Greg Hinojosa named artistic director of Woodlawn Theater
QSanAntonio.com, February 4, 2012

Officials of Woodlawn Theater, Inc., this week announced that they hired local actor and director Greg Hinojosa to be the artistic director of the Woodlawn Theater, the iconic Deco District showplace on Fredericksburg Road.

Hinojosa brings over twenty-five years of professional experience to the job. He is a graduate of Southeastern Oklahoma State University where he earned a B.A. in theater arts.

Professionally, he's worked at regional theaters across the US including Santa Fe Stages, The Springer Opera House, The Magik Children’s Theatre of San Antonio and The Repertory Theatre of America.

Even though he's known locally as a director and actor, Hinojosa told QSanAntonio that he's also been a set and costume designer and make-up artist. He currently is a board member of the San Antonio Theater Coalition.

Greg Hinojosa as a chatty biddy in "Red, White and Tuna," as Ebeneezer Scrooge in "A Christmas Carol," and as Mrs. Forrest, a psychotic suburban housewife in "Psycho Beach Party."

Hinojosa has received numerous awards from the Alamo Theatre Arts Awards for his work as an actor and director in "I Am My Own Wife," "Little Shop of Horrors," “Santos y Santos," "Once Upon a Mattress," "Of Mice and Men,” "Chicago," "Scrooge, the Musical" and "Christmas in Blueville."

San Antonio theatergoers know Hinojosa best for the numerous characters he portrayed on local stages. During the holidays, theater critics applauded his portrayal of Scrooge in the musical, "A Christmas Carol," which he also directed at the San Pedro Playhouse.

This summer, Hinojosa garnered a bit of notoriety as the director of "Corpus Christi," playwright Terrance McNally's drama that portrays Jesus as a gay man. The backlash against the play by local Christian extremists got national attention, prompting a series of letters of encouragement from McNally to Hinojosa.

A renaissance at the Woodlawn

Woodlawn Theater, Inc., operates as a non-profit under the stewardship of technical director and board president Kurt Wehner and his wife, Sherry Wehner, who works on marketing and serves on the board.

In a recent interview with the San Antonio Express-News, Kurt Wehner says that he's purchasing the building and will close on it within the month. "I'll be able to invest some more funds into continuing to restore the theater, and take the theater up one more notch in terms of appearance,” he said.

The new season at the Woodlawn will focus on musicals, kicking off with a run of "Legally Blonde," from March 30 to April 29.

According to the Express-News article, Wehner plans to remodel the lobby, upgrade the lighting system and restore the theater's neon sign. The renovation plans include leasing a space next to the Woodlawn which will be converted into a black box theater and used for smaller, non-musical productions.

The Woodlawn Theater first opened in 1946 and was designed by architect John Eberson, who also designed the Majestic Theater. Last week, the city's Historic and Design Review Commission supported a proposal to begin the process that could lead to the Woodlawn's designation as an historic landmark.