A historic stage, renewed.
The O. J. Work Auditorium anchored Wadsworth's Central School for more than a century. In 2025 it reopened as the Celestia Theater with new seats, new sound and the same bones.
The Celestia Experience
Close enough to see the guitar strings.
Nine hundred seats is big enough for national touring acts and small enough that a Tuesday-night comedy show still feels like a room full of neighbors. That mix is the point.
- About 900 seats
- Main floor and balcony, every seat reserved, none far from the stage.
- Sound and lighting
- More than $450,000 of new sound and lighting installed in the 2025 restoration, sized for touring productions.
- LED wall
- A full-width video wall behind the stage carries artist visuals and show branding.
- A 1907 room
- Columns, sconces and the original proscenium, refinished rather than replaced.
History
Union School, Central School, and a stage that outlasted both.
Union School was built on this site in 1870 and replaced in 1907 by the brick building that stands today. The building served as a K-12 school, a high school, a junior high and finally Central School.
At its center is the 900-seat O. J. Work Auditorium, home to band concerts, class plays and town meetings for more than a century.
Restoration
$1.5 million, and every note is clear.
The Wadsworth Square Foundation invested $1.5 million to restore and re-equip the auditorium, including more than $450,000 in sound and lighting. Fresh paint and rich carpeting honor the building's heritage, a brighter atrium welcomes audiences, and the stage is ready for professional productions.
The name is new too. The theater is named for Laura Celestia Spelman Rockefeller, born in Wadsworth in 1839, whose family ran a grocery on Main Street a few steps from the theater doors.
Inside the Celestia
Nights on the Celestia stage, photographed from the seats.
Seating
Reserved seats, chosen by you.
Pick your exact seats from the map when you buy through eTix, or call the box office for help.
Private events
Your event, on this stage.
The Event Center at Wadsworth Square hosts receptions, banquets and meetings next door to the theater. Tell us what you have in mind and we will talk through dates and details.
Find us
151 Main Street, Wadsworth
On the downtown square, between I-71 and I-77 and four miles south of I-76.