About Us
Mission:
The Classic Theatre creates excellent theatre that is relevant, diverse, entertaining and transformative.
Vision:
We envision San Antonio as a vibrant city with a rich diversity of arts and culture which connects communities
Staff
Kelly Hilliard Roush: Executive & Artistic Director
210-468-3900 | kroush@classictheatre.org
Kelly has worked regionally as a professional artist, educator and administrator for over twenty-five years. She has worked in both corporate and non-profit management, serving as Production Coordinator for Fox Sports Net, Lead Agency Director of First Congregational Community Services (FCCS), and as a producer at Cold Comfort Summer Theatre.
As an actor, she has worked in numerous theatres regionally. Some of her favorite roles include Arkadina in The Seagull at Classic, Catherine in Proof, Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing, Anne Bronte in The Bronte Project and Masha in The Seagull. Plays directed in San Antonio include; Bus Stop, and A Doll’s House at Classic and Lucky Woman at The Overtime. Directing credits outside San Antonio include; These Shining Lives, Trojan Women, Lend Me A Tenor, and The Clean House.
In addition to performing and directing, she has worked as a producer, writer, collaborator and educator. Most recently, she served as Assistant Professor of Theatre at Aurora University. Roush is an Equity actress who earned her M.F.A. in Professional Actor Training from Louisiana State University.
Kacey Roye: Education Director
kroye@classictheatre.org
Kacey is a Southern California native, performing and teaching for over ten years. After college, she relocated to Portland, OR, where she continued to work as an actor in theatre, TV and film. She has worked at The Music Room School of Performing Arts in California as an instructor/choregrapher for the Show Biz Kids. At The Magik Theatre, she has served as the Education Programs Manager, and as a company member.
Her most recent San Antonio acting credits include; A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Helena), A Doll’s House (Nora), Bus Stop (Grace), and The Tempest (Ariel) at Classic, Grease (Cha-Cha), Crime and Punishment (Sonya), and Venus in Fur (Vanda), at The Public Theatre of San Antonio, Hamlet (Ophelia), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Puck), and Jingle Bells, Batman Smells! (June B. Jones) with The Magik Theatre. Some of her favorite credits on the West Coast include; Something in the Air (Holloway), Little Shop of Horrors (Crystal), A Flea in her Ear (Nannette), Cabaret (Helga), Our Country’s Good (Dabby Bryant), Dog Sees God (Sally), and The Shape of Things (Jenny).
Kacey is a SAG-AFTRA member and a graduate of Chapman University’s College of Performing Arts, receiving her B.F.A. in Theatre Performance.
Caroline Neelley: Office Administrator
caroline@classictheatre.org
Caroline is a Tennessee native and a current Junior at Trinity University, majoring in Theatre and minoring in Arts, Letters, and Enterprise. She joined The Classic as a Trinity ALE Intern in the summer of 2018 and joined the staff as an Office Administrator in the fall of 2018.
Florence Bunten: Box Office Manager
210-589-8450 | flo@classictheatre.org
Flo has had a career as a theatre professional, having managed a dinner theatre for the US Army for almost 34 years. After retiring from civil service, she came to work for Classic Theatre in fall of 2010.
She is a board member of Alamo Theatre Arts Council and the Scottish Society of San Antonio. For fun she enjoys singing and playing Celtic music with the band RTFM. “Dinner theatre was fun, but it’s refreshing to work for a theatre that does Shakespeare and other classic shows.”
Contact:
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Season 12 Auditions!
2019-2020 season 12 auditions will be held on May 11, from 9:00am-5:00pm.
Callbacks for Romeo & Juliet will be held on May 12, from 7:00pm-10:00pm at The Classic Theatre.
All Directors will be present and casting for roles in Season 12.
Please prepare 2, 1-minute monologues: 1 Shakespeare/classical & 1 contemporary.
Call our box office at 210-589-8450 to reserve your audition slot.
All roles receive a stipend.
NOTE: if you are unable to attend the audition date, please email a video submission to kroush@classictheatre.org. Videos can be emailed with a Youtube link, shared on Dropbox, Google Drive, or mailed to:
The Classic Theatre of San Antonio
PO Box 15454
San Antonio, TX 78212
Season 12:
The Ties That Bind
In a world filled with discord, what brings us together?
– Romeo & Juliet | by William Shakespeare | Sept. 6-29 | Directed by Joe Goscinski
A wall will factor into the staging of Shakespeare’s tragedy about star-crossed lovers. Joe Goscinski, who directed Classic’s delightful staging of A Midsummer Night’s Dream last fall, is returning to direct the show.
– Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley | by Lauren Gunderson & Margot Melcon | Nov. 22-Dec. 22 | Directed by Kelly Hilliard Roush
The show — a sort-of sequel to Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, written by Lauren Gunderson and Margot Melcon, focused on Mary Bennet — sold out when Classic debuted it in December, so Kelly Hilliard Roush, who directed that production and also serves as the company’s Executive and Artistic Director, decided to bring it back.
Classic has arranged for the original cast and director to return to their roles.
– Anna in the Tropics | by Nilo Cruz | Feb. 7-Mar. 1 | Directed by Kelly Hilliard Roush
Nilo Cruz’s drama is set in a Florida cigar factory in the 1920s, where a lector reads Anna Karenina while the workers roll cigars. Tolstoy’s story gradually begins to impact their lives.
