Park Theatre attracting int'l talent

CRANSTON, R.I. (WPRI) - The historic Park Theatre announced Tuesday that it is branching out to bring critically-acclaimed acts from across the globe to Cranston.

"Hopefully this is going to be the cultural center of Rhode Island. That's what we want it to be," said Yusuf Gandhi, the theater's director of programming.

"[We hope] Rhode Islanders, when they think of a place to go to spend an evening, have a nice evening, they come here."

The 1,000-seat theater was recently renovated into a multi-purpose performing arts center and has mainly catered to local performers.  But now its operators are working with talent agents across the globe to attract a diverse range of artists to the venue.

Among them, actor Kevin Costner, who has agreed to perform at the Park Theatre with his country music band, Modern West .

"We have the Vienna's Boy Choir, we have the Circus of China, we have Blues Brothers, we have the Ballet Folklorico from Colombia. These are all internationally acclaimed artists," adds Gandhi.