New River Theater Is Fort Lauderdale’s Permission Slip to Loosen Up
- Choose954
- Dec 29, 2025
- 4 min read
A new improv theater is quietly carving out space for play, connection, and creative risk in the heart of downtown Fort Lauderdale.
New River Theater did not open to chase laughs or headlines. It opened to give people somewhere to exhale.
Launched in the summer of 2025 by Josh Molina, the theater fills a long-standing gap in Fort Lauderdale’s cultural landscape by offering something deceptively rare: a place for adults to show up after work, drop the script, and be human together.
Not as polished performers. Not as passive audiences. Just people willing to try.
Why This Theater Exists Now
The seed was planted during the pandemic, when Josh was living in Fort Lauderdale and noticed something missing once he went looking for it. Miami had an improv scene. Fort Lauderdale did not.
After spending three years in Washington, D.C. sharpening his craft and deepening his relationship with improv comedy, Josh returned home to find the situation largely unchanged. So instead of waiting for a scene to appear, he built one.
New River Theater officially launched in summer 2025 with a clear intention: give Fort Lauderdale a dedicated home for long-form improv comedy and the community that grows around it.
The Gap It Fills
Comedy in the public imagination usually means stand-up. One person. One mic. One spotlight.
Improv is something else entirely.
It is collaborative. It is unscripted. It requires listening, trust, and presence. And while it may never be mainstream, it is deeply social in a way few art forms are.
Most major U.S. cities have improv schools where people can take classes, practice regularly, and grow together. Fort Lauderdale has had talent, curiosity, and audiences, but no clear center of gravity.
New River Theater changes that by focusing on long-form improv, where scenes and characters evolve over time and the real magic happens between people, not at them.
How It Feels to Be There
This is not a space built around pressure or performance anxiety.
People often arrive a little tight from the workday. Emails still buzzing. Shoulders still up.
They leave looser. Smiling. Lighter.
An hour of doing weird, spontaneous, unexpected things with other people has a way of resetting the nervous system. New River Theater is designed around that release. It gives adults permission to be silly, curious, and imperfect in a way most of life does not.
It is playful without being sloppy. Intentional without being precious.
A Home for What Does Not Always Fit Elsewhere
New River Theater is not trying to reinvent improv. Its impact is quieter and more local than that.
It gives people who live and work in downtown Fort Lauderdale something genuinely fun to do on a weekday evening. Something you can walk to. Bike to. Ride a one-wheel to.
Classes take place at General Provision near the Riverwalk. Shows pop up at venues like the Riverside Hotel on Las Olas. The work stays close to the New River, woven into the rhythm of downtown rather than isolated from it.
That proximity matters. It keeps creativity embedded in daily life instead of treating it as a special occasion.
A Signal of a Growing Arts City
Josh sees New River Theater as part of a broader shift happening across Fort Lauderdale.
This is a city growing into range. A city that can hold sunshine, nightlife, fitness culture, and a maturing performing arts scene all at once.
New River Theater is not competing with those things. It is expanding the menu.
It is proof that Fort Lauderdale can support spaces that value experimentation, play, and process just as much as spectacle.
Before You Go, One Thing to Know
Improv is not stand-up.
You have been warned.
This is not about memorized jokes or solo spotlights. It is collaborative, messy, generous, and often surprising. And unlike much of traditional theater, it does not take itself seriously.
That is exactly why it works.
Upcoming Improv Class: Level 2
Improv Class: Level 2 – Thursdays (Starts January 8th)
Cost: $395.00
Get out of your head and on to the stage. This eight-week class is designed for students ready to deepen their improv practice through a structured exploration of one of improv’s core fundamentals: game.
Participants will laugh, listen, and sharpen their instincts in a supportive, playful environment built around collaboration and presence. Prior completion of an introductory improv class is required.
Class Details:
Duration: 8 weeks
Schedule: Once per week, Thursdays
Time: 7:00 to 9:00 pm
Exceptions may apply for holidays
First Class: January 8th
Last Class: February 26th
Grad Show: Date to be determined
Location: 300 SW 1st Ave, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301
Why Spaces Like This Matter
Cities are not defined only by their skylines or amenities. They are shaped by the places where people feel safe enough to try, fail, laugh, and connect.
New River Theater adds something essential to Fort Lauderdale’s cultural fabric. It reminds us that creativity does not always need a grand stage.
Sometimes it just needs a room, a few people, and permission.
And downtown Fort Lauderdale is better for having it.
Follow and learn more:
Instagram: @newrivertheater
About Choose954
Choose954 is a hyper-local cultural platform spotlighting the people, places, and experiences shaping Broward County. We tell stories rooted in community, creativity, and connection. Know a local space worth sharing? Send us a tip and help spread the word.
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