Center Street Community Theater Announces First Show
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David Slone-dslone@timesuniononline.com
For its first production, Center Street Community Theatre will present “You Can’t Take It With You” in October. The play, about what happens when an eccentric family and a straight-laced family collide after World War II, will be presented Oct. 10 to 12 at the Wagon Wheel Theatre. Director is Jennifer Shepherd, CSCT Leadership Team president. Auditions for the community theater’s first play will be in June or early July. Dates and times will be provided later to local media and on CSCT’s Facebook page at facebook.com/CScommunitytheatre The show was announced at CSCT’s informational meeting Thursday evening at the Wagon Wheel, with about 30 community members in attendance. Shepherd said she was part of a group of volunteers early on that decided to be a task force to get this “opportunity” going. She explained CSCT’s mission statement and philosophy, and said CSCT is under the Wagon Wheel umbrella. Will Dawson, Wagon Wheel director of operations, explained that the theater became a non-profit in 2012. In changing from a for-profit, Dawson said Wagon Wheel wants to become more of a community theater and expand its footprint. Besides the professional theater, it also now includes the Symphony of the Lakes and is in the process of formalizing a partnership with Warsaw Community Schools. He said there are a lot of talented people in the community who love theater and would want the opportunity to perform on stage. “This is something this community has needed for a long, long time,” Shepherd said. “The timing is right for this.” While the first show is at the Wagon Wheel, she said not all of the community theater’s shows will be since there are other venues that could provide performance opportunities. As those interested in CSCT entered the theater for the meeting, they were provided forms to fill out. Jason Dugger, Leadership Team vice president, told them the forms would be used to determine what each person’s area of interest was. They could check off everything from acting and singing to marketing or technology. “We’ll have opportunities here one way or another for everybody,” he said. One attendee asked about an age limit. Shepherd said the community theater was an opportunity for anyone in the community. However, at this point, she said they want to keep it age appropriate but won’t exclude anyone. Phil Herbruck, Leadership Team treasurer and social media, said the Facebook page for now will be the main source of information for what’s happening with CSCT. The audition dates and rehearsal schedule all will be posted on there once they’re decided. There’s also an email address people can contact at cscommunitytheatre@wagonwheeltheatre.com Greg Teghtmeyer, co-secretary, said a lot of work has gone into organizing and planning the community theater, and that will continue. “We have to be clear and intentional with the shows we plan to do. We recognize we have to be realistic,” Teghtmeyer said, noting that the first show will have a smaller cast and not be a musical. He said CSCT will have to work with the talent that wants to be involved. “For the first year or two, we want to do a couple of shows a year max,” Teghtmeyer said. “We want to ease our way into it and watch it evolve.” Katie Polk, co-secretary, announced the first show and dates. She said the cast includes nine men and seven women. She said Shepherd will do a wonderful job as the director. “It is a really fun show,” Shepherd commented. After reviewing the forms turned in, Dugger said he was really optimistic about what he was seeing. “It’s going to be all of our passion and flexibility with each other that will make this work,” he said. “I’m really excited after reading all these papers. I think we’ve got a really good group here.” Shepherd said, “This is a good thing for our community. This is a good outlet for all of us who are busy. If we do a fabulous job on the first one, we’ll have people crawling out of the woodwork to be a part of the next one.”
