Lights On in South Dallas: the Forest Theater’s Grand Return | Elizabeth Wattley | Ep 267

Nobody would have thought that I would be the one. Rhyner, sports talk. Baseball.

Baseball. Baseball. Baseball.

Baseball. Oh, with the big mic. Oh, okay.

Alright. Yeah. Okay.

Now I get it. We got a lightning strike, boys. What happened over there, Grego?

We had a little lightning strike right outside the window. The Texas Rangers win the world series. Alright.

Alright. Here's a tip for all these Americano league teams. Don't...

What? You said tip. Yeah.

Tip. Okay. With a p.

Keep jamming. Colon, nothing but a big Gen X jerk off set. Is this a cool night or what?

I thought somebody would hear that go, bullshit. I'm back, bitches. We're alive, the girl says.

And if the girl says we're alive, then yes. We are alive. Hello, everybody.

Hello, one and all. This is another episode of Your Dark Companion. This is Rocktober the, what, fifteenth?

Fourteenth. Fourteenth. Yes, sir.

Yeah. Man, I swear. One thing about getting old, that's such a bitch is you can never remember the date.

There was a time when I just always had it right there. Right there. Anybody wants to know the date?

Ask me. I got it. Now that skill is gone with the wind.

Anyway, this is episode number 267. Wow. 267 of these.

And today, we're going to get into something that we've gotten into a few times before. This is one of the things I like about doing this because, occasionally, you'll have somebody on, and they'll have something going, something underway, just something just kind of getting underway. And then you wait a couple of months or so, and you check back with them again.

Yeah. I mean, if you like them, if you like having them on the first time, can have them on again and talk to them about how it's going, assuming you consider that thing worthwhile and assuming that you like them. And today, both of those things are in play because number one, yes, we do like this person we got on.

And number two, she is involved in something very, very worthwhile, and she is doing it in an area of town where I'm very sad to say a lot of the time, those things are kinda hard to come by, but she is making it happen out there. She is Elizabeth Wadley, and that thing that she is making happen is reopening the Forest Theater out in sunny South Dallas as they used to say on the great soul 73 KKDA. Boy, do I miss it so much.

Anyway, she's been involved in all this. She's told us about it. Last time she was on here was her second time, and things were happening pretty good.

Progress was being made. And now it's about go time. Is it not?

Yep. It's go time November 1. Alright.

It's November 1. We'll have the grand return of the Forest Theater. So thank you so much for having me back.

The story is different now. You did the last time was still getting the work through. Right.

And somehow I can smile just a little because we are... I can see the finish line. Yeah.

It's so great. You must feel great about this. I mean, this must be...

I mean, I don't know how much money is involved in it or anything like that or if it's like, you know, a a full time job or anything like that. But just the the the the the the essence of what you're doing just must make you feel great. It does.

It does. It takes a lot of slowing down and kinda stepping out of it to see just how amazing it is, But it's so hard to be on the day to day that, you know, I'm like, oh, this is just just so hard. Yeah.

But when you stuck out of it, it it is incredible. Can't believe it. And when you get to the...

That where that finish line comes into view? Yeah. I wanna light the tower.

That is what I am just itching to do is have everyone to the theater, and we light the tower for the first time together. Now if you followed the show here, the... Or not the show, the podcast.

If you have followed that, then I believe we went out to out up to the theater and shot some video one day just to kind of take a look around and Yeah. We did well too. And put it up.

Yeah. We we did our own little tour of the area and the place. And just for...

So everybody can kinda get a a little bit of a a benchmark to fall back on. Tell everybody where this is. So the Forest Theater is on MLK Boulevard in sunny South Dallas.

If you're not familiar with that neighborhood, a lot of people anchor. It's right on the other side of Fair Park. Yep.

So the entrance from Fair Park, you go down MLK Boulevard or the other bookend. And so we, yeah, we bookend MLK Boulevard in sunny South Dallas. We used to come back or come out to Fair Park when I was a kid quite a bit or not quite a bit occasionally.

I could talk my old man into taking me to the fair, which was not very often. But he didn't mind taking me to Dallas Texans football games in the Cotton Bowl. This is when Dallas had two fledgling NFL teams.

The Cowboys were in their infancy, and the Dallas Texans were here in the American Football League. Well, my old man supported the Texans because he admired the the entrepreneurial spirit of the great Lamar Hunt. Okay.

Now today, we know them as the Kansas City Chiefs because Yeah. It was deemed that Dallas was not big enough for two football teams, and that's... And wisely so.

Yeah. Yeah. One of them is great day.

Yeah. But we used to go to the Common Bowl all the time, and every time... And this is like back in the early sixties.

And every time, I would see the Forest Theater. And then it seemed very alive. It seemed very happening.

It seemed a place where they would, I I guess, show movies and and have music shows. And it it just seemed like it was really alive and happening back then. Yeah.

