Shakespeare Festival’s Economic Impact

KILGORE — 2010 marks the Texas Shakespeare Festival’s 25th season, and the TSF Foundation is highlighting the festival’s impact on the East Texas economy. Among the examples:

• More than 96% of available seats were sold during the 2009 season.
• 75% of attendees were from outside the Kilgore area.
• More than 75% ate out in the region before/after attending performances.
• Almost 30% spent the night in the area as a result of attending performances.

• TSF has worked with more than 1,139 theatre artists from forty states, the District of Columbia, and eight foreign countries.
• The Festival has staged 110 productions for more than 1,181 performances including 28 plays of the Shakespeare canon, many of them more than once; 22 non-Shakespearean classics; fifteen American musicals; nine productions of a history play based on the East Texas oilfield; 24 productions for children, many of them original scripts; and a world premiere of the musical, Reveoco.

Also of note: Recognizable TSF alumni include Michael Hall, Emmy and Golden Globe nominated actor and star of the HBO series “Six Feet Under”; Glenn Kessler, Emmy-winning writer and co-creator, writer, and executive producer for the FX series “Damages” with Glenn Close; and Danny Pino, in his seventh season as Detective Valens on the CBS series “Cold Case.” You can go to http://www.texasshakespeare.com for more on this year’s festival.