The History of PALT

Theatre in the Port Arthur area can trace its roots as far back as 1927 when a local minister (Rev. Kline of First Christian Church of Port Arthur) started a Drama Club within his church, which he called “Little Theatre”. They had about twenty-five members. They presented several plays at the Elks Lodge, but this Club faded away by 1930 when the Reverend Kline resigned his position at the Church and moved. Between 1930 and 1939, there is no record of organized theater in the Port Arthur area before 1939. This group seemed to have no connection with PALT.

“Port Arthur Little Theatre” (PALT) was formed in 1939 by five members from the Port Arthur High School Repertoire Players who were unable to participate in plays after graduation. The Theatre’s first constitution was approved in 1939, and for the first season (1940-1941), they had thirty-five members. Membership dues were $4. Their first play was “The Skull,” presented at St. James Auditorium on 16th Street in PA in 1940. They presented plays for three seasons, then disbanded shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor due to the war effort. PALT started back up after the war in 1945 and presented 3-4 plays each season for the remainder of the 1940s.

PALT had no permanent location, and meetings and rehearsals were held in church buildings, YMCA rooms, a fire station, and at members’ homes. Stage sets were built and painted in individual garages. Show productions were mostly held at Thomas Jefferson High School Auditorium and at Franklin School. One show was held at the Nederland High School Auditorium. Auditorium rental costs were between $10 and $15 per night.

In 1948, Ms. Leonard Abshire offered free use of her barn on her estate in Griffin Park. PALT shared the barn with a cow called Mona, who interrupted rehearsals one night when she proudly produced a little red heifer. Kerosene lanterns and stoves were used for light and heat in the barn. In May of that year, PALT gutted the barn, built a stage, and installed lights to facilitate a meeting place and to rehearse. Show productions for the public were still held at school auditoriums. PALT did produce a one-act play in the barn for members only, but shortly after that, Abshire sold the property and the barn in 1950, and thus PALT was once again homeless.

When the Abshire property was sold in 1950, the theater found a more comfortable home in the former Westminster Presbyterian Church building at 520 Richmond Ave. Generous donations from area merchants helped the group make a down payment, and the 1950-51 season opened in the building's newly remodeled, 150-seat auditorium with a production of Goodbye My Fancy. In 1950, PALT also obtained its charter and became a not-for-profit organization.

Then tragedy struck; fire gutted the building on July 14, 1956, and once again, PALT became homeless. Undaunted, the members voted to begin a fundraising drive for a new building. In the meantime, they returned to using any available facility, including a KC hall and local school auditoriums. However, looking forward, PALT started a fundraising drive for a future home.

Again, with the help of local businesses, a new 180-seat Theatre at Fifth Street and Vicksburg Avenue became a reality and PALT opened its new season on Nov. 25, 1957, with Witness for the Prosecution. The theatre was dubbed the “Playhouse”. The larger stage and backstage space made possible the realization of another dream: the production of musicals, which have proved to be PALT’s most popular shows. This theater was the only theater that PALT designed and built from the ground up and was used for about 27 years. Besides producing shows, PALT offered summer events for youth called “Summer Theatre.”

By 1970, the theater had outgrown its building, and membership was declining. After years of exploring options, PALT purchased a piece of property near the Driftwood Motel on Memorial Blvd, but when funding never materialized to build a Theater, it was sold in 1980.

The group found a new location in 1983: another former church building at Jimmy Johnson Boulevard and Colorado Avenue, built in 1973. It was purchased for $103,000, and the adjacent lots (now used for parking) for $23,700. However, plans to renovate the property had to be put on hold as the entire region experienced its worst economic slump in 50 years. PALT limited its productions to simple plays that would fit within the limited space. For musicals, PALT rented the Port Arthur Civic Center for several years.

