Halifax Repertory Theatre was founded in 2021 by Jack and Sandy Cook with a simple goal:

to elevate live theatre in the community they call home.

Both Seabreeze High School graduates, Jack and Sandy returned to the Ormond Beach area in 2020 after many years away. Sandy had spent much of her life as a paralegal and performing and working in the arts on the side, while Jack built a successful career as a trial attorney. When they returned to Volusia County, they saw a community filled with talented performers, musicians, artists, and wanted to provide a place for opportunities for high-quality local theatre and arts education.

Coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic, the performing arts had been hit especially hard. Productions had stopped, theatres had struggled, and many performers had lost the sense of community that comes from creating something together onstage. Jack and Sandy believed there was an opportunity not simply to restart theatre, but to help build something new.

In 2021, they co-founded Halifax Repertory Theatre as a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to producing exceptional live theatre while creating opportunities for performers of all ages throughout Eastern Volusia County.

What began as a passion project quickly grew into something much larger.

Over the years, Halifax Repertory Theatre has produced musicals, plays, concerts, youth productions, holiday events, and large-scale community theatre experiences at local venues including the Ormond Beach Performing Arts Center and the News-Journal Center at Daytona State College. HRT has brought together professional artists, community performers, students, musicians, designers, technicians, volunteers, and audiences from throughout Central Florida.

From the beginning, education has also been an important part of the vision. Jack and Sandy wanted HRT to be a place where young performers could do more than participate in a show—they could train, grow, and begin to understand what it means to work in the performing arts. That vision eventually led to the creation of the Halifax Repertory Theatre Arts Academy, providing middle and high school students with conservatory-style training in theatre, music, dance, performance, media, and the business of the arts.

Today, Halifax Repertory Theatre continues to grow, but its purpose remains the same: to create exceptional theatre, develop the next generation of artists, and strengthen the performing arts in Volusia County.

For Jack and Sandy, HRT has always been about more than putting on shows. It is about creating a home for artists, giving young people a place to discover what they are capable of, bringing audiences together, and helping ensure that live theatre remains an important part of this community for generations to come.