This summer, WaterTower Theatre in Addison underwent a major sea change when producing artist director Terry Martin vacated the position he's held for 17 years to head up the fine arts department at Greenhill School. Martin deserves to be commended for all he accomplished during his tenure at WaterTower. He turned a small theater in a Dallas suburb into one of the very best in the area, leaving it with an operating budget of $1.8 million, nearly five times the budget he started out with. His last year on the job was also one of the theater's strongest, culminating with the regional premiere of Tony-winning musical comedy One Man, Two Guvnors, directed by Martin himself. The superb and fun show served as an excellent note for Martin's departure. (That show was also special because it starred Dallas native Brian Gonzales in the lead, and Gonzales had been the lead understudy in the original Broadway production.) WaterTower is a gem that Martin polished, and it will be exciting to see how the new leadership carries what he built forward in WaterTower's 20th season, which begins Oct. 7 with the Johnny Cash musical Ring of Fire.
Readers' Pick:
Matthew Posey, Ochre House Theatre