The Walter Dallas Theater at UArts

This transformative theater and music hub—to be housed at the Arts Bank building at Broad and South streets—will honor the legacy of Walter Dallas through student, youth and community programs.

A renovated theater will offer a state-of-the-art venue for diverse artists to perform and accessible shows for all ages. Both the program and the site will offer spaces for youth to be together safely, find their own talents and embrace those of others. Lastly, the project will include an exciting music club for visitors of all ages and from near and far.

We will kick off the project this fall by sharing plans for the building and programming and celebrate those who were impacted by Walter Dallas.

UArts will be embarking on the creation of a transformative theater and music hub—housed at the Arts Bank building at Broad and South streets—that will be open to enrolled students, community groups, K–12 learners and visitors. This new space and program also serve as an opportunity to honor Walter Dallas, a Black Philadelphia theater icon and creator of UArts’ Theater program, by dedicating the Arts Bank Theater in his name. Walter Dallas’ legacy will be continued through intentional, community-driven programming at the theater to serve Philadelphians of all ages and showcasing his legacy in the physical space occupied by the building and program design. 

The mission of the Walter Dallas Theater will be to elevate, honor and promote theater and performance practices locally and globally. As an academic center for advancing human creativity through performance, this site is poised to expose UArts and Philadelphia to the many forms and methods of storytelling that exist to affirm our humanity. 

The Walter Dallas Theater has the following program goals.

• Offer safe out-of-school time programs for Philadelphia students, including LGBTQIA+ teens

• Align and coordinate with the city’s anti-violence goals, including gun violence prevention noted below

• Encourage tourism and revitalization of the Avenue of the Arts

• Serve the surrounding community through meaningful and accessible programming

Walter Dallas (1947–2020) was the founder and the first director of UArts’ Theater program and a legendary figure in Philadelphia’s theater history. In 1983, when Philadelphia College of the Performing Arts (PCPA) merged with Philadelphia College of Art (PCA), Dallas founded the School of Theater and served as its first director (the school later became the Ira Brind School of Theater Arts). While serving as director of the Theater program, Dallas also directed at Freedom Theatre in North Philadelphia and Philadelphia Drama Guild at the University of Pennsylvania, where he directed the musical Lazarus, Unstoned. In 2002, Dallas received an honorary doctorate from UArts that recognized his contributions to the nation’s theater culture. 

The Atlanta-born actor, director and educator was renowned for his craft, having worked with prominent actors such as Viola Davis, whom he directed in August Wilson’s Seven Guitars, among other artists. Dallas’s legacy has influenced not only theater in Philadelphia, but also across the nation. Barbara Silzle of the Philadelphia Cultural Fund shared with WHYY that Dallas “gave access” to talented Black artists who had “[fewer] platforms and access” in Philadelphia at the time. 

This new program not only transforms an important corner of the Avenue of the Arts, but will also offer an important space for the community to embrace diverse theater. The site, program and public spaces will honor Black and LGBTQIA+ artists and serve as a welcoming center for diverse artistic voice and expression. Both the program and the site will offer spaces for youth to be together safely, find their own talents and embrace those of others. Lastly, the theater will offer an exciting music club and restaurant for visitors from near and far.

The program also aligns greatly with the City of Philadelphia’s Office of Violence Prevention gun violence reduction goals by strengthening the community—mobilizing support and providing positive alternatives in communities to help boost resilience among residents impacted by violence.

• The Walter Dallas Theater will provide out-of-school time programming for youth; provide intentional and curated programs for young people at the intersection of South Street and the Avenue of the Arts; and expose the public to music, art and theater that tell important stories and share diverse voices.

• The Walter Dallas Theater will promote arts education for youth, exposing them to safe hobbies and sustainable and exciting careers; encourage further study and possible college progression; and offer ways young people can express themselves without the use of guns. 

• The theater will also create jobs; ensure the local blocks are clean; and will include faculty and staff trained in trauma-informed care (provided by Student Affairs at UArts).

Advisory Committee

• Hon. Ed Rendell, former Pennsylvania governor and mayor of Philadelphia 

• Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta, Pennsylvania state representative, poet, and performer

• Johnnie Hobbs Jr., actor and director

• Caroline Clay, actor and professor of Theater, University of Iowa

• Ebonne Ruffins Leaphart, trustee, UArts, and vice president of local media development, Comcast

• Barbara Silzle, arts advocate, nonprofit consultant, and former executive director, Philadelphia Cultural Fund

• David Brown, assistant dean for community and communications, Temple University

• Jen Childs, co-founder and artistic director, 1812 Productions

• Kikau Alvaro, interim dean, Ira Brind School of Theater Arts, UArts

• Kevin Haden, dean, School of Music, UArts

• Romona Riscoe Benson, jazz singer and director, corporate and community impact, PECO Energy

Questions? Contact Michelle Sonsino, director for institutional giving and government relations, at msonsino@uarts.edu.