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63-879: Annie Horniman founded the first modern repertory theatre in Manchester after withdrawing her support from the Abbey Theatre in Dublin. Horniman's Gaiety Theatre opened its first season in September 1908. The opening of the Gaiety was followed by the Citizens' Theatre in Glasgow and the Liverpool Repertory Theatre . Previously, regional theatre relied on mostly London touring ensembles. During

126-424: A Pulitzer Prize (1982), a Tony Award (1986), and a Jujamcyn Award (1985). In Russia and much of Eastern Europe , repertory theatre is based on the idea that each company maintains a number of productions that are performed on a rotating basis. Each production's life span is determined by its success with the audience. However, many productions remain in repertory for years as this approach presents each piece

189-450: A British movement started in the early 1900s that focused on shorter runs of a single new work, rather than having several plays ready to perform at any given time. For weekly rep and for a typical three-act play, the actors' week would start on Tuesday, and go as follows: Today, repertory theatres employ a wide range of actors, who can play a variety of types. Before the modern repertory system, acting ensembles were normally made up of

252-501: A big comeback in cities such as Little Rock, AR , Washington, DC , Minneapolis , Indianapolis , Milwaukee , Cincinnati , Chicago , Los Angeles , Nashville , New York , Houston , Boston , San Francisco , San Diego , Buffalo , Kansas City , and Seattle . Festival theatre now provides actors with work in the summer. There are many ways to rehearse repertory theatre. The most prolific American repertory theatres are an example of that. Utah Shakespeare Festival rehearses two plays

315-525: A day split between an eight hour period. This is common. Some theatres only rehearse one play a day and add shows into rotation as the season progresses, like The American Shakespeare Center. They rehearse one play for a little over two weeks before it opens; then, they begin the next one. The length of rehearsal also varies. American Players Theatre has a six-week-long rehearsal period compared to Oregon Shakespeare Festival 's eleven-week-long one. America's oldest resident repertory theatre, Hedgerow Theatre ,

378-579: A familiar actor or actress." William Shatner performed in summer stock after the cancellation of Star Trek . Some summer theaters specialize in a particular type of production, such as Shakespearean plays , musicals , or even opera . Some notable summer theaters include: the New York Shakespeare Festival (better-known as Shakespeare in the Park , although a number of other summer stock Shakespearean series use this name);

441-568: A few summer stock theaters have become highly regarded by both patrons as well as performers and designers. Often viewed as a starting point for professional actors, stock casts are typically young, just out of high school or still in college. Summer stock started in Denver, Colorado, at the Elitch Theatre (part of Elitch Gardens ). A 1937 article in Time magazine reported: "Elitch's Gardens

504-452: A few times in a given season, not enough to exhaust the potential audience pool. After the fall of the Soviet regime and the substantial diminution of government subsidy, the repertory practice has required re-examination. Moscow Art Theatre and Lev Dodin 's Maly Drama Theatre of St. Petersburg are the world's most notable practitioners of this approach. Rotation Repertory system is still

567-712: A flat in Portman Square . In 1933 she was made a Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour . Horniman and Algernon Blackwood may have been the only past or present members of an occult society to receive a United Kingdom honour. She died in 1937 at her home in Shere , Surrey . Her estate amounted to a little over £50,000. The Annie Horniman Papers are held in the John Rylands Library at

630-443: A new actress: "My first professional jobs were in summer stock, in small, medium and large companies that presented ten plays in ten weeks from June until Labor Day...At that time, the core of each summer stock company was made up of a stage manager and six resident actors: a leading man and woman, a character man and woman, and an ingenue and a juvenile. In some cases, five or six of the summer plays would be 'star vehicles', featuring

693-760: A resident company and guest stars, a policy that has been followed with tremendous success for over fifty years." Most sources consider 1893 to be the first year of summer stock. For that summer season, Elitch Gardens employed the Frank Norcross Company. It was the first full-length season of summer stock. The first stock play presented at Elitch Theatre was Nancy and Company by Augustin Daly. It opened on June 10, 1893. The company's roster of actors included: Lilian Dailey, Marion Earle, Alfred Hampton, Jane Kenmark, Hudson Liston, Millie Liston, Charles Lothian, Jeanette Lowrey, James F. Neill (who had organized

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756-494: A special contract with Actors Equity to cover the work of actors and stage managers. Summer Stock at the Historic Elitch Theatre in Denver was the proving-grounds for a number of would-be stars. For the 1905 season, a 20-something Cecil B. DeMille was a minor player in the stock cast. Denver-natives, such as Douglas Fairbanks , Maude Fealy , and Antoinette Perry , all got their start in summer stock at

