Arts Mission Oak Cliff hosted Cara Mia Theatre Company’s world premiere performance of De Troya by Obie-award winning playwright, Caridad Syich, directed by David Lozano on Saturday, April 29, 2017. De Troya is a mash-up of a ghost story, an urban fable, and a cracked fairy tale reimagined for a contemporary world. The performance is in English, with some Spanish, and will run through May 14, 2017.
Arts Mission Oak Cliff is located at 410 S. Windomere Ave. in Oak Cliff’s Winnetka Heights neighborhood. “This was our first live theater performance at Arts Mission Oak Cliff,” said co-owner Lola Lott. Lola is also principal/CEO of charlieuniformtango, an award-winning commercial film production company with offices in Dallas and Austin. Lola and her husband, Todd Lott, previous owner of commercial casting studios, The Call, and Get Set, who has been focusing on renovation projects, purchased the 1920’s church two years ago. They have been working with a dedicated and talented team of architects and designers to restore the building, preserving as much of the original structure as possible.
“To date, we’ve held a live music performance and conducted some children’s workshops and classes. When we’re completely up and running, we will offer memberships to area performance artists. Different membership levels will allow artists to perform, work, and study at Arts Mission. We want to provide a safe, well-designed space for artists to explore their talents, learn, and share,” Lola said. “Plans are underway for summer theater classes and programs for kids. We’ll be offering six weeks of summer camps this year. They’ll include everything from Shakespeare to Stage Combat, Trash Art to Fashion. The camps will run from June through August for ages
6-15. We’re also planning to develop an Academy with after school programs based on school semesters. More family fun activities in the evenings and on weekends will be announced soon.”
Arts Mission Oak Cliff is a for-profit endeavor, with participating artists and patrons funding its existence. “The goal is to create a shared work space, performance space, rehearsal space and community classroom. We are going to be an artist co-working space during the day offering memberships for a creative collaboration environment – with reduced rental rates for specific studios,” said Anastasia Muñoz, Artistic and Education Director, on-site performance artist, and teacher. “This is a place for artists to workshop, rehearse, and perform. We’re encouraging our neighbors to get involved in programming, classes, and community meals. We want this to be a collaborative endeavor.”
The original sanctuary offers a space for full productions and workshops. Upstairs is a library/meeting room and dance/yoga studio. Downstairs, the half-basement is lined with rooms that were once Sunday School classrooms. They have been transformed into an audio recording booth, costume workshop, props workshop, makeup/special effects studio, dedicated desks, open studio, and a kitchen. The wide corridor between the workrooms downstairs will serve as both a common workspace and a small secondary performance space.
“Hosting the World Premiere of De Troya was so exciting, and we’re honored that the Cara Mia Theatre Company selected our new venue for their performance,” Lola said. “We see this as an auspicious beginning of our journey to become Dallas’ leading artists co-working and performance center.”
Buy tickets to see De Troya here: https://www.caramiatheatre.org/our-season/
Learn more about Arts Mission Oak Cliff here: www.artsmissionoc.com
Facebook: Arts Mission Oak Cliff https://www.facebook.com/artsmissionoakcliff/
email: contact@artsmissionoc.com
About charlieuniformtango
Founded in 1995 by Lola Lott, principal/CEO, and Jack Waldrip, senior editor, the company has become an industry leader. charlieuniformtango serves as a single source production solution. The company directs, produces, shoots, edits, scores, mixes, animates, designs, and provides color services, FX, and finishing for commercials, short films, documentaries, music videos, and digital content for clients worldwide. www.charlieuniformtango.com