About Us

This marvelous old historical building, previously named "The Hollywood", was first opened in 1941 with the movie "When Ladies Meet" with Joan Crawford and Robert Taylor. Many of these wonderful old movie houses have disappeared from the American scene.

The Number “1” Plays & Players was originally chartered in 1980 as a non-profit theatre group that did not have its own home, but still enjoyed performing annually at Galveston’s Dickens On The Strand, and for NASA employees at the Gilruth Center. After 38 years of teaching in the public school system, Mrs. Bennie Nipper retired and made her dream come true. Bennie and Oscar Nipper and the Board of Directors of Number “1” Plays and Players, began restoring and remodeling “The Hollywood” in 1990. Re-opened in 1991 as the Harbour Playhouse, it became well-known as a center of fine arts for the community with live productions and classes in performing arts for children, teens, and adults.

Your moral and financial support in our continued efforts is greatly appreciated. Your active participation is requested by purchasing season tickets, becoming a contributing “Anchor” for the Arts or a Corporate Sponsor, placing an ad in our programs, attending performances, donating time and supplies, enrolling in classes, auditioning for productions, or volunteering in many other ways. As a non-profit organization, we rely on generous contributions and support from businesses, corporations, and private donors. All donations are always tax deductible and may also be deductible as a charitable contribution business expense. We thank you for supporting the arts in the Bay Area, and helping Bay Area Harbour Playhouse in its mission to provide quality arts education and entertainment to the surrounding communities.

Our Facility

We are now celebrating our 25th Anniversary as a Community Theatre and Fine Arts Academy. We offer outstanding classes for Children, Teens, & Adults in Theatre Arts/Acting, Musical Theatre, Dance, Piano, and Voice year-round. Scholarships are given to students each semester for our Academy.

The facility houses two comfortable and well-equipped theatres:

• Main Deck (seats 140)
• Top Side (seats 64)

The theatre building has been renovated and restored from the original 1941 “Hollywood” movie house, with brand new interior painting in the historical art deco style of the past. It features new spacious dressing rooms, props shop, costume shop/storage, a dance and rehearsal studio and new sound and lighting equipment. This is a very affordable theatre with no sales tax and free parking.

We have been honored by the City of Dickinson with the 2001 Mayor’s Quality of Life Award and boast a 3000 + patron mailing list. Our "Fine Arts Academy" is the pride of the City of Dickinson and the surrounding cities of the Bay Area.

Each year we present an exciting season with a variety of plays, musicals, and special events. Our season includes: 11 season productions, an annual Gala Fundraiser, numerous Children’s Theatre Festivals and topping off the year with a New Year’s Cabaret Show and Party. The season also includes civic events to cultivate and aid in the education and enrichment of the community with the arts in mind. We proudly offer a friendly atmosphere where talents can be developed and appreciated.

Bennie & Oscar Nipper

Bennie & Oscar Nipper and the Board of Directors of Number "1" Plays and Players have restored and remodeled "The Hollywood" into The Bay Area Harbour Playhouse The playhouse is the drama center of community activity with live productions and classes in Theatre Arts for children, teens and adults.

Bennie Nipper

Number "1" Plays and Players', Bay Area Harbour Playhouse, was formed August 8, 1980 and immediately named Bennie Nipper as its Artistic Director. Under her leadership it has grown from a company performing for NASA employees at the Gilruth Center to it’s present Community Theatre and Fine Arts Academy with a full schedule of classes, community theatre activities and productions.

Bennie received an Associate in Arts (AA) degree from Lon Morris College, a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) and a Masters in Education (M.Ed.) in Theatre Arts from The University of Texas at Austin. She has performed and directed at the Austin Civic Theatre (now the Zachary Scot Theatre) in Austin, The Circle Players in Indianapolis, the original Alley Theatre on Berry Street in Houston, The Pasadena Little Theatre, The Clear Creek Country Theatre, The College of the Mainland Arena theatre and The San Jacinto College-South Theatre.

