Lights dim at Stage West
Theater to move out by the end of the month
By Aaron Kokoruz
Staff Reporter

Stage West Theater’s 10-year stint on the corner of Berry Street and University Drive is coming to an end.

The theater is moving to the W.E. Scott Theater at 3505 W. Lancaster Ave. and should be out of the University Drive location by the end of the month, said Peggy Kruger-O’Brien, stage manager of the theater.

The theater is moving to help get rid of some debt it has taken on since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, said Kruger-O’Brien, who is also the administrative assistant for the theater.

“Since 9/11, donations to theaters and charities have been way down,” Kruger-O’Brien said. “Selling our current building will help us to get ourselves on a firm foundation for the future.”

An independent buyer bought the theater on University Drive and it hasn’t been disclosed what the new facility will be, Kruger-O’Brien said.

During the last 10 years, employees of the theater have received more Theater Critic Awards than any other theater in Fort Worth, Kruger-O’Brien said. None of the employees will be losing their jobs during the theater’s move, she said.

Stage West is an independent theater company that produces all its own shows and occasionally works with other organizations, such as TCU, Kruger-O’Brien said.

“When we need to fill up the schedule a bit, we will sometimes then bring in outside sources,” she said.

Richard Allen, a radio-TV-film professor, said in the past, the theater has been very nice in accommodating and working with TCU, especially while being on a tight budget and rehearsing at odd hours.

Feleceia Benton, a junior theater and advertising and public relations major, said it’s awful that Stage West is moving.

“So many of the TCU students relied heavily on the theater because of its accessibility to campus, which was very important,” Benton said.