The Dunwoody Stage Door Players

Dunwoody Stage Door Players is a metro-Atlanta community theater that provides a venue to showcase the talents of up-and-coming local actors, directors and designers. SDP is committed to giving early-career and avocational artists an opportunity to learn, grow, and experience the joys of working with an ensemble in an encouraging, nurturing and educational atmosphere.

SDP maintains its commitment to the community by producing a variety of plays and musicals that delight and inspire young and old alike. The theatre likewise strives to enrich and create community involvement by providing opportunities for theatrical participation (technically, artistically, and organizationally) for individuals at all levels of experience.

SDP was founded in 1974 as a community project of the Dunwoody Women's Club. The theatre performed for 10 years in a room over the Dekalb Federal Bank, and later shared the theatre space of Dekalb Community College's North Campus. In December 1988, SDP leaders realized their dream of a permanent home in the newly renovated North Dekalb Cultural Center.

Produced with strictly volunteer labor for 14 years, the theatre hired the first paid staff (a part-time managing director) in 1988. The stability of their new permanent home demanded a larger budget and increased staff support. The staff grew to include several part time employees (artistic director, associate artistic director, administrative director, technical director, and production coordinator) until early 1994.

In the spring of 1994, the board of directors made the decision to hire two professional full-time arts administrators to more effectively support the growth of the theatre. Realizing the asset of a performing arts group in Dunwoody, the community requested increased programming. Commensurate with its growth and visibility, SDP increased programming to include six mainstage productions per season, theatre school classes (est. 1989), a children's Theatre season (est. 1990), a summer drama camp (est. 1992), and the New Play Workshop - a free process for the development of original plays by an ensemble of local writers, actors, and directors (est. 1992).

In 1998, due to financial constraints, Stage Door Players had to pull back many of its programs to provide greater resources to the maintenance of our main stage productions. Returning to a part-time, and primarily volunteer staff committed to the survival of Stage Door Players, we are currently striving to maintain the quality of excellence, the educational opportunities, the nurturing environment, and the community involvement the has been the cornerstone of Stage Door Players over the past 29 years. So please come and join our creative collective of committed volunteers and satisfied audience members, as we forge ahead -- as a community -- into the 21st century!

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