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| San Pedro Playhouse History |
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Majestically rising through the trees of San Pedro Park, the elegant, Greek Revival-style San Pedro Playhouse
holds tales as dramatic and colorful as the plays that have graced its stages over the past 75 years.
As a faithful replication of the Old Market House constructed in 1858 and razed in 1925 for a river channel
bypass, it boasts a neo-classic facade that hearkens to San Antonio's frontier days. Fittingly, it was two artists
who organized the San Antonio Conservation Society in an effort to halt the destruction of the historic Old Market
House. Their crusade failed, but the city agreed to preserve the beautiful facade for use in a future fine arts
auditorium. When the time came to retrieve the stonework, however, it was found to have been dumped in a jumble
with parts of other structures in an old quarry and unusable. The architects painstakingly labored to reproduce the
original facade by tracing profiles, calculating dimensions of broken pieces and consulting old photographs.
The community theater group that took up residence in the grand structure when it opened in 1930 brought its own history
to the stately walls. Its theatrical roots reached back to the San Antonio Dramatic Club, founded by Sarah Barton Bindley
in 1912. Miss Bindley, a "dramatic art instructor," had fled the Mexican Revolution for San Antonio and galvanized local
citizenry into the first amateur theatrical group dedicated to performing full-scale drama productions locally. They met
regularly in the St. Anthony Hotel and, when that group folded in 1920, Miss Bindley went on to found the successful San
Antonio Players Club. There was behind-the-scenes drama, however; when she returned with her cast from a successful 1927
theater competition in Dallas, she found the officially chartered Little Theater Producing Company of San Antonio had
displaced her on the local theater scene. She eventually joined them.
New director Carl Glick spearheaded the search for a building site for a permanent theater, with Mount Rushmore sculptor
Gutzon Borglum, who wintered in San Antonio, being a special consultant on this project. The site selected was in historic
San Pedro Park (second oldest public park in the United States) on the then northern outskirts of town. The opening
production was an elegant extravaganza, "The Swan," and bore its dramatics backstage as well. The fire chief threatened
to shut down the play opening night when it was discovered there was no inspection certificate. Influential theater supporters
stormed the mayor's office and the show went on with fire engines, ambulances and emergency vehicles standing by and firemen
armed with extinguishers backstage.
The San Antonio Little Theater temporarily shut down when World War II reared its ugly head but the group revived in 1947.
Over the years, a number of directors have steered the group, but none had such far-reaching influence as Joe Salek, who
took the helm in the late '40s for a tenure of several decades. It was Salek who was responsible for SALT's reclaiming
the San Pedro Playhouse, whose occupancy by the group had been lost in the years prior to his arrival. (The building is now
leased from the City of San Antonio.)
Salek created a monthly newsletter (The SALT Shaker) and drama school, reduced theater seating capacity from 800 to a more
intimate 450 by extending the stage into an 8 foot apron, and introduced small scale and experimental productions in the
basement "SALT Cellar." Some of these expanded to a theater-in-the-round on the main stage, including a legendary 1973
production of "Romeo & Juliet" performed in a circus setting complete with trapeze and "big top." Its youthful director,
Wayne Elkins, later headed the Playhouse himself. The theater came full-circle several years ago with DiAnn Sneed as new
Executive Director and British-born Vivienne Elborne (whose husband, Francis, is a former Executive Director) as Artistic Director.
The position of Artistic Director was left vacant when Ms. Elbourne left Texas to move East and was filled in 2003 by Texas-born
Frank Latson, who promises to bring the Playhouse some of its most exciting productions ever.
The renovation in 2000 replaced the stage lighting, audio, and stage rigging systems. All the seats were refurbished and
the theater and lobby got a major facelift. The spacious, chandeliered lobby -- with its decorative molding, towering
curtained windows that overlook the park and fancifully trimmed box office -- still evokes a 1920s ambiance. The Playhouse
continues to offer top-notch plays and musicals, while its intimate Cellar Theater presents smaller and experimental
productions -- all performed by talented and dedicated local volunteers, as was the original group's aim. Winner of numerous
theater awards, Playhouse productions have traveled as far as Russia, Alaska and Mexico.
With 87 years under its theatrical belt, the San Pedro Playhouse is the longest running and most successful live theater in
San Antonio and well worth a seat when the curtain rises on yet another stellar performance.
The San Pedro Playhouse is highly dependent on the generosity of its individual and corporate patrons for its continued
operations. We welcome your attendance at our shows and your generous donations.
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