But sometimes things have their day, and then they're look... Then they just kind of drift off into the And it takes somebody like you and those you've been working with to bring it back. Mhmm.

Must be very satisfying. It is. It is.

And it's satisfying to even... You know, those times of when there was lots of activity and things reviving. I've heard all types of stories of club night and the ring parrot where people would have pork chops and rice at the, you know, the chitlin circuit and so having those memories and being able to just bring a taste of it forward is so exciting and people are so ready and I'm going to just attend all the events.

Like, I know that I'm supposed to be working every day, but that is one of you part of my job. Now I'm just gonna sit and be part of the show and the space and hang for a little. Yeah.

I mean, if... You should be able to go in there and have a seat and take a look around and and see it all happened before your very eyes, the very thing you've been working toward all this time. Yeah.

Went and had a cup of coffee on the rooftop the other day, sat on furniture. So crazy. Woah.

Yeah. Looked out and I was like, oh, because how many times have I talked about, I'm gonna sit on the rooftop and start my mornings and then I got to do it and incredible. It's incredible.

So it's... It is surreal for sure. So Sunrise is pretty.

Was was it hard to get this project across the finish line? I mean, like, when you try something like this, it can along there for a while, but then when you get close, all these obstacles and things that could get in your way and things that might even put the quietus on the whole thing start to pop up. Was it that way for with this?

A 100%. And I think the other thing is it depends on how you consider the finish line. Like, is that the end of construction?

Is that once we have completed a full season of programming, like, when is it that we we fish? Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. And that's one thing that I'm looking for, but as we are approaching the completion of construction, you know, just over years, I've had the time, the opportunity to sit with different developers and hear different stories, hope I don't get in trouble for telling this story, but I got to sit and have lunch with Darcy Anderson who helped develop American Airlines Center. Mhmm.

And so I'm like, oh my god, this is just huge project. All these things and he's like, oh yeah, and we didn't get CEO until the day before the Eagles concert was the first concert there and so we were up to the wire and I was like, okay, I'm like totally off here. So it's it's been good to hear some of the legends be in the same position of all the things that just show up towards the end.

I guess it makes it feel like it's kinda supposed to be that way. Like, if it's not that way, then something's going wrong, going off track. Yeah.

And it's also this culmination of all these things that you've been moving for years coming to an end at once. Yeah. So you're unraveling and rattling things back together, but...

Then you're hiring a new team, right? Because now we've got to turn the building on. So there's the obstacle of finishing construction but then also building a team and getting ready to activate the building and we can't move in yet but now we can move in and so, I mean, this year has been like no other year in 2026 and I started my year off saying, this is the year of transformation, there'll be no other year like this for this organization because it won't.

What other year I'm gonna open up the year? What other year are we going to have this groundbreaking? This year should not repeat itself, thank goodness, but it's just that piece of the puzzle.

Yeah. And so what I am excited about is we get a shot at a season. Every single year at Force Four, we've had to recreate ourselves.

We've had to learn something new. We've had to adjust to this project. I mean, you've had to be so nimble to just make it this far and now we get to practice something.

Okay. Now tell everybody... Give give us a little recap of that.

I know I've asked you to do that every time you come in here, but No problem. You gotta continually reset for the masses. Yeah.

This is alright. There's your founder, president, and CEO of Force Ford and we are a nonprofit organization that focuses on neighborhood revitalization. So basically, we wanna bring the very best to sunny South Dallas.

We want to support work with the residents and keep the residents there and really bring vibrancy to the neighborhood and so one of our anchor pathways is bringing economic vitality to the neighborhood and we're doing that through bringing the forest beer to life. So we are bringing jobs to the community, training opportunities and production and hospitality. We have our soft launch...

What was this goal? We have our soft launch of Starbucks. So that has been my favorite thing to just sit and watch, you know, people go in and have a cup of coffee and stop and see the sign and see a show up on Instagram and people drinking their coffee in sunny South Dallas.

So it has been it's been a good time. That kinda has taken me aback a little bit because I didn't know Starbucks had moved in out there. We have been working on bringing Starbucks to the neighborhood through this work for quite some time.

And as we were finishing up construction, we finished building out the Starbucks. And so I went kicking and screaming about having to turn it on and so I was like, no, the store is finished. You gotta open and operate.

I'm like, not yet and then they're like, no. So yeah, we got our slots opening right now. It's only from 6AM to 1PM but in three weeks, we're gonna have the big grand opening.

We'll have to, you know, expanded hours and you know, come check us out. It it's moving. It's bumpin'.

Where's that? That. She got to make it look like a speakeasy.

It doesn't look like a standard Starbucks. Oh, really? It looks like a speakeasy?

It does. It does. You gotta knock on the door and somebody walks up and...

Knock at a speakeasy. But we do have a... Let's say use for spoken word and really just...

