FUSION Timeline
Enjoy traversing through FUSION’s history from inception until now! Click left and right to move through the various stages in the timeline. This timeline is interactive, so click on the different elements to follow the links and watch the videos! The full description of each milestone is listed below.
January 2001: Dennis Gromelski and Jacqueline Reid sign the lease at 700 1st St. NW. Rehab work begins immediately on the building that had been vacant for nineteen years.
April 2001: As a precursor to FUSION, a group of actors, musicians, and artists commute to the Cerrillos, NM Cultural Center (a roofless WPA-era school building converted into a no-longer- existing amphitheater) to perform the Wakefield Mystery Cycle's The Crucifixion. During this production, Dennis Gromelski, Stephen Stigwood, and Jacqueline Reid decide to form a theatre company, FUSION.
May 2001: The Bosque School holds their first ever theatre department production in The Cell.
October 2001: In the aftermath of 9/11, it became impossible for Stigwood, a UK citizen, to enter the US on a work visa. After a fruitful meeting and nosh at the Monte Vista Fire Station (RIP), Laurie Thomas replaces Stigwood as a FUSION principal.
October 2001: FUSION negotiates their first seasonal Actors' Equity Association contract, ensuring professional theatre status from the outset for the fledgling company.
December 2001: SPOLI Productions (Tom Schuch) holds a fundraising production run of Einstein: A Stage Portrait to benefit FUSION.
December 2001: FUSION applies for 501-c-3 non-profit status with the IRS.
February 2002: FUSION produces their official inaugural production: Closer by Patrick Marber.
November 2002: FUSION receives an advance ruling letter from the IRS certifying qualification for non-profit status.
2002–2005: FUSION hosts the Screen Actors Guild Conversations series, produced by Bob Nuchow, featuring events with: Sir Ben Kingsley, Cate Blanchett, Christopher Walken, Wes Studi, Lou Diamond Phillips, Victor Izay, Alan Arkin, Tess Harper, Nana Visitor, etc.
May 2006: FUSION first receives funding from the Shubert Foundation, which has become an annual granting.
June 2006: FUSION launches THE SEVEN, an original annual short works festival.
September 2006: FUSION's fifth birthday.
June 2007–2009: FUSION performs in Manhattan at the Samuel French OOB Festival, in 2007 winning the festival and garnering playwright Jen Silverman their first professional licensing/publishing contract for The Education of Macoloco.
July 2010: FUSION begins its annual summer collaboration with the Albuquerque Museum, a program directed by Laurie Thomas.
April 2011: FUSION receives an award from the American Theatre Wing (producer of the Tony and OBIE awards), and is named one of the "top ten emerging professional theatre companies in the US."
April 2011: FUSION receives a Creative Bravos Award for Economic Contributions to the Arts from Creative Albuquerque.
September 2011: FUSION performs the world premiere of the Tennessee Williams short play, Once in a Lifetime, at the Provincetown Tennessee Williams Festival.
2011–2016: FUSION principals help found the Downtown Albuquerque Arts & Cultural District.
2011–2018: FUSION tours mainstage productions statewide, including performances in Las Cruces, Gallup, Taos, and Santa Fe (including eighteen productions at the Lensic Performing Arts Center), and at the KiMo Theatre, South Broadway Cultural Center, and Wool Warehouse in Albuquerque.
August 2015: FUSION leases an adjacent building at 708 1st St. NW.
August 2016: FUSION purchases their campus, consisting of 700–708 1st St. NW, and garners a zoning change allowable for the outdoor performance area for arts-related activities.
2017: FUSION principals begin conceptual work on the Rail Trail project, which will run adjacent to the campus.
2016–2020: Rehab and FUSION non-mainstage performances continue at 708 1st St NW.
March 2020–September 2022: COVID cancels all live FUSION mainstage productions.
2020: In response to Covid, FUSION hosts the Downtown Growers Market drive-in market.
2020–2022: Further build out of the campus creates a cafe in The Cell, five co-op offices in 708, and the outdoor stage in The Meadow.
September 2022: FUSION returns from Covid with the live performance of Burning Bright, by John Steinbeck, the inaugural mainstage production in 708.
December 2025: FUSION becomes a tentpole organization of the City of Albuquerque's new Warehouse Arts District.
March 2026: The City of Albuquerque awards FUSION the Creative Bravos Legacy Award.
April 2026: FUSION launches Horizon Review, its inaugural annual literary and fine arts magazine.
June 2026: FUSION produces twentieth annual short works festival, THE SEVEN: The Heart of the Matter.