819-726: A theatre administrator. She bought a property and developed it into the Abbey Theatre , which opened in December 1904. Although she moved back to live in England she continued to support the theatre financially until 1910. Meanwhile, in Manchester she had purchased and renovated the Gaiety Theatre in 1908 and developed it into the first regional repertory theatre in Britain. At the Gaiety she appointed Ben Iden Payne as

882-636: A training ground for actors and inexpensive entertainment for vacationing East Coast urbanites. Craig Mamrick describes Louis Edmonds ' early summer stock experience: "Louis spent the summer of 1949 working as part of the repertory company at the Ogunquit Playhouse in Ogunquit, Maine... The Ogunquit Playhouse was affiliated with the Manhattan Theatre Colony, an apprentice program that hopeful actors could attend (paying $ 150 for

945-804: A very pleasant summer in stock at the Elitch Gardens. Today in Hollywood I can hardly go anywhere without meeting one or more now rather famous people who either during that summer or at other times played in what all actors and actresses consider one of the greatest cradles of the drama in American history." In the 1920s, summer stock expanded: The Muny , St. Louis, Missouri (1919) is the nation's oldest and largest outdoor musical theater; Manhattan Theatre Colony, first started near Peterborough, New Hampshire (1927) and moved to Ogunquit, Maine ; Gretna Theatre, Mount Gretna, Pennsylvania (1927) as part of

1008-513: A well-known public figure in Manchester, lecturing on subjects which included women's suffrage and her views about the theatre. In 1910 she was awarded the honorary degree of MA by Manchester University . During the First World War the Gaiety continued to stage plays but financial difficulties led to the disbandment of the permanent company in 1917, following which productions in the theatre were by visiting companies. In 1921 Annie sold

1071-678: Is also produced by the Summer Theatre season at Frinton-on-Sea . Organizations in Canada include North America's largest classical repertory theatre company, the Stratford Festival , founded in 1953 primarily to present productions of William Shakespeare 's plays. Canada also hosts North America's second largest repertory theatre company, the Shaw Festival , founded in 1962, which presents plays written by or set during

1134-573: Is located in Rose Valley, Pennsylvania . It was founded by actor Jasper Deeter in 1923. The present producing artistic director is actress and director Penelope Reed. Other notable repertory theatres include the Guthrie Theater , which was set up as a regional repertory theatre concept that is free from commercial constraints in the choice of repertoire. It is aligned in objectives to the repertory and resident theatre movement that emerged in

1197-692: Is no longer possible, owing to restrictions from British Equity , which came to mandate just eight shows a week, including perhaps two matinées. The practice of repertory ("rep") is still seen in large cities. Actors now have the luxury of at least three weeks of rehearsal , however. Repertory can still be found in the UK in a variation of guises: in Sidmouth (12 plays), Wolverhampton (eight), and Burslem and Taunton (four each). The Sheringham Little Theatre produces an in-house repertory season each summer, running from June until September. Weekly repertory theatre

1260-402: Is now being edified… The strength of these companies, as well as the plays presented, are way above the average. Cecil B. DeMille , who acted in minor roles in the summer stock cast in 1905, would regularly send congratulatory telegrams to the theater on opening night.  In 1926, more than two decades after his time at the theater, he sent a telegram stating: "It is a long time since I spent

1323-404: Is the great-grandfather of all U. S. summer stock companies... and nearly every personage in U. S. show business, from General & Mrs. Tom Thumb to Douglas Fairbanks, has at one time or another played Elitch's." According to the 1948 book Blueprint for Summer Theatre , "The first summer theater opened its doors at Elitch Gardens , Denver , Colorado on May 1, 1890. Plays were presented with

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1386-445: Is the oldest summer stock theater. In general, theatrical companies do not enjoy invariable successes, but widespread popularity has made summer theater a major industry, so that there is virtually no section of this country that does not boast at least one such dramatic group. In his 1964 Ph.D. dissertation on stock theatre companies and James F. Neill (not to be confused with James O'Neill,) William Zucchero: "Denver could boast that It

1449-714: The Chautauqua movement; the Cape Playhouse, Dennis, Massachusetts (1927); and the Berkshire Playhouse, Stockbridge, Massachusetts (1928). Many of the theaters of the heyday , the 1920s through the 1960s, were in New England. Part of the "straw hat circuit," theaters also were in New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, among other states. (Lakewood Playhouse near Skowhegan, Maine (1901 for summer),

