Four Day Weekend on Extended Run in Sundance Square

Popular improvisational comedy company signs new five-year lease

What began as a six-week run at Casa on the Square in 1997 has led to a 13-year relationship between Four Day Weekend and Sundance Square. The successful improvisational comedy troupe recently signed a new five-year lease to extend their run in the popular entertainment district located in the heart of downtown Fort Worth.

“The first time I ever saw Sundance Square we drove over from Dallas about 10:30 on a Thursday night and the place was jumping,” said David Wilk, one of Four Day Weekend’s founders. “I thought, ‘Wow! A downtown that is alive. This is the place to be.’ And it’s worked very well for us. Our patrons can park their car one time…for free… and go to dinner, walk to our show, then go out for drinks and dancing afterwards. All in a safe and clean environment.”

Four Day Weekend is a draw that benefits other Sundance Square clients, too.

“Four Day Weekend has been a great asset for Sundance Square,” said Johnny Campbell, president and CEO of Sundance Square. “They have a loyal local following, plus they bring out-of-town visitors downtown. And you couldn’t ask for a nicer, more professional group of guys.”

Sundance Square will completely refurbish the theater with new carpeting, lighting and a fresh coat of paint throughout. In addition, they plan to restore the theater’s chairs from the inside out, as they are rare European-style chairs. The remodel will be completed by early spring. But Four Day Weekend is not expecting any interruption to their schedule.

“Sundance Square has been a huge ally,” said Wilk. “In 2002, we were tenants of Caravan of Dreams when the club closed. Sundance offered us a chance to stay and take over the theater. We never closed during the renovation of the Caravan space to Reata Restaurant. Sundance Square Management made sure the construction was stopped and cleaned up every Friday afternoon in time for our audience to get to the theater. Our show was still in its infancy, and if we had been forced to close during renovation, we'd have gone out of business. During the renovation, Sundance Square spent enormous amounts of money to build a separate lobby, stairwell and street entrance to create our own building for Four Day Weekend.

If there’s one thing Four Day Weekend wishes they could change, it is the perception that Wilk calls the "local comedy troupe stigma.”

“We are one of the most successful comedy troupes in the country,” concludes Wilk. “We perform about 300 shows a year: 200 in our theater in Sundance Square and 100 corporate dates all over the world. We currently have a TV show in development with the Fox Network, and we’re working on several feature films. Yet, I still get asked all the time how my ‘little’ comedy show is doing.”

Sundance Square oversees more than two million square feet of commercial office, retail and residential space. Located in the heart of downtown Fort Worth, historic Sundance Square is a 35-block commercial, residential, entertainment and retail district where people work, live, shop and dine. Sundance Square’s beautiful landscaping, red-brick streets and turn-of-the-century buildings make it a pedestrian’s delight. Named after the famed Sundance Kid, who used the Fort Worth area as a hideout, Sundance Square has been hailed as a monumental achievement in urban redevelopment. For more information, visit www.sundancesquare.com.