A. D. Players was founded as in 1967 by Jeannette Clift George. The troupe of part-time actors performed its first performance in 1968, and seven years later, in 1975, the Players created a Touring Company. In the late 1970s, the Players purchased the Grace Theater building. Soon, the Touring Company was making an international performances, and the Players also established the Theater Arts Academy, originally providing drama classes to children. A. D. Players continued to grow through the early nineties, even expanding with the building of Saint Street Annex, which served as the new home for costume shop, Touring Company, rehearsal hall, and Theater Arts Academy. They company also started Houston's first year round children's theater at St. Luke’s United Methodist Church Rotunda.