It's really designed well to fit the aesthetics and design of the theater and the time and we're still historically designated. That's the Starbucks is still historically designated. So we had to use certain materials and certain things.

We've got beautiful artwork from the neighborhood inside of the Starbucks to be presented which is gorgeous. And so far and this is just so far, we are still hiring. We've been equal employees and people.

Right. Right. Starbucks.

Alright. My... That's what we're here for and so just seeing the opportunities that we can bring to residents and seniors through being an usher, through production, stagehand, volunteers, all the all the pieces I'm really excited about.

Do you attract the allure of Starbucks maybe luring others? You know, I think so. So what is interesting about Starbucks is we have activity on the boulevard.

So we have free fees. I dunno if you're in my Stamaritos Cafe. They focus on the grilled cheese sandwiches.

We have Sweet and Chill that does desserts, popsicles and coffee. And then we have another breakfast. It's called Freedom's Breakfast that just opens on the other side near Robert B.

Colm and I think we're getting momentum. I think things are coming together. Ship Lease has been announced by South here.

They're gonna be near Al Udstom and Malcolm X. So we are... The donut place?

Yeah. Yeah. Alright.

Yeah. Out of Easton. So we are getting some movement.

I certainly won't take full prayer for it, but the strategy of economic development and the ripple effects and bringing other partners to invest in the neighborhood, I do see that happening and that does excite me. That's fantastic. And you're sitting on our true boulevard now with sidewalk.

So is a neighbor and neighbor out. You can cross the street, push the button. Yeah.

You know, attracted light, massage that it is. Our sidewalks are 10 feet now. So we have bike lanes.

It's quite a state of change. Trees, green grass. There's a lot of grass.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

What's the theater going to... What what kind of shows or live acts or what... I mean, what's the theater going to house?

So the best thing about it is we intentionally through design and through community feedback and insight was to keep the space fly so we could accommodate quite a few different opportunities of shows and so like concerts, dance, comedy, If you wanna have all the seats removed and have a full concert, we can do that. If we wanna have date night and have tables and chairs, we can do that. So there's lots of flexibility, plays.

Well, it's also been hacking is we are certainly prepared to put productions on the stage, our production team is both in, so excited but we also have a lot of rentals. People have been calling of having their retirement parties there. We have our first full buyout, someone has bought out the entire theater for a day.

So the calendar for Twin Seven is... You know, it made its name back in the day, I'm told is more a movie house than anything else. It was originally a one screen movie complex.

So the stage was really small and it was built just for the screen to come down. And so we expanded the stage within the historic requirements, but we are also getting a cinema package put in place and we are getting a Dolby Atmos cinema package certified Mhmm. Myers sound system.

So for those who don't know, it's really fancy and we're one of four in the state to have it and so we wanted to bring the very best and right to size our palace. And so we have lots of filmmakers that are ready to have their film screen. We could do first time film screens now.

You're working with the diff too, aren't you? Yeah. Yes.

Jay Sauce is actually on our board. So yada yada yada. And the the audio is to be heard exactly how the filmmaker created it.

So I'm excited. Normally, when you have surround sound, it's like this. But in the theater, it's all around, literally in a sphere of sound.

And he's in it. Yeah. The great James Foust has had us swim through YDC.

Yeah. Yeah. Well, he's a guy we know fairly well.

No. He's very excited about the summer vacation. I think we're gonna have a lot of fun festivals.

I think if I'm a better... Betting person, that's gonna sneak up because there's so much in production happening in Dallas right now. We we are on this interesting cusp of production really being a ghoul in Dallas and so, are we on time?

Is the forest right on time, Curtis? Right on time. Right on time.

And somehow just in my career, I've gotten kinda lucky with on the time thing. But I do think there's opportunity there. Yeah.

I can't imagine the reaction of the neighborhood to this. I mean, everybody out there that you talk to must be beyond excited Yeah. About this to have a a new crown jewel Yeah.

If you will, there in the neighborhood. Yep. And something that...

I mean, you're making something out of a place that has been there forever, but it's but it's just been sitting there. Yeah. You know?

Yep. And that's about to change. It's about to change.

And when that kind of change comes down, it comes down all around it too. Yeah. Yeah.

On into the neighborhood. It... And that is that is the hope.

That was part of the strategy and the plan of that will bring revitalization to the neighborhood. And, you know, just over the years, people have been, oh, this is such great work. We're so excited to have the theater come back.

And now that they see the tower restored, they see that we're getting to turn the lights on, I mean, people come up to me crying, people come up to me saying how important this is, what this is doing and so, again, it takes that time of just stepping back and really understanding the impact but people are excited, people are ready. I had this one woman, she came up, she was in her Starbucks uniform and she said, I live two streets away and my daughters told me that there's a Starbucks scare and I work at the one North but I wanna work at this one and I'm really good. I don't know why that is what this is supposed to be doing.

