Mission Statement
The mission of Uptown Players is to present professional theatre that meets a rising demand in the community for audiences to see their life experiences represented on stage. We offer diverse productions focusing on contemporary and alternative lifestyle themes that explore topics including diversity, relationships, family, prejudice, and values. We present plays and musicals that challenge audiences artistically, strengthen cultural bridges with the LGBTQIA+ community, and create greater positive public awareness and acceptance through the performing arts.
Founded in 2001, Uptown Players is a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization, presenting plays and musicals that challenge audiences artistically and create greater positive public awareness and acceptance through the performing arts. In 2010, Uptown Players moved from its previous home at The KD Studio Theatre, a 125-seat theater located in the Dallas Market Center corridor to the historic 399-seat Kalita Humphreys Theater on Turtle Creek. Uptown Players is one of the leading regional theaters in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area and is providing an opportunity for a wide diversity of gender styles to come together and explore life choices through great theatre themes such as relationships, family, prejudice, and values. The response from the community and critics has been remarkable, including over 25 Leon Rabin Awards from the Dallas Theatre League, and over 25 Theater Critics Forum Awards. Uptown Players has also been named the best theatre company by the Dallas Voice Readers and by the Dallas Observer and has been featured in D Magazine and on WFAA’s Daybreak and Good Morning Texas programs.
The audience base is drawn from the entire Dallas/Fort Worth area and is comprised of 60% homosexual and 40% heterosexual patrons. With an age range of 18 to 80 years, the average audience attendance is 2,900 per production. With its move to the Kalita Humphreys Theater, Uptown Players added a Dallas Pride Performing Arts Festival and has presented concert versions of musicals at the Moody Performance Hall in collaboration with the Turtle Creek Chorale. Along with these productions, Uptown Players is involved in community events such as Black Tie Dinner, Razzle Dazzle Dallas, and Gay Bingo benefiting the Dallas Resource Center.
Uptown Players stands with acceptance and inclusivity in all communities. It is our priority at Uptown Players to give a clear voice to LGBTQIA+ artists and the rich stories they tell, to offer an inclusive platform for all artists and audiences, and to offer diverse productions that represent the life experiences of the entire LGBTQIA+ community.
Uptown Players has presented several world premieres, including Gilligan’s Fire Island (2015) Redesigning Women (2013), Crazy Just Like Me (2011) and the stage adaptation of The Valley of the Dolls (2007), along with the United States premieres of the West End hit musical Soho Cinders (2014), and the Pet Shop Boys Musical Closer to Heaven (2010). Uptown Players was the first regional theater in the United States to present the Tony Award Winner The Boy from Oz and the Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize winning musical Next to Normal, following the closing of the Broadway productions. Each season, Uptown Players presents several regional premieres, including recent productions of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, The Legend of Georgia McBride, It Shoulda Been You, End of the Rainbow, The Nance, Catch Me If You Can, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, and The Producers.
