Creating experiences people never forget!

Performing Arts Center on the Square

Theater History

Center on the Square opened on August 20, 1999, with a performance of Neil Simon’s ‘Rumors’ for an audience of 55 people.  The whole process of opening the theater had proven to be an adventure for its founder, Lana Hallmark, but on that evening in 1999, a little dreaming and a lot of planning came together to create an institution that has nurtured and entertained thousands. Center on the Square has indeed become the premier performing arts organization in the region.

Hallmark had been teaching theater at the local high school for 20 years when she realized that many of the students who had been so impacted by their participation in the high school theater program had little opportunity to continue their involvement after leaving public schools.  The Center began by offering six dinner theater productions each season, each performance catered by a local restaurant or service.
Also part of its first programming schedule was a summer theater workshop for children. The first workshop in 2000 enrolled eight students and a children’s theater performance for parents and friends was held.  After four years, Hallmark realized that the theater would never reach its potential if it depended on the energy and resources of one individual. After seeking out a consultant with the Arkansas Arts Council on the subject of 501(c)(3) status, she invited 30 of the theater’s most devoted supporters to a meeting, announced her intention of giving her brainchild to the community, and learned there was already an emotional ownership on the part of the theater’s patrons. They were willing to help, and a board of directors was formed with Hallmark named Executive Director.  With a board of directors in place to promote and fundraise, corporate sponsors were soon recruited, including a major sponsor for the children’s activities. Land O’Frost partnered with the Center to create Land O’Frost/KidStage children’s theater workshop. On an exciting day in 2004, three massive new signs were hung on the front of the freshly-painted building, announcing the theater’s new identity as a non-profit community arts organization.  Today, Center on the Square is a non-profit community theater and performing arts center thriving in downtown Searcy.  It has grown to include a large, year-round children’s theater program which produces three shows of its own each season, the production of two full-scale musicals, a summer dessert theater, a summer children’s performance series, and several other projects.

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