The nonprofit has announced it is seeking to build a new building that will eventually serve as an anchor tenant in Midtown’s new Ion District, currently developing around The Ion, a 270,000 square-foot, multistory hub for technological innovation.
“It is incredible to see how we have grown over the last 53 years,” said Hillary Hart, executive director of the nonprofit, in the news release. “With our commitment to supporting local artists and creating more of our main stage productions here in Houston we needed more space.”
The nonprofit’s two schools—Humphreys School of Musical Theatre and The River—have continued to grow, Hart said, as have community engagement programs with nonprofit partners in the community.
Theatre Under the Stars is in the early stages of designing and developing the blueprints for the new building, a spokesperson for the nonprofit said, with construction and opening of the new building likely spanning the next few years.
Once completed, the new building will not just offer the current programming; both schools will be brought under one roof, and the nonprofit will expand the curriculum and provide dedicated rehearsal space for self-produced shows and the space to develop new works, a spokesperson said.
Meanwhile, the nonprofit is working with Rice Management Company, which manages the Ion District land on behalf of the owner—Rice University—to identify an appropriate location in the district.
“We are delighted to welcome the educational and outreach programs of TUTS [Theatre Under the Stars] to the Ion District,” said Ryan Levasseur, managing director for Rice Management Company, in the news release. “The District’s purpose is to be a vibrant urban environment of social immersion and inclusion that engages people with each other and with the city through the arts, nature, food, science and technology. The students and outreach partners of TUTS will add to the vibrance and energy gaining momentum here.”
