How a Church Became a College Hill Theater

When Rudy Vegliante got tired of commuting from Stroudsburg to his Manhattan job at NBC in 2009, he did something he’d always wanted to do.  He bought a church.

“When I saw it on the market, I decided,” he says.  “The last service was on a Sunday, and I put the offer in that Monday.”

Two years later, that church has become Green Leaf Productions.

The red brick building on Porter Street on College Hill still bears outward reminders of its previous occupants, but its essence has been transformed.  The production company now operating out of the Abbey Hill Theatre promotes the local arts community in two distinctive ways.

Green Leaf creates local programming with a national feel, says Vegliante.  

They have five television shows in various stages of production, including “SteelStacks Live,” an exploration of the arts in the Lehigh Valley that is co-produced by ArtsQuest.  

“We’re very much involved with the art community by promoting the events that are going on with different non-profit organizations,” says Vegliante.  “They’re on the [SteelStacks Live] promoting shows that they have, and we’re … trying to give the arts community a platform to talk about the arts.”

The production company also hosts plays by theater groups looking to take advantage of the larger venue at Abbey Hill Theatre, says Vegliante.  “The theater space is available to any theater group who wants to use it.”

The theater holds holiday specials yearly and regularly films live music sets for “Steel Stacks Live!” on the large stage.  

This weekend, Abbey Hill will host a  performance of “Walden,” which tells the story of Henry David Thoreau’s retreat into nature to understand the meaning of life. The one man show, created and performed by Bill George, is presented by Touchstone Theatre in partnership with Green Leaf Productions.