The Art Centre Theatre

Small non-profit 501.c.3 Community Theatre serving Plano, Texas for almost 25 years.I tried out for a show and working with a wonderful Director and cast members. Met the Director, Jamey Jamison and other members of their board of directors.Well kept secret in Plano and they put out a lot of different shows across all genres; comedy, musicals, etc.

The theatre is located in a very industrial/office space. There were plenty of parking available.The theatre is tiny. The lobby had a couple of couches, and some eclectic decor. I did not print my ticket, and it was not an issue! You can just show the PDF copy on your phone.The concessions had water, candy, pop (soda), and chips for $3. They also had wine, and beer for an additional price.The employees here were very upbeat, animated, and friendly! Everyone received a fun feathered boa for the show. WARNING: the seats up front near the stage (Rows AA) and on the side of the stage (Rows G, F, and E) are basically benches and looked extremely uncomfortable! The rows back are more like your typical fold down theatre chairs.

A group of us came up to the art centere to see the Evil Dead musical after one of my friends found an advertisement for it on Facebook. The actors did an outstanding job, engaged with the crowd and got a lot of laughs. Plus with the interactive elements of the show I'm glad a lot of people in the front row had ponchos cause they had seats in the "splash zone" (Something unique to this show.) The staff checking us in and at concessions all were helpful and friendly. The inside of the theatre is cute for a small community theater in the area. Alot of the theater had seats but at least the first row or two had bench seating which wasn't clear online but worked out for those sitting there. My one major "complaint" if it really could be one is they could benefit from better signs to be able to find them easier. Either something from the street or a more clear sign on the building vs just writing on the door. Especially with them being in an area with a lot of identical/similar buildings. We also saw a lot of people pull into the parking lot for the building next door to have to pull back out on the street to get into the correct driveway for the parking lot. One of us had called to make sure we had the correct address cause iPhone maps pulled up their previous address vs the address on their website but they didn't have anyone answering phones less than 30 minutes before show time.

We've been here quite a few times but we were never treated well but the last 2 time it was just awful how they treated us. We were 5 minutes late and the manager said they gave away our seats but to go in and see what we could find. That's okay, it was our fault. We go in and our seats are open but we didn't want to walk in front of anyone while the play was going so grabbed two seats at the door.A couple of minutes later, in walks the manager with other late arrivals, with a flashlight, walks past the stage and seats these people in our seats. Well, that was annoying. Next play comes and we arrive early but no one is there. Find someone hold rehearsal in the back and find out the play was cancelled. Too bad, someone should have told us. Maybe that same someone should have put a notice on the door too!Nope, won't be back.

First of all the acting was great and play was good. The reason for the three star rating is the actual venue itself and seating. First, I selected seats and paid for them on-line but when we got to the venue we were not seated in the actual seats that I paid for because these are bench seats and people were sitting in a couple of our seat so they seated us beside them. The bench seating was uncomfortable and other people took up way too much room on the bench if you not what I mean. The bench seating was not on an incline making it hard to see everything that was going on on the stage. The entrance, hallway and amount of restrooms in inappropriate for the number of people they cram into the theater. I would recommend going to rover drama works or another venue for this type of theater.

The theater itself is just as I expected. Quite small and crowded. Makes for an intimate setting even during intermission. I did get a chance to skim some other reviews for this place prior to actually venturing out here just to get idea of how accurate the praises and/or criticisms are.Seating is bench style so that was a little different than I anticipated. I was assuming there'd be chairs and the bench style is actually a welcome surprise. We sat at "seats" A15 and A16 which is the first row on the far right if you're facing the stage. The only reason I didn't give the review a 5-star is because there were a few spots that, from this vantage point, the view is blocked. For example, the right-side top balcony and the video display on the right-side wall. But the staff there did say that if you'd like to move around to other empty seats, you're welcome to do so which is good to know so patrons are aware they have that option. So technically I could've moved to another seat during intermission if it bothered me enough but it didn't and I ultimately still found the performance and experience very enjoyable!The play we took in this evening was Beauty and the Beast (adults) and thoroughly loved it! My favorites were Lumiere (played by Mason Rettig), Belle (played by Hanna Kilpatrick), Egg Lady (played by Camille Skye), and Lefou/Maurice (played by Michael Packer). The reasons are.. hillarious, great voice, great voice, and super enthusiastic in that order =)Also, it's pretty cool that the actors and actresses stayed afterwards in a line to send us off and shake our hands. The show ended really late so I'm sure they were exhausted but it went a long way. I wanted to take a photo with some of my favorites but the moment passed and didn't get chance to ask. Maybe next time. Only picture I had was the playbill which showed a bit of the stage too.Also one last note. I saw some other reviewers mention some criticisms of the owner. The little we got to interact or observe from the guy, I definitely wouldn't be surprised if those criticisms were all true (verbally abusive, dictatorial, etc etc) but this is just based on speculation. From what I actually did see was that he can be blunt, extremely sarcastic, and won't sugarcoat things. But nothing nearly as bad as what I've been reading from other reviews. But do understand, this is my first visit here and just from perspective from the audience.

After reading a lot of the reviews and not being sure what to think I decided to give this Small Intimate Venue a shot. First of all there was plenty of parking which is nice and it was free which is even nicer! As far as the venue is concerned it is small, very small and the dive bar of community theater to classify it a bit. We came on a Friday night to see the Adult Cast version of The Nightmare Before Christmas. It started off a little sluggish and slow and left me a bit lost as I could tell most of the cast was either just doing this as a hobby or getting their feet wet in the theatre scene. That's All except for the person playing the main character of Jack Skellington and the boy playing his dog Zero which were both phenomenal. As far as the stage it is very small and the front row is literally just steps away from the stage and the very back is just a few feet back from that, I think just 6 rows in all. The stage design wasn't bad given the space or what I presume is a small budget and did the job or setting a tone. I would definitely recommend to people to give this place a shot and judge for yourself, as given the low ticket prices you don't have much to lose, especially if you come in with low or no expectations and just take the experience in for what it is.

We attended the Dinner theatre experience and it was one of the worst events we've attended in years. The food was terrible. Salad from a bag thrown on a paper plate. Some kind of soup that looked like oily dishwater ladled into a plastic bowl . And frozen lasagna heated up and thrown on more paper plates. Unfortunately the food was absolutely the best part of the experience. The show, Oh my. The show. It was a poorly written murder mystery performed by the worst cast I've ever seen on a stage. Really. A grade school production of Winnie the Pooh would have been far more interesting and better acted. It was like a group of people working at a local car wash decided at lunch that they should put on a play that night and actually did it. They should all stick to washing the cars. Please go back to the car wash and never "act" again. Please. You really aren't qualified for this on any level. Good bye Art Center Theatre.

Intimate theatre with big talent and fun shows! The front row pew seats are very comfortable and the whole theatre has a cozy environment.

It is way way off broadway. Up a fantastic lil community theatere house, can't wait til the production