A Brief History of the Willows Theatre Company

Concord Community Arts, a program of the City of Concord, began presenting plays and musicals in the Parkside Playhouse in 1974, and in the spring of 1977 began producing in the new Willows Theatre as Theatre Concord.

Nine years later, Theatre Concord became CitiArts Theatre, employing members of Actors Equity Association. In 1992, CitiArts gained Constituent Membership in Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national association of professional regional theaters. In late 1993, CitiArts Theatre became an operation of The Benefactors, a non-profit corporation organized in 1974 to support quality live theatre in the Bay Area, and the name was changed to The Willows Theatre Company.

Now celebrating over 30 years of professional theatre, the Willows Theatre Company serves over 70,000 patrons annually!

The Future

The Willows Theatre Co. recently completed construction of a new 175-seat Campbell Theatre in downtown Martinez, home of the Willows Cabaret, which will continue to grow and develop into a vital downtown destination as well as a venue to explore new works from talented early career artists. Five year goals: develop a national reputation as a producer of new musical theater, build and diversify our audience, and pursue development of the John Muir Festival Center.

Awards

In the theatre-rich Bay Area that number nearly 400 theatre companies, The Willows Theatre Company has achieved over 100 awards, including a Cyril Award of the San Francisco Business Arts Council for Non-Profit Arts Excellence, Bay Area Newspapers "Top 10" theatre awards, Drama-louge and Shellie Awards, Diablo Magazine's "Best of the East Bay," and numerous Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Awards.

Performance History

Click here to view the Willows Theatre Performance History by year.