Have any resources that should be added? Email info@philadelphiascenicworks.org
Flannel & Hammer - Local, small scenic fabrication shop in West Philly
Philadelphia Scenic Works - Local, small scenic fabrication shop in Kensington
Proof Productions - Local, large scenic fabrication shop; does mostly commercial and Broadway work
Scenery First - Local, large scenic fabrication shop; does a lot of touring and cruise work
Flannel & Hammer - Local, small scenic fabrication shop in West Philly
Philadelphia Precision CNC - Commercial CNC Shop
Philly CNC - Commercial CNC Shop
Proof Productions - Local, large scenic fabrication shop; does a lot of commercial and Broadway work
Scenery First - Local, large scenic fabrication shop; does a lot of touring and cruise work
Stonedog Studios - NJ Scend Shop
Walnut Street Theatre - has some in stock
Gladsbuy (China)-
Echod (non local)-
Big Image Systems -
Big Mountain Imaging -
Rose Bran (non local) -
Avista Custom Theatrical - local props fabrication and rental house; also specializes in soft good fabrication
RoseBrand (non local)
Shipley Enterprises - pipe and drape, tents, lighting, chuppahs, mandaps, draping, dancefloor & decals
Tague Lumber
Fessenden Hall
Lowe's
Home Depot
Steven Kempf
CBM
M. Cramer & Associates - professional makeup, lighting equipment & systems, audio/video equipment & systems, curtains & rigging, and window treatments.
BMI Supply
RoseBrand
RAF Supply - Reconditioned tools at a discount
Lowe's
Home Depot
Steven Kempf
Makita Service Center - maybe can do replacement batteries and chargers if you have failures
Hewshott - https://www.hewshott.com/usa/ - inspection, no repair
Sapsis Rigging
Pierre's
The Walnut Street Theatre - has a large costume inventory and pays someone to manage its rentals
Villanova
Academy of Vocal Arts - has a large costume inventory
Media Theatre - has a large costume inventory
Delaware Theatre Company - has a moderate costume inventory
TDF Costume Collection - NYC costume rental warehouse, has a mail order option
Oregon Shakespeare - OR costume rental warehouse, has a mail order option
Second Mile Center, 214 S 45th Street
D&D Thrift Store, 5456 Walnut Street
Goodwill, Whitman Plaza, 330 Oregon Ave
These places specialize in sound. All of them have rental gear, and most will provide you some level of design and production service.
ElectroSound
M. Cramer & Associates - audio/video equipment & systems
Starlite - Moorestown, NJ based, close to PA
These places specialize in lighting. All of them have rental gear, and most will provide you some level of design and production service.
10th Floor Production - a Fishtown-based "group of collaborators with members who specialize in large scale lighting and video production, interactive media design, creative scenic construction and much more"
Starlite - Moorestown, NJ based, close to PA
EarlGirls
PinPoint
BEW Productions
Main Light - DE
LightAction - DE
4 Wall - NJ, near NYC
PRG - NJ, near NYC
Hayden Production Services - NJ, near NYC
Christie Lights - NJ, near NYC
M. Cramer & Associates - lighting equipment & systems
Midnight Productions
These places specialize in video/projections/media. All of them have rental gear, and most will provide you some level of design and production service.
10th Floor Production - a Fishtown-based "group of collaborators with members who specialize in large scale lighting and video production, interactive media design, creative scenic construction and much more"
4 Wall - not local, locations in Lititz, NJ, & MD, big commercial company
PRG - not local, NJ, outside of NYC
Starlite - Moorestown, NJ based, close to PA
Much of this list was curated by J Bean Schwab, so give them props! (Pun intended!)
Walnut Street Theatre Props & Scenery Rentals – Offers furniture, scenic backdrops, and props for rental;
Prop Manager: Shannon O’Brien ogtstore.com+15walnutstreettheatre.org+15 nyc.gov+15.
Avista Custom Theatrical Services hosts one of the largest prop inventories in the state, and does custom work including upholstery and drapery.
Run by Jen Burkhart and Amanda Hatch
The Arden Theatre
Kate Nelson, production manager
Platt Student Performing Art House
PAC Shop email: pacshop4100@gmail.com
Villanova University Scene Shop
Jacob Rothermel, jacob.rothermel@villanova.edu (Technical Director)
Delaware University Theatre Department
Liz Baehr, lizbaehr@gmail.com
The Resource Exchange – Reclaimed art, fabric, lumber, and theater materials; great for oddball items
Bargain Thrift Center – Steady thrift-store staples for budget-friendly finds instagram.com
Free Your Stuff (West Philly) – Local free-exchange source, often features fabric, props, and materials phillygurlsews.com+1giggster.com+1.
Thunderbird Salvage – Salvage store with antiques, hardware, and reclaimed goods yelp.com.
Restoration Row – Philadelphia-area community focusing on reused building materials theresourceexchange.org+4gridphilly.com+4communityforklift.org+4.
Provenance – higher-end architectural salvage with 19th and early 20th century rustic goods, industrial parts, and reclaimed raw/milled lumber
Facebook Marketplace (local to your area and beyond)
Free Resource and Buy Nothing Groups on Facebook
Wayfair
Amazon
Michaels
Blick
Artist and Craftsman
Home Depot
Lowes
Hobby Lobby
Home Depot
Lowes
Grainger
McMaster-Carr
ACME Brooklyn Prop House – Thousands of furniture, tabletop, and decor props; weekly rentals themeprops.com+15acmebrooklyn.com+15acmebrooklyn.com+15.
Newel Props – 65K sq ft showroom of vintage and mid-century furniture, art, lighting yelp.com+4newelprops.com+4communityforklift.org+4.
propNspoon – Fabrication, rentals, logistics, and warehousing across NY/NJ propnspoon.com.
