Housed in the oldest building in Lewisville, circa 1885, Lewisville Playhouse has hosted hundreds of performances during its 40 theatrical seasons.

The shows, starring residents of Lewisville and surrounding communities, go on as the organization works on the 41st season featuring five performances held in 2024 and 2025.

The backstory

Greater Lewisville Community Theatre was established as a nonprofit organization in 1983. In 1997, the nonprofit purchased the theater space in Old Town Lewisville to become the first and still the only cultural arts organization with a permanent home in the city. In 2023, the name was changed to Lewisville Playhouse.

Lewisville Playhouse board president Pat Cannon said he got involved with the nonprofit about 30 years ago as a theater dad when his daughter, a company performer, asked Cannon to help build sets. Cannon agreed to help and has been involved ever since then.


“Back in the early days, the people who were most notable in the growth of this program were Bill and Nancy Thorne. They are really the heart of what this theater became,” Cannon said. “Nancy [is] still very involved ... she's the one who makes the agreements with the publishers.”

What’s happening

Each year the company puts on five shows. The shows remaining in the 2024-25 season include:
  • "Forever Plaid": December 6-22
  • "Tigers Be Still": February 7-23
  • "Uncle Vanya": April 4-20
  • "Ragtime": June 12-29.
The organization also hosts a summer camp for children annually, which concludes with a musical performance.

The details


The nonprofit pays directors, designers and performers.

Audition notices are posted on websites such as Backstage as well as on social media.

“We have been trying to put our auditions out earlier, which is a trend in DFW, because people want to have something to work on. That’s security for them and us,” Artistic Director Zachary Cantrell said. “We try to put on shows that have large casts to give as many opportunities as we can for people to really practice their craft.”

One of Cantrell’s responsibilities as the artistic director is heading the play selection committee.


“We have about seven members of our selection committee, including Nancy, and at the very start of the process, I ask everyone, ‘What are you excited to put on?,’” Cantrell said. “We have a master list of all of the shows that each of us is excited about, which is a lot, but that's what you need. You never know what's going to happen, for example, when you are applying for rights ... they could say, ‘no.’”

Quote of note

“I think that it is putting on shows you want your patrons to be excited about but I also think the work is compelling and challenging to designers and performers who come in,” Cantrell said regarding the secret to the theater’s longevity. “... When we choose our season, I want to choose plays that if I saw an audition notice for it, I would think to myself, ‘I really want to do that.’”