Today we’d like to introduce you to Joey Folsom.
Hi Joey, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today.
Discussion of forming a new theatre company in Dallas began in 2017. The founding Board President (April Bosworth) and founding Managing Director (Greg Patterson) contacted me and we began conversation. We recognized that Dallas was one of the few major metropolises that did not have a theatre dedicated to classic works. This was a big gap in the market. Beyond that, for years, there had been a market trend for new works. ‘New’ and ‘premiere’ seemed too important than good or relevant. We recognized that there was an untapped abundance of relevant classic works largely ignored in the market and that the familiarity of these works offered a unique accessibility. This led us to our mission to present socially relevant classic works for the community.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Theatre is saturated in this market. The handful of largest and oldest groups, established by time and relationships to local individuals/ groups/institutions, get the largest pieces of the funding pie. During the pandemic, since we do not have our own building, we were not eligible for relief funding that paid the salaries and other costs for other theatres. We’ve persevered, I believe, because we have had an audience-first mentality. Despite being a small group that can easily get lost in the mix, our work and artistic direction has allowed us to stand out to the audience and attract supporters. We’ve grown incrementally each year, despite our challenges, and now may have reached to point where we have broken into the market enough to attract substantial funding support.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I’ve been a professional artist for over 15 years. While attending UNT, I founded Sundown Collaborative Theatre and served as Artistic Director for its first 2 years. For the stage and camera, I’ve worked as Producer, Director, Writer, Designer, Actor, Fight Choreographer, and Composer. At TCTP I’ve appeared as Eddie in FOOL FOR LOVE, Benedict in MUCH ADO, Jimmy in LOOK BACK IN ANGER, and most recently Brick in CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF. Some performance highlights include: multiple city tour (Dallas, Fort Worth, Chicago, New York) of the one-man show LENNY BRUCE IS BACK, as Lenny; Hank in HANK WILLIAMS: LOST HIGHWAY for Water Tower Theatre; Petruchio in THE TAMING OF THE SHREW and Nick in THE GREAT GATSBY for Breckenridge Backstage Theatre; Jasper & KJ (alternating) for Stage West. Some on-camera work includes an appearance on BETTER CALL SAUL as Scott Blakey; Felix in the feature CAMERA STORE; and Cronus Jones in the 2017 CRONUS. As a producer, director, and designer, my work has been seen at Breckenridge Backstage, UNT, Sundown Collaborative, Second City (Chicago), Bishop Arts, Stolen Shakespeare Guild, and Firehouse theatre, to name a few.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.theclassicstheatreproject.com/
- Instagram: @classicstheatre
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheClassicsTheatreProject/
Image Credits
Kate Voskova
Devon Rose