Fennick Studio Props – Period pieces for institutional and set-design (Passaic, NJ) fennicknyc.com.
Lost + Found Props – Tabletop and surface rentals from Brooklyn Navy Yard lostandfoundprops.com.
Area Props NYC – Boutique rental house with eclectic decor items nyc.gov+1areapropsnyc.com+1.
Eclectic Props – TV, film, and theater prop rental shop eclecticprops.com.
Silla Fine Antiques – Vintage furniture, art, and sculpture available for film/TV rental sillafineantiques.com.
Materials for the Arts – NYC creative reuse center supplying props, art, fabrics jesscrafts.com+2nyc.gov+2facebook.com+2.
AuH2O Thriftique
City Opera Thrift
L Train Vintage
Cure Thrift
Tokio7 – Mix of budget and mid‑tier thrift shops sustainablejungle.com.
Urban Archaeology – High-end architectural salvage inhabit.corcoran.com.
Olde Good Things – Antiques and reclaimed architectural elements, multiple Manhattan locations ogtstore.com+3inhabit.corcoran.com+3brickunderground.com+3.
Big Reuse – Nonprofit surplus home goods and materials in Brooklyn brickunderground.com+2inhabit.corcoran.com+2bigreuse.org+2.
Demolition Depot
Salvage Style
Mother of Junk
“Some resins and reinforcing materials such as fiberglass can be found at car accessory shops and boat suppliers. For fabrics and soft goods, search for fabric stores, upholstery suppliers, leather stores, haberdashery shops, and cane suppliers. Department stores often have small selections of craft supplies, fabrics, and tools among other items. Hobby stores can be helpful, whether for general hobbies or for specific ones such as model railroad shops. Antique restorers will carry several cleaners and finishes for wood, leather, metal, and fabrics, as well as some tools. If you are interested in leather or vinyl, you may have luck at small shoe repair shops; they often carry polishes, spray paints, and other supplies you can’t find at more general stores. Pharmacists and drugstores carry useful materials, some of which are hard to find elsewhere: mineral oil and glycerin (both sold in the laxative section), plaster bandages, shoe polish, acetone (nail polish remover), alcohol, and so on. Grocery stores will also carry some needed supplies, such as aluminium foil, gelatin, and various containers, cups, and mixing implements.”
GoShare - local shipping around Philly
https://rockit.global/ - entertainment shipping
http://roadie.com/ - "Roadie is a UPS-owned same-day delivery platform that connects people with stuff to send to drivers already heading in the right direction."
Lyft - You can use ride share to deliver items from one location to another without having to send a person in the vehicle, as long as you have a person at each end (one to give the item to the driver and one to receive it.)
Uber- You can use ride share to deliver items from one location to another without having to send a person in the vehicle, as long as you have a person at each end (one to give the item to the driver and one to receive it.)
Philly Theatre - Buy, Sell, and Trade Facebook Group - This is a group to buy, sell, trade, give away materials and other resources that would otherwise be thrown awa
https://resourcephilly.org/ - Find where to donate, repair or recycle your stuff or where to buy, rent or borrow secondhand, bulk, recycled or sustainable items in the Philadelphia region
Resource Exchange - Reuse Center
Avista Custom Theatrical - Props Shop
Philadelphia Scenic Works - Non-Profit Scene Shop
Airtable - database software that can be used for contact, scheduling, and so much more. There's free and paid tiers. Community member Nick Jonczak loves his expertise for setting up airtable systems and generously has offered to help any one interested! nicholas.jonczak@gmail.com
Good for ticketing one-off events / small companies (no ongoing database)
Good for small to midsize companies (offers proprietary database)
Audience View Professional (formerly OvationTix) - Created by TheaterMania. Intergrated CRM with ticketing, patron management and donor development
Patron Manager - Salesforce platform. Integrated CRM with ticketing, patron management and donor development.
Good for larger companies (offers proprietary database)
Tessitura - Robust platform for ticketing, marketing, development and patron management. There is a Philadelphia Tessitura Consortium.
Camden Printworks (T-shirts)
BIPOC Creatives Database - created by Tamara Anderson
Philadelphia Offstage Artists - a database of products and services offered by Philadelphia Theatre Artist
A list of lists put together by David 'dstew' Stewart; national and localized databases/groups of theatre professionals. Examples include:
Theater folks of Color - Facebook group affinity space for Theatermakers of Color
No Excuse List to Women/Non Binary/Two Spirit Dramaturgs of color
National New Play Network (NNPN) - A consortium of theatre across the country with a special focus on new plays. In Philadelphia, InterAct Theatre Company is a founder and Core Member. Azuka Theatre is an Associate Member.
New Play Exchange - Searchable database of new plays created and run by the National New Play Network (NNPN). Playwrights create a profile and upload plays to be read. Modest annual subscription fees.
The Kilroys - List of the best un- or underproduced plays by women, trans and non-binary playwrights. List suspended in 2020 and replaced with Web 2023.
The Playwrights' Realm - Offers support to developing playwrights. Lists past productions of new plays. (You have to dig a bit.)
Genderfunk Philly Quick Guides - These infographices provide theatres, collectives, studios, venues, education programs and theatre decision-makers like you with quick and straightforward ideas of how to improve material conditions for trans and non-binary artists.
DEI Resources - Google Folder of DEI resources curated by Tamara Anderson
City of Philadelphia's Resources for Diversity & Inclusion Training
Curated (or not so curated) Sites - a list of lists put together by David 'dstew' Stewart; national and localized databases/groups of theatre professionals.