Sorry, whatever Starbucks it's all her from but that... That's it. We are igniting interest, employment, economic opportunity, and we haven't even opened the doors yet.

So... I can't imagine all the people who live in that part of the world who thought they would never see this day, never see the day when anybody did something with the Forest Theater that it would just continue to sit there the way it's always been with, you know, not much... I don't know.

Maybe something here and there going on. I don't know what it was like, but Yeah. But, you know, I always knew it was there, but I never saw anything going on with it.

And they just must be beyond excited. When I started this work, I was 33, and I thought I was a full adult. You know, I thought that was it, like I am here, look at me go, I'm a grown up and then I didn't really appreciate on the impact of the broken promises but with the neighborhood of people being told that this investment is coming and never happens or all of the studies and plans that people participate in, go do the surveys, go do the post it notes on the board in the neighborhood and it's like survey fatigue.

So I did not... Yeah and they're never being results. So that is something that stands out to me that took me a while that those broken promises add up and so that's what makes it a little more special that we're getting it across blindness.

Yeah. So that that did take me a while to really understand Yeah. The impact of that happening to a neighborhood over and over again.

Have you had any shows booked in there yet you'd like to tell us about? So we have some exciting shows that will be for us for November 1. So we are excited to support local talent, which will be really good.

And then we do... We're gonna do some first experiences for the rest of 2026. So we're we're gonna figure out where the light switch is, how the speakers work and do some events and get some test hands going.

And then we start booking shows for '27. Yeah. So I don't know if I can name an artist.

Well, you can if we want to. I mean, we're not gonna stop you. Well, I will say that a South Dallas legend will certainly be there.

Big Tuck, we're excited to hire him. Darajah, who is a new artist on the scene in Dallas, I'm very proud of her. She's new up and coming, so certainly wanna be able to provide opportunity.

That's what all of this is about. And then, as you are familiar with Tamela Mann, who is a basketball artist, who is huge, is also... I I was joking with her the many years of working through this project.

There was this one song where I was like, okay, it's over. What? It's a wrap.

Someone grab the bag. And so she's gonna come and perform this. So it'll be...

It'll be a good time to get it right opening. Oh my gosh. Wow.

Yeah. That's... Yep.

And you've been working on this for how long? So it's so funny. And when I started, I used to try to, like, make the time shorter, but now I'm taking every piece of Friday out of time to invest it.

The building was acquired in 2017. Who owned it before? Okay, so maybe you could help me.

It was a family, but they operated under an LLC. So it's a huge mystery of who his family is and there's record of when they were at city hall, was like the one time that someone saw a woman affiliated with this LLC and I've only been able to find a last name, but nothing really to put together. So it was owned by an LLC for years by the same family, everything, all of those nightclubs shows that you're seeing in between, those were leased.

Right? So that I'm the owner operated. Yeah.

Yeah. So I now had the opportunity to talk to Erica about you, how she was leasing the space and it was awesome. Just like so many commonalities when she started the work, it was...

She was 33. Okay. I was 33.

And you know, she was my teacher at the South Dallas Cultural Center when I was very young. So it's just that there are a lot of synergies and you could just tell how much she loves. I mean, she's certain of new chores and she she's got a new...

She does have a new album out. She does. Shout out to Nadel.

She be maybe on the opening night bill of the place? No. I don't know.

I hate that certainly any support from Erica Badu would be incredible, and I hope that she's willing to bring her talents to South Dallas on the Night of the World City. That's a nice way of evading the question. Well played there.

Yeah. I... I've I've seen that many times before and then that was top notch.

I was gonna say, not that good. Yeah. He thinks he's a master of it.

He's pretty good. But Yeah. It's alright.

I'm not... Yeah. I've done I've done alright when it comes to getting stuff out of people, but okay.

Okay. Yeah. I know when I I know when the brick wall's been thrown up.

I'm smart enough not to run into it, so cool. This is great. Yeah.

I mean, it's it's just so incredible, and and I really wanna go out there and and see it all lit up and everything. Yeah. Yeah.

You go. Even at nighttime, you know, we've got these chandeliers and then you like to show on bed and you can just watch people in the cameras like just slowly just looking. I'll pass.

I mean, all the cool things and I mean, yeah. I'm excited for people to be able to see all the heart and detail that went, Oh my God, the detail. I had no clue how much it takes to bring something like this to fruition and selecting all the way down from fabrics to white fixtures to the color.

I mean, it's fascinating. We're at 30. This is Elizabeth Watley.

And she is here talking to us about the reopening of the Forest Theater out in sunny South Dallas, which is about to come down. Many said it couldn't be done. Many said it wouldn't be done.

It is being done, and it will be done. And we'll have more with Elizabeth momentarily. You can just chill out over there for a couple seconds if you want to because I gotta deal with this.

