The Camille Playhouse in Brownsville has a full season ahead of and is looking to attract more Winter Texans to its community theater.
Two plays are in the books and four more are on the way. The next show up is “A Christmas Carol,” which has a run of six shows from Dec. 6 to the 13th. In January, there’s “Oklahoma!” and following in February is “Tartuffe.” The season will conclude with shows in April and May. The full schedule reflects how a community theater that got its start in 1963 has persevered through challenges and tough times.
“COVID really did a number on us,” said Martie DiGregorio, who chairs the theater’s board of directors. “We’re still recovering, and slowly but surely we’re making strides.”
The Brownsville theater kept its heartbeat going in 2020 and 2021 with remote performances to keep a flicker of local arts going during the limiting on public gatherings. Board member David Salinas says the community bolstered the Playhouse and kept it afloat when other theaters were forced to shut down permanently.
“We’re still here,” Salinas said. “Thanks to community support and donations we received, we’re not in that bucket.”
Winter Texan Focus
Brandon Binder grew up at the Camille Playhouse in attending the summer workshops for children and learning how to organize and put on productions.
Binder learned well and is today the Playhouse’s artistic director. He works with a large cast and team of actors, choreographers, musicians and stage hands in going through auditions and weeks of rehearsals before performing in front of live audiences. What makes it all the more impressive is that it’s a nearly all-volunteer effort. Binder is only one of two staffers on the payroll of the Camille Playhouse.
The theater appreciates everyone’s talents and contributions.
“We don’t turn anyone away,” DiGregorio said. “This is your community theater.”
That would include Winter Texans. Binder estimates that 30 percent of the Playhouse’s audience comes from the Winter Texan community. The theater is aiming for a bigger Winter Texan following. The Playhouse’s advertising and marketing campaigns have been revised to focus more specifically on the Winter Texan market.
“We know they’re seeking things to do and events to attend,” DiGregorio said. “Community theaters are nationwide. Winter Texans may have had previous exposure to them and we’re happy to go to them and explain the services and shows we offer.”
Fellow board member Salinas affirmed that point.
“We don’t think Winter Texans have been focused on like we’re trying to do now,” he said. “We feel like there’s people in certain communities that haven’t heard of the productions that we do here.”
Regaining Footing
Part of the Playhouse’s comeback is evident in the restoration of its second stage room.
It’s a beautiful grand room with new carpeting and stylish high windows near its ceiling that allow in generous amounts of natural light. The walls of the second stage room feature posters of shows from the different eras of the Camille Playhouse. It has served historically as the setting for smaller theater productions to complement the 300 seat-plus main stage where the musicals and classic plays are held.
Binder and the Playhouse’s leadership are looking forward to the return of the smaller productions as part of what he calls “the stabilization of the past few years” as the theater continues to regain its footing.
“Poco a poco,” said Binder of the step-by-step comeback of The Playhouse to having a full season of productions. “We’ve had our community and supporters there for us to help us stay afloat.”
The Camille Playhouse is located at Dean Porter Park in Brownsville on Ringgold Road and is adjacent to Gladys Porter Zoo. For more information go to camilleplayhouse.net, or call 956-542-8900.
