By
Chuck Cox
Staff Writer
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Staff
Photo: Christina Barany
Teresa Coleman Wash, founder of TeCo Theatrical
Productions, stands in front of the marquee advertising the
upcoming production of Black Nativity by Langston Hughes,
running Dec. 13-19. |
TeCo Theatrical Productions is
months away from having a stage of its own.
The company is nearing completion of a renovation to include a 208-seat
theater in its administrative office building, the former Bluebird
Theater, 215 S. Tyler St.
Since founder Teresa Coleman Wash moved her company from Atlanta to
Dallas in 2000, most of TeCo’s community plays have been staged at the
Hall of State in Fair Park.
Coleman Wash received the 91-year-old Bluebird Theater from an anonymous
donor in 2002 and placed offices there in 2005.
The same year, renovations began on the dilapidated building.
“I really believe that the future health of art organizations is based
on our ability to collaborate and share resources,” Coleman Wash said.
“One of the things we’re excited about is the building is going to
be a resource center for art organizations and the art community.”
The theater is in the third phase of renovation at TeCo. The first was a
business incubator area on the second floor, and the second was
executive suites and conference room.
TeCo also does several workshops for adults and children at both public
and private schools and the Hall of State.
“With the renovation of this property, we’ll be able to offer arts
education programs on site,” Coleman Wash said. “We’ll still be
able to do the programs at the schools and recreation centers — we
don’t want to lose that relationship — but we will certainly be able
to serve more people by offering programs on site.”
Once the theater is completed, she said, TeCo will be able to put on
about 60 productions a year, up from the 18 its current capacity allows.
Funding for the renovation has come from both the public and private
sector and through the support of the patrons.
In addition to raising money by selling inscribed bricks to go in front
of the theater, TeCo is also selling around 200 inscribed seats for the
theater.
Coleman Wash, an Albany, Ga., native, moved to Atlanta after
graduating from Albany State University in southwest Georgia to begin
her career in broadcast advertising.
But she also fed her passion for theater by writing and producing plays
for dinner theater, which led to her chartering TeCo in September 1993.
She left Atlanta for Dallas to get married.
“I married my husband,” Coleman Wash said. “He’s from Dallas. I
couldn’t convince him to move to Atlanta, so I acquiesced.”
TeCo’s next production, Black Nativity by Langston Hughes, will
be held Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays Dec. 13-29 at the
Hampton-Illinois Library’s Black Box Theatre. Tickets are $10 in
advance and $15 at the door.
The play is being directed by Harold Steward, who is working with TeCo
for the first time.
“Black Nativity is a play they are trying to make a staple in
their season,” Steward said. “I am excited to see how this
production grows. I would love to come back and direct it again and
really make it a holiday tradition.”
The company has also presented a new play competition each February for
the last five years in which six playwrights are selected to compete in
an audience-voted one-act play contest.
The winner receives $1,000 and two round-trip tickets on Southwest
Airlines.
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