In May, Theatre Three faced a pivotal moment as the 64-year-old Dallas theater company announced it needed to raise $200,000 by the end of the month to avoid shutting down operations.
With the community’s support and a $100,000 matching grant from an anonymous donor, Theatre Three successfully raised the necessary funds and is set to begin a new season in September.
According to Jeffrey Schmidt, Theatre Three’s Artistic Director, the difficulties experienced by the theater in a post-pandemic world are reflective of challenges faced by performing arts organizations everywhere.
“It’s the same thing every performing arts organization is facing right now. It’s just figuring out how people choose to see theater, what they choose to see. Things are changing, and all theaters are grappling with that,” Schmidt noted as he discussed efforts to engage audiences.
Adding to the complexity, Theatre Three is navigating a leadership transition following the death of Jac Alder in 2015, a significant figure who led the theater for 54 years.
In recent years, the theater has also faced setbacks from the pandemic shutdown and ongoing renovations at the Quadrangle shopping center in Uptown Dallas, which is being rebranded as The Quad.
The theater owns its space in a condominium-like arrangement, but as the redevelopment progresses, facility fees have increased.
Christie Vela, the Associate Artistic Director, reflected on these challenges: “We’re so grateful for having a bigger lobby. We can hold more people, we can do events there, but it’s not something that we asked for.
It’s kind of like, ‘You’re getting this new lobby and guess what? Your fees are going up.’ We present richer than we are.”
In spring, Theatre Three’s staff and Board of Directors confronted the financial realities of its situation, calculating outstanding bills and determining how much funding would be required in the ensuing months.
Schmidt expressed the gravity of the situation by stating, “It’s expensive. It’s very expensive to be here. It’s not like it just popped up.
The Board made the decision, instead of closing, to go public.”
The generous response from the community was encouraging. After reaching its fundraising goal, the theater announced plans for the upcoming season, a decision made easier by the existing work completed to prepare for the productions.
Schmidt remarked, “The best decision we thought was actually to do the season because so much had already been put into place, everything from paying the rights.”
The new season aims to cater to the diverse tastes of the theater’s audience while considering artistic interests.
As Schmidt explained, “We try to serve those three A’s: the artists, the authors, and the audience. Our audience is diverse and varied, it’s eclectic. It’s always been eclectic. It’s eclectic again.”
The season includes an array of new works, classic plays, and musicals, featuring challenging material and lighter entertainment.
Events in Theatre Too, Theatre Three’s smaller performance space, will feature shows with two-person casts.
The season kicks off with Eleanor Burgess’s The Niceties, running in Theatre Too.
Vela expressed enthusiasm for the opportunity to showcase more intimate productions, saying, “I love the shows downstairs because they are so challenging and the material is something actors can sink their teeth into and have fun with.”
The Norma Young Arena Stage, the main stage of the theater, will open the season with Matt Lyle’s timely new work, The Trade: A Tragedy in Four Quarters, which has a sports-related theme.
Schmidt highlighted the significance of producing topical works, stating it can be difficult to plan ahead when selecting a season so far in advance.
“One of the most exciting things is we’re getting pretty darn topical… and that’s hard to do in the theater when you’re selecting a season a year-and-a-half out,” he said.
In addition to its productions, Theatre Three has begun renting its space to other arts organizations, which not only increases facility usage but also offers these groups another venue for their performances.
Schmidt noted the challenges arts organizations face when seeking performance venues: “Space is at a premium. Organizations trying to find a place to perform, it’s really hard.
There are some city-owned facilities, but there’s not enough, and that all comes with its own challenges. It’s expensive, and we’re a good size for a lot of organizations.
It’s one thing to fill our house (approximately 242 seats), it’s another thing trying to fill Moody Performance Hall with 700 people.”
To make the space more accessible, Vela mentioned that Theatre Three works with various organizations, adjusting rental costs to accommodate what they can afford: “We don’t charge everyone the same. We work with what organizations can do and we find a way for them to be here.”
