Texas Almanac, 1990-1991 Page: 473

                                
CULTURE                           473

Library, County
Vidor, Orange  .............
Waco, McLennan ...........
Wallis, Austin..............
Watauga, Tarrant ..........
Waxahachie, Ellis.......... .
Weatherford, Parker ........
Weimar, Colorado  ..........
Wellington, Collingsworth  ....
Weslaco, Hidalgo  ...........
West, McLennan  ...........
West Tawakoni, Hunt ........
Wharton, Wharton ..........
Wheeler, Wheeler...........
White Settlement, Tarrant ....
Whitehouse, Smith ..........

Number
Volumes
Circulated
.    63,042
S.  510,130
..   15,312
.    26,452
S.  188,603
S.  110,670
. .   17,434
. .   2,160
. .  153,968
S.    8,145
. .   16,229
. .  230,890
.    12,500
. .  87,271
S.    5,182

Inquiries
Handled
2,230
111,106
257
0
3,111
2,847
1,621
64
5,548
510
802
16,400
60
7,009
0

Number
Volumes Inquiries
Library, County             Circulated Handled
Whitesboro, Grayson ........... . 18,383  473
Whitewright, Grayson  ..........  16,756    0
W hitney, Hill.................     0       0
Wichita Falls, Wichita........... . 231,486  6,831
Wilmer, Dallas ................  14,881  1,729
Wimberley, Hays ..............  10,399      0
Winnsboro, Wood ..............  19,202   1,250
Winters, Runnels .............. . 8,500   147
Wolfe City, Hunt............... . 9,674   240
Wolfforth, Lubbock  ............  1,206    35
Woodville, Tyler............... . 65,096  20,706
Wylie, Collin ..................  22,539  1,599
Yoakum, DeWitt  ..............  20,525   1,150
Yorktown, DeWitt ............. . 10,609    97
Zapata, Zapata ................  61,779   523

Theatre Three, a Dallas professional theater,
recently presented "The Fantasticks," one of
the most popular musicals in history, which
was written by two Texans, Harvey Schmidt
and Tom Jones. Portraying the two lovable
fathers were Jac Alder (left), also the show's
producer, and Jerry Haynes, known to
children across the country as TV's Mr. Pep-
permint. Photo Courtesy of Theatre Three.
Theater Alive, Well in Texas

Theater everywhere has long been subject to perpet-
ual gloomy predictions of its imminent death. In Texas,
despite the recent state of the economy, reports of the
death of theater are, as Mark Twain said, "greatly ex-
aggerated." Not only are there professional theaters in
large urban areas - Houston, Dallas and Fort Worth -
there are also healthy regional and community theaters
from Texarkana to El Paso and from the Panhandle to
Brownsville. Some of them are fledglings, in business
only a short time, while others, such as the 60-year-old
Amarillo Little Theater, have long been fixtures in their
communities.
At least 220 theaters have been identified by Texas
Non-profit Theaters, Inc. (TNT), a statewide support
organization with headquarters in Fort Worth. Of the
not-for-profit theaters responding to a 1987 TNT ques-
tionnaire, 12 are professional, having a professional
staff and using Actors Equity (union) contracts for
their performers. Another 80 theaters have professional
staffs - which can range from one paid professional ar-
tistic-managing director to a full staff of managing di-
rector, artistic director, assistant director, set designer,
costumer, technical director - but use volunteer
actors. Fifty-seven of the responding theaters are all
volunteer, from director to curtain-puller.
According to Enid Holm, executive director of TNT,
the benefits of having a theater in a community are
both intangible and tangible. The existence of theater
in an area enhances that area's attraction to a business
contemplating a move. After a company establishes
that an area has the basic necessities, such as adequate
water, good schools and reasonable taxes, it looks at the
amenities, including arts and cultural opportunities for
its employees. Thus, as a cultural attraction, theater

contributes to the economic growth of the community.
The tangible benefits of theater contribute in a more
direct way to the economic health of the community.
The TNT survey indicated that theaters generated
almost $48 million dollars statewide in 1987, excluding
capital expenditures, facility improvements and rentals
of costumes and sets to other groups. They do this on fi-
nancial support ranging from 50 cents to $8.50 per ca-
pita.
Audiences vary as much as the communities where
the theaters are located and their levels of financial
support. Some of the smaller theater groups play
mostly to local audiences, while such theaters as the
Granbury Opera House or the outdoor drama "Texas"
in the Palo Duro Canyon draw audiences from all over
the world.
Facilities used by Texas theater groups range from
buildings designed specifically for theater use, such as
the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Dallas Theater Cen-
ter, to the Colorado City Playhouse, a turn-of-the-cen-
tury opera house refurbished by local citizens. Theaters
are housed in other late-19th-century opera houses in
Shiner and Granbury. The Carnegie library in Gaines-
ville is home to the Butterfield Stage Players; the Great-
er Cleburne Carnegie Players use the second floor of
the Cleburne Carnegie Library, while the Leyland Mu-
seum occupies the first floor.
The arts in Texas in general, including theater, are
supported by a network of organizations including the
Texas Commission on the Arts, Texas Non-profit The-
aters, Inc., Texas Association of Museums, Texas
Accountants and Lawyers for the Arts, the Southwest
Alternate Media Project, and community arts councils.