1512-800: The Music circus . This began a new period of outdoor theater. In 1951 this new style of summer stock made its way west with the addition of the Sacramento Music Circus . The Cape Cod Music Circus (now the Melody Tent) in Hyannis , Massachusetts opened in 1950, the third tent theater to open, and The South Shore Music Circus in Cohasset , Massachusetts followed in 1951. A tent theater had opened earlier in Florida. Another theater in

1575-590: The University of Manchester . Summer stock theatre In American theater, summer stock theater is a theater that presents stage productions only in the summer. The name combines the season with the tradition of staging shows by a resident company, reusing stock scenery and costumes . Summer stock theaters frequently take advantage of seasonal weather by having their productions outdoors, under tents set up temporarily for their use, or in barns . Some smaller theaters still continue this tradition, and

1638-574: The occult society the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn , where she remained a member until disagreements with its leaders led to her resignation in 1903. During this time she met and became a friend of W. B. Yeats , acting as his amanuensis for some years. Their friendship endured: Frank O'Connor recalled that on the day Yeats heard of her death, he spent the entire evening speaking of his memories of her. Annie's first venture into

1701-707: The 1930s to the 1960s, two impresarios dominated the field of British rep, mostly in the North. They were Harry Hanson and his Court players, and Frank H. Fortescue's Famous Players, with the Arthur Brough Players in Folkestone in the South. When an actor joined one of their companies, it could mean "twice-nightly" shows, and a new play to learn every week. Actress Rosemary Harris has told of her 50 consecutive weeks of doing that at Bedford rep. However, this

1764-475: The 2009 season with Hunter Foster and Malcolm Gets . Gretna Theatre, opened in 1927 in the Pennsylvania Chautauqua community of Mount Gretna , and has hosted performers such as Bernadette Peters , Faith Prince , Tommy Tune , Kim Zimmer , Charlton Heston . The Ogunquit Playhouse, begun in 1933, attracted performers such as Maude Adams , Ethel Barrymore , and Laurette Taylor in

1827-606: The Beach , and Tent Theatre (John Goodman Amphitheatre) in Springfield, Missouri , The Historic Elitch Theatre is still standing today, and after several phases of restoration, the foundation running the theatre hopes to have regular productions again in the next few years. In 1949, St. John Terrell began a new experience presenting summer stock theater under an arena-type ( circus ) tent in Lambertville, New Jersey ,

1890-643: The Dark , and Howard Keel in Kismet appeared. Kenley cast "movie stars and television personalities" who were nationally known. During Gypsy Rose Lee 's engagement in Auntie Mame at the Warren theater, Erik Preminger wrote: "Working for him [John Kenley] was a joy. Everything about his operation was first-class from the director and supporting cast he had assembled through the scenery, props, and costumes...He

1953-616: The Elitch Theatre. Additionally, Fredric March , Minnie Maddern Fiske , Beulah Bondi , Edward G. Robinson (see photo above), and Sylvia Sidney were all stock cast members at one time. In the summer of 1951, a young Grace Kelly (just 21-years old) was the ingénue for the stock company. While performing at the theater she received a telegram from Fred Zinnemann asking her to come to Hollywood to star in his film High Noon as Gary Cooper 's wife. She initially thought she had to decline because of her contract that lasted through

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2016-759: The Gretna Theatre, Mount Gretna, Pennsylvania, Rocky Mountain Repertory Theatre, Grand Lake, Colorado , Summerstock Conservatory , Calgary Utah Shakespearean Festival , Cedar City, Utah , Santa Fe Opera , Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival , Becket, Massachusetts , Williamstown Theatre Festival , Williamstown, Massachusetts , Berkshire Theatre Festival , Stockbridge, Massachusetts , Glimmerglass Festival , Cooperstown , New York, The Barn Theatre in Augusta, Michigan, American Players Theatre , Spring Green, Wisconsin , Vancouver 's Bard on

2079-504: The United States in the 1960s. This sought to establish an alternative and decentralized theatre network outside of New York, one which would have non-profit-making status and would be focused on the art of the theatre as well as the development of artists, craftsmen, and administrators. Publicly funded theatres that belong to this type have been receiving erratic support since the 1980s. The Association of Producing Artists (APA)

