Thirty facts for our 30th Anniversary

Pegasus Theatre turned 30 on October 2, 2015! Here are 30 interesting facts about those 30 years.

1. Kurt Kleinmann is the founder of Pegasus Theatre and has served as its Artistic Director since the very beginning.
2. Kurt is married to the theatre’s Executive Director, Barbara Weinberger, who joined the theatre in August 1986 and has held multiple positions since that time.
3. The theatre’s motto (“Defying Gravity Since 1985”) refers to the theatre’s mission to focus on new and original comedies. (The original motto was “We’re Serious About Our Comedy!”)
4. Focusing on comedy is a lonely road! To our knowledge, only one other theatre in the nation has had this focus: The Ridiculous Theatre Company in New York, founded by Charles Ludlum.
5. We focus on comedy because (a) it’s more challenging than drama, (b) it’s easier to deliver a message via comedy, and (c) we love to lighten people’s hearts!
6. We experimented with drama a few times in our history and received a lot of critical acclaim for that work. What we learned is that (a) we could produce outstanding dramas, (b) it confused our audience when we did so, and (c) we much prefer to focus on new and original comedies!
7. In the past ten years, we’ve focused a great deal on the theatre’s signature work: the Living Black & White™ shows. These are the most consistently popular of our shows. We present them at the Eisemann Center in Richardson, Texas.
8. “Living Black & White™” refers to a production style where the entire show looks like an old black and white movie has come to life on stage. They are comedy-murder mysteries that feature the inept but endearing detective Harry Hunsacker and his friends Nigel Grouse and Lt Foster.
9. The Living Black & White™ production style relies on special makeup, lighting, sets, props, costumes, dialogue, staging, and acting style, all of which has been tailored to create the impression of an old movie of the 1930s-40s.
10. Anyone involved in a Living Black & White™ production must sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement stating that they will not reveal any of the production secrets learned in the course of their work with Pegasus Theatre.
11. We have licensed a Living Black & White™ show to two organizations in the theatre’s history: a college in Abilene, Texas; and ICT (now Mainstage Irving-Las Colinas). The ICT productions in particular were outstanding and helped motivate us to start producing again after a three-year “dark” period (2003-2005).
12. April 2016 will mark the 30th anniversary of the Living Black & White™ series at Pegasus Theatre! Yes, Harry turns 30 this season!
13. During the past 30 years, there have been 17 Living Black & White™ scripts which have been produced approximately 35 times.
14. In 2002, we took one of the Living Black & White™ shows (It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Murder!) to New York where we co-produced with Step Lively Productions and garnered outstanding audience response!
15. Pegasus Theatre has produced over 100 shows in its 30-year history. Roughly 80% of those have been world premieres or Southwestern premieres. We were the first DFW theatre to produce works by Charles Ludlam, Charles Busch, and other playwrights of national note.
16. 

    Barbara Weinberger and Kurt Kleinmann

    In the coming years, we plan to present the wide variety of comedies that long-time Pegasus fans remember from the earlier years. An example is this year’s world premiere of The Coarse Actor Rises! by Kurt Kleinmann.

17. We have produced the work of many other local playwrights, such as Robin Armstrong, Gerald Fitzgerald, and Steve Lovett.
18. Several years ago we began holding readings of the Living Black & White™ scripts, so audiences could “catch up” on shows they had missed. Recently Kurt had the idea to create RadioVizion™, a way of staging these readings so that they look like old radio plays, complete with a Foley artist hard at work creating the sound effects.
19. The theatre’s work has been featured in national publications such as Variety, American Theatre, and D magazine.
20. Our work has earned numerous awards, the most prestigious of which is the Ken Bryant Vision Award bestowed on Kurt Kleinmann by The 500 Inc in recognition of his visionary work as a leader in the DFW theatre community.
21. One example of Kurt’s leadership in the community is his work with the now-defunct Dallas Theatre League. Kurt was a member of the group that founded the League, and he was its first (and only) elected president for the first six years of its existence. (In the ensuing years, League presidents were appointed, not elected.)
22. Many people look forward to the appearance of The Lady in Red at the end of each Living Black & White™ shows. The dresses are custom designed for the show and help demonstrate the effectiveness of the Living Black & White™ technique.
23. We didn’t always have a “Lady in Red” moment at the end of the show. Purely by accident, we discovered that if someone came on stage who was in ordinary clothing and no makeup, the effect was breathtaking for the audience. Kurt recognized the potential for creating an unforgettable moment for the audience, and the Lady in Red was born!
24. The dresses for the Lady in Red weren’t always red, nor were they always full-length gowns tailor-made for Ms. Weinberger! In our former space in Deep Ellum, Barb would go onstage in whatever she had worn to work that day. Gradually we realized that having a special outfit for that moment made it so much more special for the audience! And once we started producing at the Eisemann Center, it was clear that only a full-length gown would do justice to the beautiful setting!
25. After every show, the audience has the opportunity to meet the cast in the lobby and have their photo taken. This led to us getting voted “Best Photo Opportunity in DFW” by DFW Culture Map!
26. Just as with the old studio system associated with movies of the 1930s and 1940s, we often use the same actors over and over in successive Living Black & White™ shows. The reason is simple: they understand the unique acting style required for these plays!
27. But we love to introduce new actors into the Pegasus family! This year, three of the 12 actors are donning black and white makeup for the first time and learning the joys of the extensive process!
28. After years of trying to explain the Living Black & White™ canon to new directors, we finally wrote down everything a director needs to know in what we call HarryPedia! (Example: Don’t let Lt Foster be too mean to Harry or the audience won’t like him!)
29. In 2014, we appointed Art Kedzierski as our Managing Director, and he has done amazing work in his first 15 months: revamping our social media strategy (including our website and Facebook page), rebranding the theatre with new graphic designs, instilling a higher level of professionalism with various policies and procedures, and generally being an unstoppable force for good!
30. We recognize that for Pegasus Theatre to have a future, we need a succession plan. Art is part of that process. So is Scott Nixon, the understudy for Harry Hunsacker for the past three years. When the time comes to turn over the reins to a new generation, we’ll be ready!