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The Neighborhood Playhouse, a major force in American theatre and theatre education since its inception, was founded in 1915 at the forefront of the American theatre renaissance. Created by philanthropists Alice and Irene Lewisohn, the original Playhouse was located in the famous Henry Street Settlement House. One of the first Off-Broadway theatres, the Playhouse was committed to community and devoted to renewing the roots of drama, mounting works both classic and modern.
From the theatre grew a desire to focus on training and, in 1928, The Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre opened its doors. The Lewisohns entrusted the direction of the school to Rita Wallach Morgenthau, a long time board member and advisor to their theatre. The first class, comprised of only nine students, had the privilege of being taught by theatre luminaries Agnes DeMille, Louis Horst, Laura Elliott, and Martha Graham.
WaterTower Theatre’s vision is to connect the world to Addison and Addison to the world through developing and presenting innovative theatre that is artistically vital to our community locally and beyond.
Founded in 1996, WaterTower Theatre (WTT) is one of Texas' leading professional theatre companies and a flagship arts institution in North Texas, having played an important role as a leader in developing new talent, new work, and encouraging the growth of the DFW artistic community through its commitment to hiring local artists.
WTT traces its origins back to Addison Community Theater (ACT) of the 1970’s which began performing at the Old Stone Cottage, a 1930’s WPA project which still stands adjacent to WTT’s current home at the Addison Theatre Centre. Addison Theatre Centre, completed in 1992, is an award-winning 32,000-square-foot space, including a Main Stage – a flexible black box space with seating for approximately 200 – and a smaller Studio Theatre. WTT is the resident theatre company of the Addison Theatre Centre, which also houses WTT’s administrative, artistic, and production offices.
Throughout its history, WaterTower’s artistic vision, service to the community and growing audience has led to a unique partnership with the Town of Addison, one aimed at the development of an exciting destination for residents and non-residents to experience the best in theatrical arts.
Building on its reputation for being an intrepid producer of new works, WTT has garnered numerous accolades through the years. WTT’s commitment to new work is reflected in its history of world premieres including Song of Motherhood (1998), Blind Lemon: Prince of Country Blues(2001), A Country Life (2005), Creep (2015), The Spark (2015), The Great Distance Home (2017), Bread (2018), WTT’s Out of the Loop Festival (2002-2016), and DETOUR: a Festival of New Work, beginning in 2018. At the conclusion of the 2018-2019 Season, WTT will have produced 176 plays and musicals, including 9 World Premieres and 39 Regional Premieres.
From 1999 to 2016, WaterTower Theatre was under the artistic leadership of Terry Martin. During his tenure, Martin oversaw the presentation of more than 130 productions in WTT's Main Stage and Studio Theatre. The Company was then led by Artistic Director Joanie Schultz from January 2017 to December 2018. In March 2019, Shane Peterman was selected as the Company's new Producing Artistic Director.
WTT is proud to include in its alumni many actors whose careers include Broadway, national tours, film, and television credits, including Major Attaway (Broadway: Disney’s Aladdin); John Campione (First National Tour: School of Rock; The Bridges of Madison County); Anthony Fortino (First National Tour: Fun Home); Brian Gonzales (Broadway: One Man, Two Guvnors; Disney’s Aladdin); Clinton Greenspan (First National Tour: Disney’s Aladdin); Traci Lee (First National Tour: Beautiful); Liz Mikel (Broadway: Lysistrata Jones; TV: Friday Night Lights; Sordid Lives); Cedric Neal (Broadway: Gershwin’s Porgy & Bess; After Midnight); Stacey Oristano (TV: Friday Night Lights; Bunheads; Shameless); and Akron Watson (Broadway: The Color Purple; The Play that Goes Wrong). Popular local artists such as Patty Breckenridge, Clare Floyd Devries, Pam Dougherty, Gary Lynn Floyd, Kyle Igneczi, Denise Lee, Walter Lee, René Moreno, Calvin Scott Roberts, Emily Scott Banks, Diana Sheehan, and Garret Storms have proudly called WTT home.
WaterTower Theatre is a 501(c)(3) non-profit theatre organization, proudly operating under an SPT6 license with Actors’ Equity Association.