2142-1072: The circuit. Plays and musicals that had closed on Broadway would play the circuit. By 1950, there were 152 Equity companies, including the Ogunquit Playhouse and Skowhegan Playhouse in Maine; the Woodstock Playhouse and the Forestburgh Playhouse in upstate New York; Falmouth Playhouse in Massachusetts (burned down in 1994); Priscilla Beach Theatre in Plymouth, Massachusetts , and the Bucks County Playhouse in New Hope (suburban Philadelphia), Pennsylvania (established in 1939). The Westport Country Playhouse in Connecticut , since renovated with

2205-560: The company), Frank E. Norcross, Bernard Reynold, and Weevie Vivian. The following year, James F. Neill and R.L. Giffen organized a company for the Manhattan Beach , Denver , with a cast list including: Anne Blancke, Kate Blancke, Alfred Burnham, Harry Corson Clarke , Henrietta Crosman , Josepha Crowell, Zula Hanes, William Ingersoll , John B. Maher, James F. Neill, and Mary Ryan as players, and with Alfred Fisher as stage director. In September 1894, Neill and Giffen also organized

2268-616: The director and employed actors on 40-week contracts, alternating their work between large and small parts. The plays produced included classics such as Euripides and Shakespeare , and she introduced works by contemporary playwrights such as Ibsen and Shaw. She also encouraged local writers who formed what was known as the Manchester School of dramatists, the leading members of which were Harold Brighouse , Stanley Houghton and Allan Monkhouse . The Gaiety company undertook tours of America and Canada in 1912 and 1913. Annie became

2331-515: The early 1950s. There are many noted Resident companies or repertory companies , such as the Artists Repertory Theatre . Murray, Stephen. Taking Our Amusements Seriously . LAP, 2010. ISBN   978-3-8383-7608-0 . Annie Horniman Annie Elizabeth Fredericka Horniman CH (3 October 1860 – 6 August 1937) was an English theatre matron and manager. She established the Abbey Theatre in Dublin and founded

2394-578: The early years and more recently, Sally Struthers , Lucie Arnaz , and Lorenzo Lamas . Performers such as Ginger Rogers , Douglas Fairbanks Jr. , Angela Lansbury , Bob Hope , Sergio Franchi , Zero Mostel , Ann Miller , Jane Powell , and Debbie Reynolds performed at the Cape Cod Music Circus and its sister theater, the South Shore Music Circus. Colleen Dewhurst wrote of her experiences in summer stock as

2457-831: The end of the summer, but her director at the theater quickly reminded her that she only had to give two-weeks notice and she could head to Hollywood. John Kenley , an Ohio -based producer, ran his own summer stock circuit, Kenley Players , in Columbus , Dayton , Warren , the Carousel Theatre in Akron , and Canton, Ohio , and sent many of the shows to an affiliated theater in Flint, Michigan . Starting in 1958 performers such as Dan Dailey in Guys and Dolls , Barbara Eden in Lady in

2520-445: The first regional repertory theatre company in Britain at the Gaiety Theatre in Manchester. She encouraged the work of new writers and playwrights, including W. B. Yeats , George Bernard Shaw and members of what became known as the Manchester School of dramatists. Annie Horniman was born at Surrey Mount, Forest Hill , London, in 1860, the elder child of Frederick John Horniman and his first wife Rebekah née Emslie. Her father

2583-992: The first winter stock company at the Lyceum Theatre, Denver. Another company was placed in Salt Lake City in December 1894 under the management of T. Daniel Frawley, who later purchased the Neill-Giffen interests and moved the organization to San Francisco . The roster of the combined Denver and Salt Lake City company included: Belle Archer , Blanche Bates , Robert E. Bell , H.D. Blakemore, Anne Blancke, Kate Blancke, Fanny Burt, Madge Carr Cook , Harry Corson Clarke, Jean Coyne, Henrietta Crosman, Charles Dade, Lilian Dailey, George W. Denham, Harry Gibbs , William Ingersoll, Jane Kenmark, Howard Kyle , George W. Leslie, Phosa McAllister, Cara Morlan, Robert Morris, James F. Neill, Phyllis Rankin , and Fred Trader, as players, with Walter Clark Bellow as stage director. 1896

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2646-538: The impression that the summer theater movement originated when certain daft individuals began producing plays in barns . The true beginning was in the theater built by John and Mary Elitch on their ranch at Denver, Colorado, in 1891. After several seasons of vaudeville and light opera, the stock company inaugurated the 1897 season with its first dramatic performance. The director was George Edeson, with James O'Neill, father of dramatist Eugene O'Neill, as leading man. An unbroken series of successful seasons followed. This, then,

