Executive Artistic Director Debra Carter and two other local residents, Sharon Lipshie and Kitty Beletic, founded the nonprofit as a children’s theater program in 1986. As the children from the community aged, Carter realized the need for an adult component and began a performing company.
After a decade of touring locally and in Colorado, Carter opened a theater in the Promenade Shopping Center. The company had performed shows at Courtyard Theater in Plano, The University of Texas at Dallas or at the Eisemann Center, which made it difficult to establish an identity, Carter said.
In 2017, Repertory renovated and opened its current 165-seat theater in a former Dollar General off Coit Road.
“We learned that when you tour ... you don’t have a very strong brand,” she said. “Everyone thinks you are [associated with] where you [perform].”
What sets Repertory apart from other theaters in the area is that it has a set company of actors. Rather than auditioning for a specific play, Repertory actors audition to perform in an entire season’s worth of productions, which is not very common in the South, Carter said.
“[Other theaters may] have the same pool of actors, but it’s not an actual formalized company like a football team or a baseball team,” Carter said.
This year, the company is made up of 74 actors. By the end of the season, the troupe will have put on nine Main Stage productions as well as three special presentations. The children’s program, which is open to ages 8-18, involves twice-a-week theater classes every six weeks that culminate in performances.
Over the years, Repertory has cultivated a loyal audience, Carter said. Prior to COVID-19, there were 250 season ticket holders. That number took a hit when theaters shut down; however, it is beginning to grow back to pre-pandemic levels, Carter said.
Carter runs the theater with her daughters, Laura Alley and Michelle Levall, both of whom direct Main Stage productions. Alley also acts—she recently starred as Morticia Addams in Repertory’s production of “The Addams Family”—and is the director of education for the children’s program.
“My girls grew up in the theater,” Carter said. “They know the professionalism and the work ethic that is essential to this.”
Repertory Company Theatre
770 N. Coit Road, Ste. 2405, Richardson
972-690-5029
www.rcttheatre.com
Office hours: Mon.-Fri. 11 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