I gotta tell the masses about a couple things we got going on here. Item one, don't DIY your football watching party. You got Dudley's here for this.

You don't need to do it yourself. Just meet everybody up at Dudley's. Tell them to come to Dudley's Sports Grill because it will be your football watching headquarters.

One... Once you've watched a couple games at Dudley's, that's where you're gonna wanna go to watch football. That's all there is to it.

So get your crew together, get better food by far, and let someone else serve real drinks from a bigger selection. Get to Dudley's Dallas. They're at 2927 North Henderson.

That's just to the Southeast of Central Expressway at that Knox Henderson exit we hear so much about. Or Dudley's in Rockwall at 2975 Highway 66. Is that it for Dudley's?

Mhmm. Okay. Anyway, go watch your football at Dudley's.

Dudley's is a cool, comfortable place. We do a lot of stuff up there. They're friends of YDC.

We dig it. We bet you will too. Now let's talk about every Tuesday from 05:30 until seven.

Join the Sunset Lounge at Scout in the Stadler. Be one of the first five people to give the bartender bartender the password. The password is football.

Give him that and get a free drink or free valet service. Afterwards, stick around for Ziggy with Beer thirty Sports O'Clock. Half price valet is available for everyone every Tuesday, 05:30 at Scout.

Scout in the Stadler, let the adventure begin. Is that it? Yes, sir.

You did it. Oh god. And you were so concerned.

Yeah. I was. Yeah.

Thank you. I'm always concerned. So I I want to back up way back way up.

You dreamed. It'd be really confusing for a second, but for everybody who's not old, like us, like us. Speak for yourself, madam.

And people who don't, aren't from downtown, don't go down, maybe don't even live in Texas, but our listeners, can you just tell us exactly what the Forest Theater is about that original architect, the other theaters here that sure are connected, and give us just kind of a quick wind down by the go? Yes. So a quick history of a four seater is actually really interesting.

It is part of a circuit of theaters that were developed by Carl Hitzel. So he is a big contributor to the city of Dallas. You will see the impact of his work and development throughout the city, you wouldn't even know it.

But particularly the theaters, we are sister theaters of the Majestic, the Lakewood and the Inwood Theater. So we all had the same developer, we all had cell theaters and we had the same architect. But you'll see inside of the Inwood and the Lakewood, they have stairs in their lobby and we have this swooping ramp.

Yeah. And that was designed to be about accessibility. Now it wasn't regulated at the time but that's what they were going for and it is not accessible.

It's like a roller coaster with a slope and there's stairs on top. But you can see those efforts put into place but what I also know about this work with Carl Hobbottsow building these theaters is he was a big part of innovation and really bringing quality, her mom, architecture and construction. To the buildings and properties, particularly we're able to do this because we have steel bones, Every we have 18 inches high beam, steel high beams and the putting the quality and work that they did in 1949 is why we're able to do this today.

So when it started in 1949, it was originally a segregated theater, people of color required to sit in the balcony. And so that really shows the demographics of the neighborhood at the time as well. Well, then in the early 1950s is when highway construction began of South Central Expressway and so that is when it came and divided the neighborhood, destroyed over 1,400 homes, the neighborhood began to change drastically, so drastically that the only way that theater could survive was to redo their business model.

They now had to cater to the African American community because that was the neighborhood, that's who was there. And so that's when the spirit of it changed. That's when people get gussied up to go see a film, there would be concerts or girl scout meetings, voter registration, but that is when the spirit really started to change and people come together for concerts.

I hear about the Ike and Tina Turner concert often all the time and it's so cool because I hear it from diverse audiences of people being at different concerts and events and I'm like, you guys party together, and so it's pretty cool. Yeah, this is all pretty well before my time, I believe it or not, but I did hear from a lot of people who had gone to shows, over there at the Forest Theater and other places down there in that part of the world. And they used to tell me that it was a cool scene, you know?

Yeah. It was just a really cool scene. Everybody was cool with each other.

There were no problems, no nothing. Yeah. Everybody was just there to see the show, have a good time, and and everybody got along.

And it was the kind of thing that that, you know, you hear about it today and you think, no, it couldn't have been like that. But I've had enough people tell me it was to where I I don't know it. I wasn't there myself myself.

Yeah. But I believe it. Yep.

Well, what I was what took me to just kind of think through things through and start understanding is, really understanding the impact of the segregation piece and the neighborhood changing and then who would attend the theater and the event. So from my brain originally, I'm like, okay, well then it just became a black theater and there were no more white people going there and then as this work is continuing, oh no, people are like, oh no, when I wanted to go have a good time, grab a beer and head South and we go to the Forest Theater and you know, I'm talking to Jewish people who were at the Ike Tina Turner concert, black people, I mean, so there's these events, BB King, you just hear the stories of people coming together and I'm like, Oh, y'all were kicking it. There wasn't this massive line of divide of tension that...

