@dramatistsguild @duellwilliam

Self-producers! And those of you who’ve thought about self-producing but live in areas too rural to give it a try – have you thought about self-producing in Houston? The city is generally less expensive than other major cities in the country, and we’ve got a new state-of-the-art theatre that accommodates self-production, Queensbury Theatre. Downtown in the theatre district we have the spectacular Hobby Center for the Performing Arts with its two rentable theatres. We also have intimate spaces like Frenetic Theater. And if you’re operating as a non-profit, there are a couple of large, well-equipped and centrally located theatres, like Hamman Hall, the home of the Rice University theatre program.

There are of course other theatres for rent in Space City, but this report focuses on these four because each one is close to the center of the city or is so easy to get to that it may as well be. Additionally, three of them cover the seating spectrum while the fourth provides non-profits a production venue.

Let’s start with the newest theatre, the beautiful Queensbury Theatre, located in the geographical center of Houston. It opened June 11th and its inaugural performance was the third annual Fade To Black, a series of shorts by black playwrights from around the country. FTB is the brainchild of Dramatist Guild playwright and FTB Executive Director Denise O’Neal. This year, as in the past two, the theatre was packed. Queensbury Theatre contains two theatres: a 250-seat theatre with a proscenium stage (where FTB was performed) and a blackbox theatre. For more details, go to http://www.queensburytheatre.org.

The Hobby Center for the Performing Arts houses the truly huge 2,650-seat Sarofim Hall. As the Hobby Center website states, Sarofim Hall offers “[r]ich midnight blue walls, soaring multi-story gold leaf columns and intricate latticework throughout” and the “…Celestial Dome Ceiling, with more than 2,000 fiber-optic stars that replicate the Texas summer night sky – and a shooting star every five minutes.” You’ll have to take their word for it. I’ve never been in it.

But what’s more important is that there’s also the inviting, very comfortable 500-seat Zilka Hall, which I’ve been in more than a few times and where DG playwright Gladney Darroh recently produced his first musical drama, This American Family. Gladney rented Zilkha Hall at the Hobby Center for the weekend and, being Gladney, generously provided free tickets for two of the performances. The Saturday matinee was reserved for veterans and their families, and Gold Star and Blue Star mothers. (Don’t know what Gold and Blue Star mothers are? Check them out on Wikipedia.) The Sunday evening performance was reserved for law enforcement officers and their families. For more information, check out http://www.thehobbycenter.org.

Frenetic Theater, less than four miles east of downtown, seats 100 and has a 1,200 square foot stage. Every seat has a perfect, unobstructed view of the action. It provides the ideal space to produce your intense, disturbing, paradigm-shifting drama. (Okay, I’m thinking about my own intense, disturbing….) Check out http://www.freneticore.net.

If you’re a non-profit or a theatre company looking for a good space in Houston, Hamman Hall at Rice University, about three miles southwest of downtown, is a 466-seat proscenium theatre available for “a nominal rental fee.” It really is a perfectly apportioned, beautiful space. More info is at http://theatre.rice.edu/.

Remember, when you conduct any contractual transaction, you can and should negotiate rates. After you reach out to the theatre’s contact person and discuss your situation, if you have additional questions – about the theatre scene or about anything else here in Houston – please contact me.

wduell@dramatistsguild.com