Among those organizations that have utilized Theatre Three’s space are Shakespeare Dallas, Junior Players, and Verdigris Ensemble. Looking ahead, the theater plans to host more performances from these groups, as well as collaborations with Uptown Players and Bare Book Club in the next season.
With the construction in the Quadrangle nearing completion, Theatre Three is optimistic that audiences will enjoy the new dining options opening in The Quad.
Restaurants such as Written by the Seasons, Two Hands, DomoDomo, Mamani, and The Bread Club are set to welcome patrons, while CrushCraft remains a staple for Thai dining in the area.
“We’re a one-stop shop like the Quadrangle was 20, 30 years ago,” Schmidt enthused about the theater’s vibrant surroundings.
In addition to its programming, Theatre Three is experimenting with an earlier 7 p.m. start time for its Thursday night performances to attract more patrons.
Schmidt observed a national trend of earlier starting times on Broadway: “It’s that whole thing of people not wanting to get off the couch. Well, maybe if we can get them back on their couch sooner, they’ll come out.”
To enhance accessibility, the theater will also implement pay-what-you-can ticketing on Thursday nights as a strategy to engage a broader audience.
As Schmidt noted, understanding audience dynamics requires a shift in perspective: “I think the thing we’re learning, and everyone is learning, is that it’s not the ‘if you build it, they will come’ model. That just doesn’t happen.
It’s all about engagement and how we engage with patrons and potential patrons and that’s what we’re going to be working on.”
Vela expressed confidence in the artistic direction Theatre Three is taking: “I think we’ve got the artistic revival down. We are so confident in the kind of work we’re doing and we know we’ve got that down.”
Teatre Three is set to present an exciting lineup for the 2025-2026 season, set to include productions such as The Niceties, The Trade: A Tragedy in Four Quarters, and many others that speak to the theatre’s eclectic artistic vision.
The full schedule is as follows:
– The Niceties by Eleanor Burgess: September 18 – October 12, 2025 in Theatre Too. A young Black history student and a middle-aged white professor clash in a debate about race and power, directed by Sasha Maya Ada.
– The Trade: A Tragedy in Four Quarters by Matt Lyle: October 9 – November 2, 2025 on the Norma Young Arena Stage. A fast-paced satire about the Dallas Mavericks facing greatness and self-destructing, directed by Matt Lyle.
– Goblin Market by Polly Pen and Peggy Harman: November 13 – December 7, 2025 in Theatre Too. An original musical exploring the fantasies of two sisters with seductive goblins, directed by James Chandler, Musical Direction by Vonda K. Bowling.
– The Lion in Winter by James Goldman: December 4-28, 2025 on the Norma Young Arena Stage. Set on Christmas Eve in 1183, the Plantagenet family grapples with inheritances and ambitions.
– Deer by Aaron Mark: January 29 – February 22, 2026 in Theatre Too. A dark comedy where empty-nesters Ken and Cynthia navigate their shifting relationship after hitting a deer, directed by Christie Vela.
– Penelope Music and Lyrics by Alex Bechtel: February 19 – March 22, 2026 on the Norma Young Arena Stage. A folk-inflected pop musical about Penelope, featuring T3 favorite Cara Statham Serber, directed by Sarah Gay.
– The Murder of Roger Ackroyd adapted by Blake Hackler: April 16 – May 10, 2026 on the Norma Young Arena Stage. A thrilling mystery follows Poirot’s investigation into the murder of Roger Ackroyd.
– Dirty Rotten Scoundrels: June 11 – July 12, 2026 on the Norma Young Arena Stage. A hilarious conman caper set in a French town, directed by Vonda K. Bowling.
As Theatre Three embarks on this new season, it remains committed to creating art that resonates with the community and to exploring innovative strategies for audience engagement.
image source from：nbcdfw
