The North Texas Peforming Arts invites its students, actors, patrons, friends and the general public to join two exciting events introducing the new Willow Bend Center of the Arts, home of the North Texas Performing Arts and the Plano Children’s Theatre.
The Ribbon Cutting will be sponsored by the Plano Chamber of Commerce and feature city leaders, the construction partners, patrons and friends and will take place Thursday, December 7th, at 4:30 p.m. This event will be a celebration of the patrons and sponsors that made this facility possible.
The Grand Opening will take place on Friday, December 7th with reception to begin at 5:30 p.m., and program to commence at 6 p.m., and will focus on thanking the volunteers and patrons that have made possible this facility. Both events take place at North Texas Performing Arts, The Shops at Willow Bend, 6121 W. Park, B216, Plano, Texas, 75093.
Drinks and hors dourves will be served at each event. After each event, the NTPA Repertory Theatre will open its production of Scrooge – The Musical and its Christmas Tradition Celebration, now in its 7th year. Tickets are available at ntpa.org.
Comprising of almost 26,000 square feet of space, this complex will be the largest performing arts center for youth in the country. It will feature two mainstage theatres, two black box theatres, two dance studios, rehearsal and practice studios, and set-build and costume space.
“Our volunteers and donors made this happen, and we want to celebrate their incredible contribution in these two exciting events” says Darrell Rodenbaugh, serving in his seventh year as Governing Board President of the North Texas Performing Arts who assembled teams of volunteers that contributed some 5,000 hours to this project. “We look forward to introducing this exciting new asset to further Plano’s role as a leading performing arts destination in North Texas.”
Thanks to the generosity of the City of Plano, the Starwood Retail Group and The Shops at Willow Bend, and our other donors and volunteers, our new space allows for more learning opportunities and provides a much needed performing arts venue for the North Texas Community,” said Founder and Executive Director Sara Akers. “This will allow us to offer a wider variety Broadway and off Broadway shows, advanced training for a career-bound students, a Repertory Theatre featuring professional and amateur actors, expand our dance and therapeutic drama program, and introduce pre-school arts introduction classes and Mother’s Day Out offerings.”
The youth theater addition is a highlight of the mall’s $125 million redevelopment plan, which includes a welcoming new main entrance and a collection of up to seven chef-driven restaurants; a seven-story, 200,000-square- foot “Class A” office tower conveniently connected to the mall (approximately 800 employees); a Equinox health and fitness club; and entertainment venues such as Crayola Experience Plano. In addition, a planned expansion will include new retailers and innovative adventures for families. Finally, the mall will receive a more contemporary aesthetic interior remodel. The expansion is scheduled to open in phases from mid-2017 through 2018.
