Brownsville Theater Sharpens Appeal to Winter Texans
by Ric Cavazos
Brandon Binder analyzed last season’s attendance at the Camille Lightner Playhouse and came away with an important conclusion.
“We had lower numbers from Winter Texans,” said Binder, the theater’s artistic director. “Winter Texans made up 30 percent of our audience.”
Binder and Camille’s leadership figured the iconic Brownsville theater should be more of a draw in the Rio Grande Valley’s Winter Texan community. The theater’s advertising and marketing campaigns have been revised and sharpened to focus on the Winter Texan market.
“We know they’re seeking things to do and events to attend,” said Martie DiGregorio, who chairs the theater’s board of directors. “Community theaters are nationwide. Winter Texans may have had previous exposure to them, and we’re happy to go to them and explain the services and shows we offer.”
On The Comeback
The Camille Playhouse is an institution in Brownsville. Community theater in the city got its start in 1963 at a vacant cotton sampling warehouse on Central Boulevard. It moved the following year to its present location at Dean Porter Park. A new facility was built there and named to honor the memory of Camille Sams Lightner. She was the sister of Gladys Sams Porter, who is the namesake of the famed zoo across the street from the theater on Ringgold Road.
The theater has endured ever since. Productions throughout the years are displayed with show posters hung in Camille’s second stage grand room. Its biggest challenge may have come in 2020 and 2021 with the outbreak of COVID-19 and the limitations placed on public gatherings. The Playhouse is still on the mend from those years.
“COVID really did a number on us,” DiGregorio said. “We’re still recovering, and slowly but surely, we’re making strides.”
Another board member, David Salinas, says many community theaters weren’t so fortunate and did not survive the COVID years.
“We’re still here,” Salinas said. “Thanks to community support and donations we received, we’re not in that bucket, (theater shutdowns).”
Winter Texans, Camille leadership hopes, will be a significant part of the theater’s continuing recovery.
Binder says The Playhouse is open to putting on more productions likely to appeal to Winter Texans during their stay in the Valley. The makeup of audiences helps the theater map out its productions for upcoming seasons.
“It’s difficult for us to do shows if we’re not sure of the groups coming in,” Binder said.
There’s another area where Winter Texans can be of help to Camille. The Playhouse has only two paid staffers. Actors and production-support crews in lighting, live music, and choreography participate as volunteers. Winter Texans are welcome to audition for casting roles if they are available for the length of a show’s run, as well as working in the important support jobs.
“We don’t turn anyone away,” DiGregorio said. “This is your community theater.”
For more information, go to camilleplayhouse.net or call 956-542-8900.
