TEXARKANA, Texas - The next phase of the Perot Theatre's life downtown starts Wednesday when the Texarkana Symphony Orchestra takes over Perot management duties from the Texarkana Regional Arts and Humanities Council.
Much of the initial work to change certain aspects of the Perot has already begun, such as interior cosmetic enhancements, said the TSO Executive Director Andrew Clark.
"We are all about the community coming to the Perot and about it being one of the central focuses of downtown Texarkana once again, having it come back to life, to not be dark as much as it has been in the past, and to bring that life back down to the theater and the area around it," Clark said.
Sept. 1 is the start date for the TSO taking the helm of the venerable downtown venue, a longtime gem for Texarkana's arts and culture scene. Because the TRAHC fiscal year starts next month, the beginning date for TSO management was moved up a month.
Summer cleaning
"We've spent the whole summer, TRAHC doing its part and us doing our part, to transition utilities and equipment and all of that that had to be done," Clark said. "We facilitated, along with the city's help, in a huge cleanup and clean-out project at the theater."
That involved going through "40 years worth of stuff" and removing furniture donated along the way so the theater could be updated, the TSO's director said.
"Once that process got underway, then we, the TSO, started bringing in a lot of community partners, people that use the theater and have used the theater in the past," Clark said.
They can't do a lot of reconstruction now but want to freshen up the theater in a cosmetic way to improve the appearance going forward.
"The city prioritized a few things that had to do with air handlers, some leaks that had been happening for years and years," Clark said. Crews completed work on that issue, which primarily affected the mezzanine as water damage.
"We brought in painters and masonry folks to basically restore the ceiling in the mezzanine," Clark said. In a structural way, many windowsills needed fresh coats of paint, he added. That work continues.
"And then, we've upgraded lighting. In some places that's going to be new lighting fixtures and in some places it's going to be updating bulbs or how the light's provided," Clark said. "We have maintained the historical nature of the theater. And where it's most visible to the public, those historic fixtures from the '80s renovation remain. We just upgraded the lighting behind the fixture."
In the dressing room area, lighting and makeup mirrors have seen improvements, in addition to fresh coats of paint there and in the restrooms throughout the building.
"We received a grant from the Patterson-Troike Foundation to purchase about $36,000 of equipment for the Perot, some of which was equipment that the end of its life had come and it was time for new equipment to be replaced," Clark said. Some of that included items the Regional Arts Center loaned to the theater or shared with the theater.
"With that comes brand new hanging racks for wardrobe and dressing stuff in the dressing rooms," Clark said. New cubbies will be added for artists and guest artists to store their items.
Suitable seating selected, concessions get a refill
"Visible to the public, we now have matching chairs for when there are events on stage like the orchestra or other seated events on stage, or throughout the theater all the chairs will finally all match," Clark said. New risers have been ordered, too.
"We should have all that in place by Oct. 1," Clark said.
Look for concessions to be boosted at the Perot, too, with expanded beverage service.
"We are working in partnership with several local folks as well as one local restaurant owner to begin the process of what does it look like for concessions in the theater. TSO will run those concessions and it will be TSO's responsibility, but we're going to make lots of upgrades in that regard," Clark said.
Noah Crissman will oversee the Perot's physical and technical welfare, while Debbie Gilliam will continue in the box office as audience services manager. Longtime operations director Randal Conry will work per contract basis to help with the transition.
Clark said Rashinda Hampton has been hired to serve as the Perot's director of marketing and communications. The marketing director will market everything that happens in the theater, whether it's a rental, TSO concert, TRAHC show or something else.
Perot programming in the works
As to a season of shows at the Perot organized by the TSO, that work is ongoing, said the TSO's director.
"Our goal now is to announce in some way, shape or form a season of Perot events starting in January," Clark said. "There's a couple reasons for that. Number one, a lot of the shows are making up dates for the lost year for COVID. Some of the shows have hit the pause button again because of the Delta variant."
They held a meeting this past week with a cross-section of the community to get the pulse about events they'd like to see at the Perot, Clark said. The TSO's season starts Oct. 16 with "Masterworks I: Heroic Voices," a concert with composers like Beethoven, Prokofiev and more.
"We've always maintained that the programming that existed there before we don't want to see go away," Clark said. That includes TRAHC's Perot Theatre series and student shows, plus the dance studio recitals.
Look for the TSO to also market the theater to promoters and presenters, too, rebuilding relationships with them.
"So they'll come back and take another look at the theater and say, 'Hey, I want to bring stuff back here,'" Clark said. Those rentals bring big acts to Texarkana and create less of a financial burden for the local organizations to present, he explained.
If no events are scheduled beforehand, the TSO may unveil some of the work they've accomplished so far at the first TSO concert in mid-October.
"It's a chance for the public to sort of see what all went on behind the scenes," Clark said. "We're actually going to start a social media campaign here pretty quickly. The theater is about to get its own website for the first time ever."