![]() ![]() While noting that she can’t speak for the entire council, Lewis said that with “the very limited tourism funds we can award, I’d be hesitant to award an organization with no track record.” Marietta City Councilwoman Annette Lewis said budget meetings begin this week with a final decision due next month. ![]() The theater’s tentative schedule would raise the curtains in October.Ī grant for Trackside is far from certain. On April 25, Russell submitted a detailed, 14-page grant request to the same council asking for $50,000 for Trackside. Marietta City Council had approved $30,000 to keep the theater afloat, but the board turned it down, saying it would be unfair to take the money when the board knew it couldn’t stay open much longer. Attendance was 50,000 to 55,000 a year, with annual grosses near $1 million.Īfter the company struggled financially in 2011, Russell announced on March 19 that Theatre in the Square was closing, saying that after “board deliberations and financial analysis,” it wasn’t feasible to keep the doors open. “Take Me Out” ran for a record 11 weeks and was the longest-running show in the theater’s history. Even when it staged edgier fare, such as the gay-themed “Take Me Out,” audiences turned up. Theatre in the Square, started in 1982 by Wells and his late partner Michael Horne, was known around the country for its fresh take on classics and its multiple world premieres. Their vision is to have a more “family oriented” theater that incorporates programs for children in addition to adult fare. A domain name for has been registered by Carceron, a company belonging to board member Chad Massaker. Bailey, from Theatre in the Square’s board, is the registered agent of the new company, while board Chairman Mike Russell is listed as interim board chairman of Trackside. She will be Trackside’s producing artistic director, according to a grant proposal submitted to Marietta City Council. Paperwork to incorporate Trackside Theatre Company was filed April 11 with the Georgia secretary of state’s office by Susan Reid, who was education director of Theatre in the Square and was named interim managing director after Raye Varney’s departure. “I feel betrayed by the board and some of the employees,” he said. Wells, who has been adamant that Theatre in the Square could have survived financially, said he thinks the board knew about the new venture, called Trackside Theatre Company, when it decided to shut down his theater on March 19. Less than four weeks after Theatre in the Square’s board of directors opted to close the 30-year-old Marietta playhouse in March, board members and staffers from the defunct company began to lay the groundwork to open a new theater in the same location - without Square’s founder and producing director, Palmer Wells. The 2016 season, its 55th, promises to be every bit as entertaining.Palmer Wells, who founded Theatre in the Square 30 years ago, says he feels "betrayed." Among the shows presented during the 2015 season were Mary Poppins, Swing, The Wizard of Oz, the Addams Family and Driving Miss Daisy. It isn't what it used to be but it still beats a night watching most of the motion pictures that are being produced today. But the idea of experiencing Broadway-type entertainment at Sullivan-type prices intrigues many theater-goers who enjoy the relaxing atmosphere of the Downstate community. In recent years, however, the use of professional actors and artistic staff has substantially decreased while more local talent is utilized. I recall seeing Guys and Dolls and The Music Man and Oklahoma. Brown, John Carradine, Cesar Romero, Don Ameche, Forrest Tucker, Leonard Nimoy, Betty Grable, Bill Hayes Ann Miller, Kitty Carlisle, Eddie Bracken and Jean-Pierre Aumont. During Little's era, many famous actors performed in Sullivan, including Mickey Rooney, Alan Alda, Joe E. Located in the heart of Sullivan's town square on Harrison Street, it is the only professional theater between Chicago and St. He continued to bring many plays and musicals to the small town throughout his 22-year stewardship. Little debuted with a "Summer of Musicals" that featured Brigadoon. Little, Jr., came up with the brilliant idea of renting out the theater for the summer months to present plays. Originally opened in 1924 as a movie theater, it was in 1957 that Guy S. ![]() The first time I became acquainted with The Little Theatre on the Square in Sullivan, Illinois, was when I was a student at the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana, only a short drive away. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |