Kalita Humphreys Theater
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| Address | 3636 Turtle Creek Blvd Dallas United States |
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| Coordinates | 32°48′39″N 96°48′02″W / 32.810815°N 96.800668°W |
| Owner | City of Dallas |
| Designation | City of Dallas Historic Landmark Structure |
| Capacity | 497 |
| Construction | |
| Opened | December 27, 1959 |
| Architect | Frank Lloyd Wright |
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The Kalita Humphreys Theater is a historic theater in Dallas, Texas (USA). It is one of only three surviving theaters by architect Frank Lloyd Wright and one of the last completed buildings he designed. It was the official home of the Dallas Theater Center from 1959 to 2009.
The Dallas Theater Center committee approached Frank Lloyd Wright to design a theater on land donated by Sylvan T. Baer along the picturesque Turtle Creek. Wright, busy at the time with other projects, suggested that if the committee could use a plan already in his files he would agree to the project. The original design had been created for a West Coast theater in 1915 and later adapted for Hartford, Connecticut. Neither of these theaters were built for various reasons and the design was adapted for Dallas. Construction began in 1955 and was completed four years later and nine months after Wright's death at a cost of over $1,000,000. The Kalita Humphreys Theater opened on December 27, 1959, with the first play being "Of Time and the River" by Thomas Wolfe. The theater took its name from an actress who worked with Paul Baker, the first director of the Dallas Theater Center. Kalita Humphreys died in a plane crash in 1954 and her parents donated $120,000 to the theater as a memorial. During the 45 years of regular use over 500 plays were performed in the theater until the final full season of 2007-2008. The theater was recognized as a historic city of Dallas landmark in 2007.
At the end of the 2007-2008 season the Dallas Theater Center moved their administrative offices to the Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre at the Dallas Center for the Performing Arts in the Dallas Arts District and began performing the majority of its season there. DTC continues to perform A Christmas Carol at the Kalita Humphreys Theater. In 2011 they mounted to wildly successful Arsenic and Old Lace at the Kalita Humphreys Theater, starring Betty Buckley and Tovah Feldshuh. The Kalita Humphreys Theater also remains in use as a regional theater space for local performing arts groups. In July 2009 Uptown Players, a growing gay-focused theater company, announced that it will move to the Kalita Humphreys Theater beginning with its 2010 season and occupy the space when not being used by the Dallas Theater Center. The Dallas Office of Cultural Affairs included funds in the 2006 Bond Program plan to complete a master plan to guide the city and the Dallas Theater Center in the future of the theater. In 2009 the City of Dallas engaged the architectural firm Booziotis & Associates to complete this master plan.
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