Film Location Guide

Yes, you saw the Spencer Theater in "The Gamer," a Neiman catalog...and more.

Are you looking for the perfect venue for your next motion picture or television movie?  Are you looking for a location that has not been over-used; one that is fresh, new and has multiple potential uses?  Then the Spencer Theater in Alto, New Mexico, may be just what you're looking for.

Conveniently located 2 1/2 hours north of El Paso, Texas and 3 hours south NMFilm150.jpgof Albuquerque, the Spencer Theater has become known as "The Carnegie of the Southwest."  Opened in October 1997, the theater sits on 74 acres of land 13 miles north of Ruidoso, New Mexico.

The Spencer Theater has the ability to portray many different possible settings including, but not limited to:

• A modern office building and lobby
• A futuristic, space alien station
• A park with fountain
• An antique / by-gone era theater or a new, up-to-date stage
• A small, intimate courtyard
• An art museum
• A restaurant setting
• An interior office setting
• Chorus Room / Star Dressing Room / Green Room venues
• An open-air theatre / outdoor concert
• Any location shoot requiring vast expanses of land such as westerns, golf, chase scenes, Native American encampments, war movies, etc.

Architect Antoine Predock of Albuquerque designed the award-winning theater on a single ground-to-sky slope, rising 8 stories, silhouetting Sierra Blanca Peak.  Over 450 tons of imported white mica-flecked limestone, quarried in Spain and cut in Italy, comprises the building's exterior.

A two-story waterfall gently pours from the upper deck down "steps" at the building's front.  The upper deck, or loggia, is part of the theater's exclusive Founder's Club.  The Crystal Lobby is a two-story, steel webbed dome of 300 glass facets, all hand-cut.  The theater seats 514.  An outdoor stage boasts 964 sq. ft. and the natural grass amphitheater has a 1300+ seating capacity.

The stage is a "sprung" stage of 4,770 sq. ft. of tongue-in-groove maple and features 48 fly lines capable of handling any touring show on the road today.

There are dressing rooms for 52 artists:  Four “Star” dressing rooms, one 24-person chorus room and two 12-person dressing rooms.  Backstage there is also a Green Room with a kitchen and courtyard, a scene shop and a loading dock that can handle the largest 18-wheeler.

The sound and lighting technology is state-of-the-art with impressive special effects capability, acoustic shell and an open-air sound booth.

The theater is also home to four major Dale Chihuly glass installations, thought to be the largest private collection in the southwest.

The theater's Film Location packet of information includes photographs, measurements and potential filming venues for your review.  The Spencer Theater can be used and transformed into almost any setting you might require.  Enough open space surrounds the theater to easily shoot a full length western.  We welcome you and your film crew to our “little gem” is New Mexico.

We invite you to come out and take a look at our property for any upcoming film you are considering.  The friendly staff at the Spencer Theater will be most happy to work with you to ensure a positive experience and outcome for everyone.

Please call me at (575) 336-0011 or email me at charles@spencertheater.com with any questions or additional information you may require.

Thank you for your consideration and we hope to see you at the Spencer!

Spencer Theater for the Performing Arts
108 Spencer Road
Alto, NM 88312

(575)336-4800