– Our Town | by Thornton Wilder | Mar. 20-Apr.12 | Directed by Mark Stringham
Thornton Wilder’s 1938 classic looks at life in tiny Grover’s Corners, though the staging may look a little different from other productions, since it will reflect San Antonio’s demographics.
We will be casting it to reflect our town, and we have received permission from the Thornton Wilder estate to do so, and to cast a man or a woman as the Stage Manager.
– Brighton Beach Memoirs | by Neil Simon | May 8-31 | Directed by Tim Hedgepeth
Neil Simon’s semi-autobiographical 1983 play, about how family can hold you close in good ways and bad. It’s the Depression-era story of a Jewish teenager coming-of-age in a crowded household in Brooklyn, NY.
The Classic Theatre is a small professional non-profit theatre in San Antonio that creates excellent theatre that is relevant, diverse, entertaining and transformative. We envision San Antonio as a vibrant city with a rich diversity of arts and culture which connects communities. We were founded in 2008 in order to build a professional theatre that inspires passionate involvement in a shared theatrical experience and to create a source of pride for our community.
The Classic Theatre of San Antonio is recognized by the Internal Revenue Service as a 501 (c) 3, non-profit corporation
Our Board of Trustees:
- Randy Stier (Chair)
- Christi Eanes (Vice-chair)
- Joe DeMott (Secretary)
- Emily Boehm (Treasurer)
- Sara Beesley
- Bart Roush
- John Joseph
- Kathy Sakai
- Armando Barrera
- Rosa M. Cabezas-Gil
Our Advisory Board:
- Diane Malone
- Rick Malone
- Terri Peña Ross
- Allan S. Ross
Press
San Antonio’s Classic Theatre Announces 2019-’20 Season
Classic Theatre will offer its patrons a little bit more next season.
The company, which typically has staged four shows per year at its theater at 1924 Fredericksburg Road, is expanding to five shows during the 2019-20 season.
The theme of the company’s 12th season is the ties that bind. The season includes plays exploring a variety of connections.
Source: Debrah Martin, San Antonio Express News- March 4, 2019
Woodlawn Theatre Block has new ownership
The city block that includes the Woodlawn Theatre and the Classic Theatre is off the market. The building was purchased by 1920 Woodlawn Partners, a limited liabilty company formed by Austinite Trevor Titman; his father, Sheridan Titman; and Sherry Wehner.
The owners would like to add a gallery and perhaps a cafe or coffee shop to the mix in hopes of helping to turn the neighborhood into an arts destination. “We want to bring tenants in there that mesh well with the Woodlawn Theater and the Classic,” Trevor Titman said. “Those are cultural anchors for the property and the whole area.”
Source: Deborah Martin, San Antonio Express News- May 15, 2018
Classic Theatre focuses on hope in 11th season line-up
The season’s theme is “things longed for,” (Kelly Roush) said. At the heart of that is hope, a recurring theme in all four shows. “Hope is at the core of joy,” Roush said. Roush also sought plays that had roles for actors of all ages, and made it a point to choose two plays by female playwrights and two by male playwrights. She’s also striking that gender balance in the directors who will be heading each show.
Source: San Antonio Express News- March 6, 2018
Classic Theatre’s executive director expands her role
The company has taken another step in that direction by making Hilliard Roush both executive and artistic director. She took on the additional role in January. The four founders who have remained involved — Malone and her husband, Rick, and Allan S. and Terri Peña Ross — still serve on the advisory board, but the day-to-day responsibilities fall squarely on her shoulders.
“They have laid such a strong groundwork and are still absolutely here to advocate for the company, to participate as artists, but they get to take a break,” Hilliard Roush said.
Source: San Antonio Express News- February 8, 2018
San Antonio’s Essential Theatre Companies & Performing Arts Venues:
Do you like your plays to stick to the dramatic canon? If so, The Classic Theatre of San Antonio’s productions of popular classics and forgotten masterpieces is the space where you can let your theater geek flag fly. Performances typically include a complimentary champagne reception on opening night and a “Community Talk Back” near the end of the run. The company’s ninth season wraps up with productions of Shakespeare’s The Tempest (February 17-March 12) and William Inge’s Bus Stop (May 5-28). 1924 Fredericksburg Road, (210) 589-8450, classictheatre.org.
Source: San Antonio Current – February 22, 2017
Classic Theatre Branches Out with Annex:
The 1,950-square-foot annex isn’t exclusively a storage facility. There’s an office, and a small room beneath the costume loft has been turned into a shop where Rick Clyde, who is technical director for the current season, can build set pieces and other items.
Source: Express News- January 18, 2017
Can San Antonio Finally Join the Big Boys of Theatre?:
“Money will follow mission,” she (Kelly Roush) said. “If we are doing our mission, and it is the time (to transition to Equity) — which we believe it is — then the other things will follow. We feel that we’ve taken a sizable leap this year, so in the next two years … once it starts, there really is the ability for it to explode.”
Source: Express News- December 3, 2016
The Best San Antonio Theatre Productions of 2016:
Source: Express News- December 21, 2016
History
The Classic Theater of San Antonio was founded in 2008 in order to build a professional theatre that inspires passionate involvement in a shared theatrical experience and to create a source of pride for our community.
The Classic Theatre of San Antonio Founders:
- Chris Cheever
- Asia Ciaravino
- Tony Ciaravino
- Diane Malone
- Rick Malone
- Allan S. Ross
- Terri Peña Ross