Yeah, that you would anticipate when you hear kind of the story being told in that senate. So let me ask you this. It was originally just a movie theater and then it adapted by becoming a place for live performance.

Yes, so it started as a one screen movie theater and then they... To cater to the African American audiences when they start doing black play... That word is not very black...

Can't get it. That's okay. Films and so...

Blaxploitation, is that what you're talking about? Black films, black exploitation, yes, yes, yes. And so that's when filming was happening and then in my mind, black people, are very creative.

So we've got this space, we can have all types of events here, concerts, films and then once in the 60s, actually, I have to get this right, Betty Colbreath would want to make sure that I got this right. So Elsie Clark, was a key piece of the theater in the 60s is actually the person who installed the black and white checkered floors and then leveled the floor. So before it used to be fully sloped in the main concert hall, he's the one who actually put it into these big tiers, so you could use it differently and have flat surfaces.

And so Elsie Clark is the one who was a big piece of transforming it from just the theater, but to the multi purpose kind of facility. Yes. What can you tell us about?

It's multipurpose now. Multipurpose now. Yeah.

So you're going to be able to do live shows and but you're going be We can do film, live shows. Amazing, the sound and everything. Comedy night.

All of it. So what can you tell us about what it's going to look like being in the place now? Yeah, well, I think it is so dynamic.

It is so dynamic to just even see, you know, it sounds crazy, but it's a theater, right? Because before it was a one screen movie complex and I've only seen it in its state of being dilapidated in these big tears, but now inside it is a full blown theater. We have an incredible sound system, we have three screens.

So you can see from the balcony as well, we have all of the lighting systems that are needed. I mean, it is really quite the sight to see. You've even got the little speckled lights in the ceiling.

So it is... I actually, the theater, the actual main concert hall was never like it is before. It was never like the way it is.

Much of it is, I know from our tour, so so much of it is restored, not just replaced. Know that you used to make sure that you were replacing some of it to look like it originally was but also you just restored like right outside the front door, you restored that whole Yes, so we are historically designated. So what that means while we're building the building and making these decisions on how to, design in those pieces, we had to stay within specific parameters that acknowledged that history, kept it in place, respected it and reinforced it.

So we did that, we brought, if it wasn't hot with asbestos, then we restored it, if it was hot with asbestos, then we encapsulate it, took the exact specs of it and had it recreated. The terrazzo outside is original, we have these beautiful amber spindles from 1949. And when they first started in the theater, someone had painted over them, like when I was giving tours, people had painted over all this beautiful wood and I was like, a man did this for sure.

It does nothing else makes sense here. Like there's no way, there's no way a woman looked at that and was like, I'm gonna put this white paint over this beautiful wood. But they are fully restored now and put back into place and it is gorgeous.

Let me ask you this. You've been working on this for how long? Since 2017.

Okay. Yeah. Alright.

The first time that you heard about, okay, today we're going to go over to the Forest Theater, take a look around at what's inside and we're going to restore it. Yeah. What did you think on that day, the first time you walked into that place?

Well, what's so interesting is because this whole journey has just been fate really, right? So I'm actually in Tampa Bay and I opened my email and it says, sit down. So I'm like, in my hotel, I'm like, oh, okay.

Then... What were you doing in Tampa Bay? I was at a conference working, doing nothing fun.

Okay. And so I sit down and then I scroll down a little and then it says, we just acquired the Forest Theater and we need you to help work on this project. So I'm like, okay, here we go.

So I got that from the president of City Square at the time and then ironically enough, again, because I'm taking these trips down memory lane, I found my very first picture that I took of myself at the theater, selfie mode, it was 05/18/2017. And so yeah, went in and even when I saw it, there was never a point of going in and the walls and there's brick and it was never like, oh, how are we going to do this? It seems impossible to do because I just didn't know, like being a novice and naive during this situation has been beneficial.

Like the ignorance is bliss, Huge statement. Something to be said for it. Huge statement.

Yeah, yeah, because I'm thinking, oh, this is going to be cool, know, we're going to paint, know, we're going to this bar, you know, we'll have Mike come, set up some microphones, you know, nothing nothing like that. So I didn't even know to be intimidated. Wow.

Yeah. That's why they came to you at 33. Yeah, you know, you know, 33 year old, I didn't even know to be intimidated.

That's the best point of view you could possibly hope to approach something like this from. Yeah, yeah and you know, when I look back on it and I'm like, this is purpose, this is fate. All of my career has been about social entrepreneurship, building something.

I built the farm to serve and have food access in South Dallas. So that was one piece. Worked on the cottages, 50 tiny homes, the serving the chronically homeless.

So I had a lot of experience in starting something from scratch and so that definitely helped for sure. Yeah. Wow.

Yeah. Well, you have the experience of looking at something and going, Oh, it can be something else. A 100.

