Venues great for T-Town

Anumber of top venues here in the Texarkana area showcase everything from dance recitals and live concerts to plays and community events, giving Texarkana plenty of space to host interesting entertainment for Texarkanians or visitors alike.

Such fine entertainment venues include the Perot Theatre as the crown jewel right in the heart of downtown Texarkana. But there’s also the Sullivan Performing Arts Center, Pleasant Grove High School Performing Arts Center, Music City Texas Theater (in Linden, Texas), Silvermoon on Broad, Hempstead Hall (in Hope, Ark.) and both the Texarkana Convention Center and Arkansas Convention Center.

Here’s a thumbnail sketch of each place and what they offer:

PEROT THEATRE

Touted as “Texarkana’s performing arts jewel,” the Perot Theatre opened in 1924 as one of the Saenger Amusement Company’s theaters. It later operated as the Paramount. Eventually, it fell into disrepair, only to be restored by the city of Texarkana, Texas, with funding through the Perot Foundation and H. Ross Perot, a Texarkana native. Since then, the Perot has served as a premiere performance venue, home to Texarkana Symphony Orchestra concerts, the Perot Theatre Series, dance recitals and countless other events. The Italian Renaissance architecture gives this theater a gorgeous look, particularly inside with its ornate interiors. It seats a bit less than 1,600.

SULLIVAN PERFORMING ARTS CENTER

Part of the Texarkana Independent School District, the Sullivan Performing Arts Center and its John Thomas Theatre operate as one of the newer performance venues in Texarkana. The modern theater seats 1,000 and the overall center totals 43,000 square feet with state-of-the-art audio and visual systems in place. Since opening at the end of 2009, the Sullivan has hosted many events, from the Miss Texarkana Twin Rivers pageants and Texas High School plays to the U.S. Navy Band and the American Shakespeare Center.

PLEASANT GROVE HIGH SCHOOL PERFORMING ARTS CENTER

Seating about 1,000, the Performing Arts Center for PG has hosted the United States Air Force Dimensions in Blue jazz band, Pleasant Grove Showstoppers, the Texarkana Community Band (also known as the Second Time Around Band), Ramin Karimloo, Ray Price, Mel Tillis, Collin Raye and many more performers and groups, plays, pageants and other events. It’s run by the students as a fully functioning concert venue. Students do the house work, stage work and tech work at the center, so they gain invaluable experience running a performing arts facility.

MUSIC CITY TEXAS THEATER

Down in Linden, Texas, Music City Texas Theater was founded in 2003, and since then the venue, a former American Legion auditorium built in 1948 to 1950, has hosted some of the finest singer-songwriters around. Acts like Linden native son Don Henley and Jackson Browne have performed here. This past year’s lineup is like many years with classic American music, much of it Americana with a Texas or Southern twist: Steve Earle, Randy Rogers,

Cody Canada, Charlie Robison, Jo-El Sonnier, Earl Thomas Conley. Coming up in early June? Marshall Tucker Band. It’s an intimate, cozy venue with true East Texas hospitality and, like the Perot, a sense of history.

HEMPSTEAD HALL

Another newer venue hear in the Ark-La-Tex, Hempstead Hall boasts versatility and spacious theater space in Hope, Ark. The theater itself seats a little more than 1,600 patrons while a fully opened conference area at the hall can hold 500 people. The entire structure totals 65,000 square feet. Two pianos call it home: a century-old Steinway and a Baldwin built in Arkansas. Meeting rooms are named for Hempstead county communities. Acts who’ve performed here so far include the Gaither Vocal Band, Mercy Me, BJ Thomas, John Michael Montgomery and Ethan Bortnick.

TEXARKANA CONVENTION CENTER

Since opening in October of 2012, this venue has hosted concerts, receptions, conventions, weddings, reunions and parties of all types. Totaling roughly 25,000 square feet, the convention center includes a Grand Ballroom that seats 1,000 for banquets or holds 1,200 for receptions in its 12,000-square-feet of space. The venue include drop-down screens and projectors and a state-of-the-art sound system. Rooms include exhibit areas, conference rooms, a bridal/ green room, executive meeting area and outdoor plaza.

ARKANSAS CONVENTION CENTER

The Arkansas-side center features a Crossroads Ballroom, which can be split into four separate rooms that all together can seat about 1,000 people. Its Holiday Inn features 127 guest rooms. Other amenities at the center include Connections Bar and Grill, Magnolia meeting room, an executive board room, patio area, swimming pool, spa, whirlpool, kitchen, business and fitness centers, kid’s suites with bunk beds and culinary services. The venue has hosted events like the Arkansas Governor’s Conference on Tourism.

SILVERMOON ON BROAD

A new kid on the block—the 200 block of West Broad, to be exact—Silvermoon on Broad has quickly filled a niche for hosting events downtown, whether it’s children’s theater, fundraisers, weddings or receptions. Silvermoon combines different rooms and shows versatility. The Silvermoon Children’s Theatre now calls it home. The venue space includes the theater (that seats a maximum of 130), Great Hall (with floor space of nearly 2,000 feet), 1885 Parlor, Singer Courtyard, lobbies and a full commercial kitchen.