Bennie composes music and has had her works recorded by Rainbow Records. She also writes plays and poetry. In 1995, to help celebrate Friendswood Centennial, she wrote, produced and directed The Promise Land, a musical based on the history of that community. Some of her poetry has been published by the World of Poetry and the American Poetry Association. In 1989, Bennie was named "Poet Laureate" of the World of Poetry and received its highest cash award of $15,000.

A Distinguished Alumnus of Lon Morris College, Bennie recently retired from teaching theatre arts in public high schools, where her students and University Interscholastic League productions won many awards. She has recently served on the Board of Directors of the Texas Non-Profit Theatres and is a member of the American Association of Community Theatres. Bennie is pursuing her lifetime dream in community theatre with the establishment of The Bay Area Harbour Playhouse.

Board of Directors

Geoffrey Clark	President
Oscar Nipper	Treasurer
Bennie Nipper	Artistic Director
Kay Jones	Secretary

Board Members

Brian Treybig Amber Treybig Connie Folwell Patrick Bowen John Mitchiner

Mike Fabian Melvyn Phaup Cis Browning Geneva Boreck Forrest Folwell

Theatre Staff
Bennie Nipper - Artistic Director, Acting & Theatre Arts Instructor

Lifetime Honorary Board Member
Katherine "Tiny" Oder

Bay Area Harbour Playhouse are proud members of:

• Texas Non-Profit Theatres, Inc.

• American Association of Community Theatres

• League City Chamber of Commerce

• North Galveston County Chamber of Commerce

• Clear Lake Area Chamber of Commerce

Participation

There are many ways that you can support the arts in your area by helping the Bay Area Harbour Playhouse. The following is a brief description of these options. Your financial support of this effort would be appreciated. Your active participation is requested by:

• purchasing season tickets

• attending performances

• donating time and supplies

• signing up yourself, spouse, or children for daily classes

• volunteering at the box office

• joining the social committee

Corporate Sponsors: Assist with the financial obligation of production costs by making a charitable donation, which will underwrite an entire theatre season, and give your company wonderful advertisements as a supporter of the arts in your community. A Corporate Sponsor underwrites an entire season with a donation of $12,000 for the Top Side Season (4 productions) and $40,000 for the Main Deck Season (7 productions). Benefits that Corporate Sponsors receive include: Full color/Full-page Back Cover Ad in ALL of the programs for the entire season. Credit on ALL flyers, posters, mailers, press releases, and promotional materials for the current season. Special VIP Passes to ALL season productions and special events, and invitations to the opening night receptions.

Production Underwriters: Assist with the financial obligation of production costs by making a charitable donation, which will underwrite one or more of our productions and give your company wonderful advertisements as a supporter of the arts in your community. Production Underwriters can make a donation for $3,000 for a Top Side production, $5,000 for a Main Deck production, or $10,000 for a musical. Benefits that Production Underwriters receive include: Full Color/Full Page Ad in the production’s programs. Credit on all of the productions promotional materials such as flyers, mailers, posters, etc. Special VIP Passes to the performances and invitations to the opening night reception.

Contributing “Anchors” For The Arts: Make a personal, business, or private charitable donation of '$50--$1,000' and become a Bay Area Harbour Playhouse “Anchor” For The Arts. You will receive special recognition in each production’s program for the entire season.

Posteriors For Posterity: “Name That Chair”. For a $150 charitable donation, you can receive an engraved name plate mounted on a choice theatre seat for all time. A wonderful gift to someone special or in memory of a loved one.

Season Ticket Subscription: Purchase a Season Ticket to either the Main Deck, Top Side, or both seasons for a discounted rate and enjoy all of the wonderful productions here at a very reasonable ticket price. Season Ticket packages range from $40--$130

Kroger’s Share Card: Take a Kroger’s Share Card from our box office with you today, and keep it in your wallet. Each time you shop at a Kroger’s Grocery Store, present the card to be scanned at check out, and we will receive a small percentage of your purchase from Kroger.

We are a non-profit, 501(c)(3) organization. All donations are tax deductible.

For information about public disclosure for our non-profit organization, click www.guidestar.org. We are listed as "Number 1 Plays and Players". It is possible to skip the registration process by clicking the "Donate Now" link, clicking "View Full Report" beneath the zip code, and then scrolling down on the following page.

Thank you for your interest, subscription and support.