Meet Richard Maddox | Artistic Director

We had the good fortune of connecting with Richard Maddox and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Richard, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
Playhouse West has been around for over 40 years and the last location Sanford Meisner spent the final decade of his life working and perfecting his technique. When My teaching partner and I received the green light to open in Dallas, it was a no brainer. Tamara and I look at it much more as an opportunity to give back and continue authentic Meisner teachings to honor his legacy.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
My journey has been that of a trailblazer in the sense that as an actor and after training at Playhouse West LA under Tony Savant, and Holly Gagnier, I started to work consistently. As I was encouraged to create my own work and write plays and films, I created a short western that had turned out to be one of the better things I had done in my career. The realization that I made that happen for myself only spurred me on to create my own western TV series that I started in and had sold to Sony in 2018. This led to landing my first recurring role in an AMC western series and then to go from
There. I was in development for my next western tv show when God graced me with a beautiful wife and priorities changed. I went into fundraising where my natural talents and passions to help build a better world took precedence. Then Covid hit. Scrambled everything for a bit and I started to look at my western series again. It is with a network at the moment being pitched and we will see where that goes. In the meantime, we were able to get a beautiful hay farm and more animals than the Ft. worth zoo lol. (Kidding…but seriously) I realized as I have lived a bit of real life that it is all about pouring into the younger generation and continuing to teach the ways of Sanford Meisner. Not of which is in a workshop or month. It is not a quick process, but it is a life changing process and the progress and success we have witnessed within our classes have been incredible. The have been struggles and within those struggles triumph and reflections to help us mold into better human beings. As an actor,
Phone calls have started to come in form
Last producers, directors and writers for projects we have worked on in the past. I just wrapped a film last week. As exciting as that is, the teaching excites me So much more. Tamara(my teaching partner) and I truly care about the development of our students and it is incredible to see the progress. We are mounting our first play in a few weeks and that is very exciting. As we have witnessed the need for authentic Meisner training here in the DFW area. We are growing as a school and referrals are coming in for class audits. It’s an exciting time for sure. For more info visit: www.playhousewestdallas.com
This is not a school for hobbyists…this is for serious actors and people artists wanting to work professionally. It’s not quick, but it’s lasting.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Catch a cowboys or ranger game for sure. The arboretum is beautiful, frisco and Allen, go to grapevine for sure and visit downtown and the stockyards are a must. So many things to do and see.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
The late Sanford Meisner, Robert Carnegie, Jeff Goldblum, Tony Savant, Holly Gagnier, Tamara Olsen, Jim Parrack, and most importantly Jesus who keeps me
Grounded and focused.

Website: https://www.Playhousewestdallas.com