Arts Reporting: Seguin's Two Live Venues, the Texas and the Palace, On the Town E-zine, November-December, 2011

Received on-line in On The Town e-zine, San Antonio:

On page 33 and following of the November-December edition:

Texas Our Texas

by Janis Turk

What do Robert Redford, Vanessa Redgrave, Sam Shepard and just about everyone in Seguin have in common? They've all been to the Texas Theatre, a historic 1930s former movie house along the main thoroughfare of this small town northeast of San Antonio on Interstate 10.

Currently owned by the Seguin Conservation Sciety and for more than 60 years owned and run by a family of motion-picture exhibitors with theaters throughout South Texas, the Texas Theatre recently received a facelift and reopened as a live-performance, multi-media venue and meeting/even space.

Together with its downtown neighbor the independently owned Palace Theatre, the Texas Theatre is helping put Seguin on the map as a center for live performances, dinner theater, music concerts, meetings and more, drawing theater and history buffs from all over the state.

Click to read full article on-line in On The Town E-zine . . .

Arts Reporting: Renovation of Seguin's Texas Theatre, San Antonio Express-News, May 25

Found on-line:

Renovation progresses at Seguin's Texas Theatre

By Vincent T. Davis - San Antonio Express-News
Web Posted: 05/25/2010

The main sounds stirring these days in Seguin's Texas Theatre are saws buzzing, hammers banging and drills drilling.

Light fixtures that once burned an amber glow are coated with a thick film of construction dust that has been accumulating since October 2009. That's when work began on a $2.5 million renovation project — dubbed “A Star Is Reborn” — at the historic downtown structure that opened in 1931.

Architect Milton Babbitt, who restored the Majestic and Empire theaters in San Antonio, developed the expansion plans carried out by the Koehler Co.

The theater is scheduled to reopen in March on its 80th anniversary as the Stephen and Mary Birch Texas Theatre, in honor of the foundation that made the largest donation, $1 million, during a decadelong fund-raising drive.

The Seguin Conservation Society bought the Spanish Colonial-style theater at 425 N. Austin St. in 1996. It also bought the adjoining building in 2007, to add a concession lobby, dressing rooms and restrooms that comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Once the expansion is completed, the society estimates an annual audience of 24,600 people for symphonies, community plays, recitals, films and concerts. The site also will be a venue for Teatro de Arts de Juan Seguin, Troupe Texas, Mid-Texas Symphony, Seguin Performing Arts Company, Seguin Independent School District, Texas Lutheran University, Cinema for All and other local arts groups.

Read more at www.mysanantonio.com . . . .