WaterTower Theatre

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, including recent awards from Big D Magazine for our production of The Play That Goes Wrong and a Pop-Up Grant from TACA for our production of Manic Monologues. 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), and Bread (2018). The 28th Season closed with Mary Poppins, our first venture into true family entertainment, and it was a smash! The conclusion of the 2023-2024 Season saw WTT having produced 188 plays and musicals, including 11 World Premieres and 44 Regional Premieres. In addition, WTT continues its commitment to workshopping brand new musicals right here in Addison, Texas.

Our Needs

On May 28th the Town of Addison received a study and proposed plan from a firm in New England to increase programming at the theatre center. The changes in this plan carry a structural shift that calls for severe funding cuts to WTT (40% less than previous seasons) along with directing WTT to completely vacate the offices, box office, props, costume, shop and other areas of the building beginning October 1st of this year.  While WTT sales, donations and patronage have increased since 2019, it also cuts avenues of opportunity for fund raising going forward. 

In order to survive as an organization and continue to do our part in keeping live theatre thriving, WTT needs   funding to support our production budgets for the 2024-2025 Season. We have reached the end of our 28th season and are preparing for Season 29, while planning Season 30. We have survived a lot over the years, including rising costs due to inflation, the need for Covid testing, PPE, and now decreased personnel. WTT was on the brink of bankruptcy in 2019, and we turned that around. WTT got through COVID and the subsequent fall out industry wide, and together we survived.  Today, WTT faces our most urgent challenge yet and as before we will meet it head on. 

WTT was one of the first theaters in the nation to obtain approval from Actors' Equity Association to reopen SAFELY with in-person audiences and has kept EVERYONE on & off stage employed SAFELY throughout the pandemic.  WTT is proud to have maintained a perfect Covid safety record throughout all our productions.

We are currently researching pathways to improve our website experience to better communicate with and facilitate the accessibility for current patrons and our surrounding community.

In our attempts to join forces with The Penguin Project, where a group of children take to the stage to perform a modified version of a well-known Broadway musical, WTT created Theatre Free-For-All, a series of free classes and workshops directed at families with disabled and neurodivergent children, but open to all.  Under the direction of Director Ashley Puckett Gonzales, they are all joined on stage by a dedicated group of “peer mentors” – children the same age without disabilities who have volunteered to work side-by-side with them. These classes are taught by DFW professionals and a few guests from NYC.  By providing free access to children's theater, The Penguin Project demonstrates that the special challenges of a disability should not handicap a child’s ability to participate in life’s experiences. We are excited to be a part of this journey, and have high hopes that Theatre-Free-For-All will generate high numbers of attendance to finally build a bridge to The Penguin Project.

We have also increased our initiative to form good relationships with the local Addison business community, including many restaurants and hotels in the area. Goin Hollywood saw a rise in attendance of out-of-town patrons, who dined locally and were guests at some of Addison's best hotels. This uptick in travelers to the Town of Addison benefits not just us, but the community we serve.

It is important to everyone at WaterTower Theatre to lift up and listen to all voices and the stories they tell, while bringing entertainment and enlightenment to the patrons of our community.

Through the donations of generous people like you, we can continue on that path.