Enter Lamar State College-Port Arthur (then Lamar University-Port Arthur). The college needed a theater facility, but state law at the time prevented it from constructing a new building. The college could, however, acquire and renovate an existing one. PALT's members voted to give its Fifth Street Playhouse and property to the college in return for an agreement that would allow the organization to use the facility (for 7 years) twice a year, once remodeling was complete. The college dismantled the old Playhouse, relocated the structure to 1600 Lakeshore Drive, and reassembled the framework with extensive enhancements. The old Fifth Avenue site is now home to an LSC-PA Lecture Hall.

The college's generous assistance led to a new project: the joint summer musical production in which people could enroll for college credit or participate for fun. The first "Town and Gown" production was Man of La Mancha in 1995, and our audiences continued to grow. This joint production became our first show of each season. Lamar shouldered most of the costs, and PALT actors and support personnel enabled them to present large musicals as part of their summer theater classes.

In 1996, PALT broke ground on its own Playhouse renovations, a $175,000 project funded from its building fund. The project added a new stage area, wings, dressing rooms, and storage space for costumes and props, which enabled the old stage area to be converted into additional seating for the audience. Seating increased from 75 to 124. Chairs donated by the Park Plaza Cinema were painted, reupholstered (material cost funded by Toyota Motors), and installed to replace the old church pews and a sloping floor was installed. Old utility poles were used to create designated parking spaces in our parking lot.

To accomplish this, PALT had to get a zoning variance to add the new addition. Several neighbors spoke against this project, but the City approved it with certain conditions. The primary two conditions were that parking was prohibited on the street and all productions or events must conclude before midnight.

At the same time, the Hebert Foundation granted the theater $50,000 to improve the house and lobby, and the Southeast Texas Arts Council provided two grants totaling $15,500 toward a new lighting system. A light booth was constructed, new carpeting was laid down, and kitchen and lobby restrooms got new fixtures. Another $25,000 grant from the Hebert Foundation in 1997 provided access to restrooms and the auditorium for people with disabilities.

The remodeled Playhouse reopened Dec. 3, 1997, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony, and The Foreigner opened the next evening. During the ceremony, the newly remodeled lobby was dedicated in the name of a longtime volunteer, the late Irving Lefkowitz. His wife, Ursula, cut the ribbon. PALT continued to make improvements as funds were available through the nineties. The number of shows increased from 3 to 5, and a summer musical for youth was added. PALT also did musicals for the CalOILcade event for several years.

Over the last two decades, the group has restarted their Dinner Shows, beginning with On Golden Pond in 2003 at the Tea Room in Nederland and continuing for many years at the Courtyard Cafe in Groves. The summer musical continued with Lamar College of Port Arthur till 2016, when, due to college budget cuts, the summer show was discontinued, and the Director of Theatre retired.

Also, during this period, the group continued to make improvements to the Theater to enhancer audience enjoyment, via grants and donations, by asphalting the front parking lot, Tile Flooring in the Lobby, enhancing our Light and Sound equipment with newer technology, a new Front Curtain and Carpet and Auditorium Ceiling, adding another AC Unit, a portable prop building and a Concession Trailer to help in fundraising.. In Total, PALT has received over $276,000 in donations since 1995.

PALT enhanced its offerings to the community by adding a Youth Christmas Show, a Children’s Education Summer Camp (CELT), a Dance Recital (now discontinued), a Junior Board for youth to learn the operational aspects of the Theater, and other unique events.

Starting in 2005 and continuing up to the present, PALT has participated in various local Festivals, the main one being the Nederland Heritage Festival. We have also participated in the Port Neches Riverfest and the Groves Pecan Festival, depending on the availability of personnel and other conditions.

PALT has also sponsored many local pageants. Examples include CalOILcade, Heritage Festival, Miss Nederland and other cities to name a few. Our CalOILcade contestants have won top prizes 7 times.

The Theater structures were able to withstand several hurricanes during the 2000-20’s, with minor damage and the majority of that was repaired with our funds and local grants. During Hurricane Harvey in 2017, our Theater was used as a staging area to rescue folks from a Nursing Home and surrounding Homes. The theater also continued to perform a full season of plays during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020-21, adhering to all guidelines set forth by the CDC and the state.

PALT continues to grow in terms of the types of shows we produce, our membership base, and overall community involvement.