I will give myself that, I rarely hype myself up or give myself credit, but I do have the ability to see a vision, see something that needs to be done and have the ability to execute it. That I am learning is not always in one person. So yeah.

I mean, you should give yourself a world of credit. Okay, yes, I'm working on it. Yeah, Yeah.

I mean, without knowing you any better than we do, I could tell that you're just a dynamic person who is capable of getting into any kind of situation and advancing it, taking it next level. Yeah. I can just tell that about you.

Yeah and in this part of my life and career, I'm excited about that. I'm excited that I do have the capability to sit, look at something, put together a strategy and how can we make this better? How do we improve it?

The startup life, I keep telling myself, but we're going back to the startup world, starting a theater. It's like we're this mature startup. I can't figure out how to...

What business cycle are we in, but we're starting over in some places and that grit that entrepreneurship takes, we're back there. We are back there. This is not days where we're at nine to five yet.

That is not force forward, that just cannot be where we are now while we're bringing the theater online, but that's the grit that's needed at this phase of work. Yeah, we haven't really talked much about Forest Forward and exactly what that is and what it does, how it operates. Tell us a little bit about Forest Forward.

Yeah, so Forest Forward is, I will call it the mothership, right? And so in addition to developing the theater, we have programs and partnerships with the school district. When we first started this work, 2017, we acquired the building, well right behind it is a school.

Then it was the MLK Learning Center at the time. And so, I'm with Larry James and Doctor. Hinojosa was the superintendent at the time and see Larry would tell me things again, I was too naive to even know what shot I was shooting, but Larry's like, oh yeah, let's go talk to DISD and see what partnership.

Then they take a trip to Purpose Built to see this revitalization model, they're brought in or bought into it, they see the possibilities and before we knew it, it become the MLK Arts Academy. Yes, and he coined it baby Booker T. And so it expanded the educational offerings from pre K now all the way to eighth grade, we're the only school in all of DISD to have an arts thread front in your curriculum from pre K to eighth, which is incredible.

13 students to date have been accepted into Booker T over the past three years. We have expanded the school campus by 25,000 square feet, been able to route $20,000,000 of bond money. So it is...

The school is incredible, really, truly. And the people who acquired the founders Acquire The Theater would always say, if we have to turn around, if we have to go back out of all of this, an arts academy was developed. Like we can take real comfort into the impact that the school is bringing.

It's totally... It's doing what it's supposed to do. We have students coming from Red Oak, from Plano, from Carrollton.

So we are getting the mix and the diversity in the neighborhood. By the way, your nod to George Clinton there did not go unnoticed. Yeah.

Not at all. What? Almost 50.

Oh, okay. So you had... But your favorite book, baby booker tea, you guys have your own film festival, don't you?

Didn't you do a little a little, like, I guess, maybe I'm saying film festival. You guys had your own Summer camp? Maybe that was it.

Maybe it was some... Or saw it on your... On Instagram that you guys were honoring several of the kids.

So that might be the Pegasus Project and they help with production with students and film and so that might've been that piece. We've done our summer camp. Next year we'll be able to do our first summer camp in the theater, which I know people are so excited about.

But yeah, a of community partnerships that we do a lot of work, but a lot of times people just see the theater, but Forest Forward is very committed community partner. We're at neighborhood association meetings. Everybody knows our community development officer, Lashorel, like if Lashorel wasn't at the community meeting, then it didn't happen.

It is, yeah, it's But they say the same thing about you. Not at all. No, no, no.

That is LaShore. We have a really good partnership and trust with the neighborhood and the community as opposed to we were a part of the community. Right?

And so it's exciting. Well, I've told you this I've told you this before, this is a great work you're doing. Thank you.

It's great work for everybody in the community and really everybody in general. And it's going be great to have the Forest Theater revitalized once again and have something really cool happening in sunny South Dallas once again. Yeah.

Yeah. Like I said, it is it is an easy straight on, straight off, basically. For us to get from uptown.

It's a whopping seven minutes further for you. It's not like this Accessibility. Accessible to everyone.

Yeah, I know. Yeah, no, it... If this goes as I feel that, you know, in the strategy and vision, this is a contribution to the city of Dallas.

There is no other facility space like this in Dallas that has this kind of programming that is very intentional about the community work while being very cognizant of the city of Dallas. So the impact should be be large. And every time Dallas say something and doesn't tear it down Yeah.

We are making our entire city better. The sun gets a little brighter. Entire city is better.

Yeah. Yep. You know, there was times where they were gonna tear down the Forest Theater.

Oh, I'll bet. Yeah. They were gonna turn it tear it down and turn it into a QT gas station and you won't believe I crossed from the 247.

Yes, yes, exactly. Exactly. And this again goes back to the fate piece and all these pieces that just have to come together.

