at DA as a teacher’s aide, Ms. McCabe held multiple positions during her tenure and was the Head of Lower School when she retired. Within those years, she was an amazing teacher, mentor, and human being at Denver Academy. The lead donors to our Performing Arts Center chose to honor Ms. McCabe for the incredible impact she had as an educator for their children.

“The Louise McCabe Performing Arts Center is something we’ve been thinking and dreaming about since we moved on to this campus,” said Head of School Mark Twarogowski. “The beautiful building that has been created is beyond my wildest dreams and imagination. We are so grateful for the support of our generous donors, and the DA community, for making this amazing building and the entire Building on Excellence capital campaign possible.”

Denver Academy’s Building on Excellence 50th Anniversary Campaign, DA’s two-phased Building on Excellence 50th Anniversary construction project, and capital campaign is now completed. The campaign began in 2016 to celebrate the school’s 50th anniversary in 2022 and to prepare Denver Academy for the next 50 years. DA’s generous community joined together to fund the following projects which are now complete: