Hip Pocket Theatre

The Hip Pocket Theatre was founded in 1976 by Johnny and Diane Simons and Douglas Balentine but its “grass roots” origins go back much earlier. Johnny and Diane both earned Masters Degrees from Texas Christian University. While at TCU, Johnny left temporarily to act in New York but returned to school and went to work at Casa Mañana writing and directing children’s plays. He then moved to Houston where Diane was prop master at the Alley Theatre and Johnny put on pantomime performances in public parks.

Douglas met Johnny when he was sixteen and Johnny was a guest director at Casa Mañana for Huckleberry Finn. Douglas went on to work as a stage manager for Casa Mañana and the National Opera Company, out of Raleigh, North Carolina. After moving back to Fort Worth, the two met again while Douglas was performing at a local piano bar called The Red Slipper. Johnny asked Douglas to perform the role of J. Frank Norris, a preacher and rock ‘n roll piano player, in a new play commissioned by the Texas Bicentennial Committee based on Fort Worth’s history - Out Where the West Begins - an early version of Cowtown! The production was to be staged at Casa Mañana for an audience of school children. This meeting brought together some of the founding ensemble members of the Hip Pocket Theatre, Jimmy Joe Steenbergen, Grover Coulson, and Gary Cunningham.