Building was acquired in 2017 and 2016 is when Dallas Preservation heard of it being knocked down and they went and designated historic. So had they not taken that initiative to designate it historic in 2016, then it could have been knocked over and then the 2017 thing would have never happened. So I mean...

Things happen for a reason in Some things you just can't make up, right? Yeah, Yeah, so cool. Can't predict them, can make them up.

They just happen. Yeah. Mike, we have recently talked about a rooftop bar Mhmm.

Where soon we will be able to sit and see the light of the Forest Theater. Yeah. But the Forest Theater has a rooftop bar.

Mhmm. Or a rooftop. Yes, coffee and we will have accessibility to bars.

They're mobile bars. That's okay. Yes.

Well, is wonderful work you're doing. Thank you so I told you that before, but every time you come in here, number one, you light up the place and number two, I'm just reminded once again that this is wonderful work you're doing and work that a lot of other people wouldn't even think of taking on. Yeah.

Yeah. Well, I appreciate you helping us tell our story because this is my third time here. Yes.

So you guys stuck with us because I mean, this been a journey. Hey, we've made it a it's of his childhood and that's huge because he hates it when they tear things down around here too. Yeah, do.

I do. And we have made it a point to follow this, you know, to keep in touch with you and follow what's going on, have you back in here and you know, every time we've had you in here, you've brought a little bit more, a little bit more is going on, a little bit more development and the whole progress, the whole project has been, you know, moved on, moved ahead a little bit. Yeah.

And now Yeah, you're right is inch by inch. Yeah, slow roll but now Yeah, you're right I remember when I had the revelation that it takes a year in this type of work to move an inch. I'm like, just a year to do all of the invisible work is what I called it, zoning, all of the permits, the things, all of the things that you still have to do all the rules and policies.

But now if I ever have to restore historic theater again, I'm your girl. Now I've got it. Are you ready to take on the majestic now?

LOL. I... It seems like a pretty firm no.

And I know what they are telling everyone is on November 1, come dressed in your best black. Yes, your best version of black and that is just that, so that way it could be black jeans and a black t shirt, it could be a black ball gown, it could be whatever is considered your best version, but we are going to have a blackout and celebrate and the only color and light will be the tower. All right.

Yeah, yeah, so it'll be a really good time, excited. Should be. Wear jeans, I'm telling people, wear the community meeting and this woman was like, I'm wearing my ball gown.

And I said, yes, ma'am. I will see you there. And people are excited to get gussied up.

Really, people are excited to have something to dress up and go to. That should be a good time. Well, mean, that's the way it used to be out there back in the day.

Yeah. Yeah. People would dress nice.

Yeah. You don't go into those places looking tore up or anything. You gotta dress nice.

Exactly. I mean, people are putting on getting ready. Yeah.

I'm Yeah. Getting ready. That's great.

And she's got the Southwest planes flying over her in the landing pattern too. We do. We do.

They come right over the rooftop and I'm like Southwest, got a partner, which they are, you guys are great partners already, we partner some more. See all the screens. Yeah, all the planes going by.

Yeah. Thank you for coming in here once again. Thank you.

I really appreciate it. We appreciate you and it's just really exciting to know that we've kind of had a ringside seat to watching this come together, watching it come to fruition and Yeah. And the stuff that you told us about the first time you were on Yeah.

It's coming about. Ain't that something? It is coming about.

And knowing that everything you showed us in that tour, it's going to be done and we're going get to see it. Yeah. It's exciting.

It's exciting to have electricity, you know, when you It guys We were on construction lights. So it is, yeah. So I tell people now, like if you were saw it before construction started and you see it now, it knocks your socks off.

Like it is just, and I didn't realize how much change comes because I'm there every day and then I took a week off and then I came back and the marquee was back, like the tower was there, the new electric board was there, I'm like, it looks incredible. So lots of change. Yeah.

Lots of change. I would say I drove by when the tower was gone and I went, it's gone. Oh my god.

Started to get cleaned and stuff and it needed stuff done. Oh, we needed a lot of repair, it needed a lot of repair, but that tower coming down, oh my phone and Instagram and some guy on Instagram was like, I almost wrecked out on 45 looking for the tower and I'm like, it's coming back, I promise. But yeah, people take notice, people are watching for sure.

It's coming back and so is the theater. Thank you, Elizabeth Wadley for coming in here today. You all having me in.

Yes. We appreciate you coming in here, and we appreciate you out there being by the channel. We should thank Brie over here twisting and tweaking.

Getting this thing underway today. Excellent as always. So thanks to all of them.

Thanks to you for being by the channel here at Little YDC. We would like very much for you to share us on your social media because that is what keeps us going. The more peeps we get, the longer we hang around.

Who knows how long it'll be? But we're here for right now. That is for sure.

So till next time. Bye. Alright.

I'm gonna go take my pants off. Your Dark Companion is a Stolen Water Media presentation.