2709-563: The lifetime of Bernard Shaw , or that follow Shaw's ideal of socially provocative theatre. However, Canadian repertory companies follow a model that differs somewhat from the years-long rotation repertory system found in Europe. In Canada, productions often stay on the repertory for one season, running in repertory with other productions in the same year. The actors are not employed full time long term, but instead work on contracts usually maximum 8 months long. The Vagabond Repertory Theatre Company

2772-608: The most commonly used business model of live theatre in Eastern and Central Europe, specifically in countries such as Austria, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Slovakia and Czech Republic. In Germany, Schaubuhne and some other theatres run on a repertory system. A combination company was a touring theater company which performed only one play . Unlike repertory companies, which performed multiple plays in rotation, combination companies used more elaborate and specialised scenery in their productions. A similar term, "weekly rep," denotes

2835-551: The origin of the repertoire tradition. One of the earliest examples of this system is the Moscow Art Theatre circa 1898. An even earlier example are the theatres of Germany. See the Deutsches Theater, a privately owned German theatre founded in 1883 to produce plays in rep. While variations appeared before, the modern repertory system did not become popular until the twentieth century. In the United States,

2898-444: The repertory system has also found a base to compete with commercial theatre. Many summer stock theatre companies are repertory in nature. College students and young professionals making up much of the acting company are supported by guest stars or actors who are further along in their careers. Repertory theatre with mostly changing casts and longer-running plays, perhaps better classed as "provincial" or "non-profit" theatre, has made

2961-847: The round, the Valley Forge Music Fair (which closed in 1996), in Devon, Pennsylvania, was opened in 1955 by Shelly Gross , Lee Guber and Frank Ford . They then opened other theaters in the round, including Shady Grove Music Fair in Washington, DC, Painters Mill Music Fair in Maryland (closed in 1991), and the Westbury Music Fair on Long Island , opened in 1956. By 1957, there were 19 tent theaters, many located in Massachusetts, New York, and New Jersey, and all presenting musicals only. (The musical The Pajama Game

3024-532: The standard stock company and later the touring company. The stock company would usually consist of a leading man and lady, a character actor and actress, younger actors to play romantic roles, and the rest of the actors would be a variety of ages and body types. The acting ensemble was typically around twelve. This was most popular prior to the Restoration. Post Restoration and into the nineteenth century, stock companies remained, but they were joined and then replaced by traveling companies. These ensembles consisted of

3087-570: The stars and actors hired to play a very specific role as a single production toured around. Examples of rep performers who went on to become well-known are John Gielgud , Ralph Richardson , Laurence Olivier , Rosemary Harris , Christopher Plummer , Harold Pinter , Peter O'Toole , Jeremy Brett , Geraldine McEwan , Vanessa Redgrave , Judi Dench , Ian McKellen , Michael Gambon , Imelda Staunton and Patrick Stewart . Dirk Bogarde wrote about his start at Amersham rep in 1939, and Michael Caine has recounted his time spent at Horsham rep in

3150-427: The summer) to learn their craft and observe—and possibly work with—professionals. Such stage luminaries as Maude Adams, Ethel Barrymore, Lillian Gish, and Ruth Gordon had trod the boards here. Students took classes in acting, stagecraft, makeup, and voice, and if they were talented enough, they might be asked to appear in plays with the resident acting company." Additionally, many notable performers spent their summers on

3213-551: The support of Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman , was also part of the summer stock circuit. The circuit toured in Florida and the Southeast during the winter. Venues included the Beacham Theater in Orlando and the Royal Poinciana Playhouse in Palm Beach, Florida (closed since 2004) where performers from Bob Cummings in 1958 to Arlene Francis (1961) and Richard Chamberlain (1966) appeared. Stars of Broadway, film, and television would regularly spend summers performing in stock. The Council of Stock Theatres (COST) negotiated

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3276-495: The theatre to a cinema company. As a result of her tea connection, she was known as "Hornibags". She held court at the Midland Hotel , wearing exotic clothing and openly smoking cigarettes, which was considered scandalous at the time. She introduced Manchester to what was called at the time "the play of ideas". The theatre critic James Agate noted that Horniman's high-minded theatrical ventures had "an air of gloomy strenuousness" about them. Annie moved to London where she kept

3339-466: The theatre was in 1894 and was made possible by a legacy from her grandfather. She anonymously supported her friend Florence Farr in a season of new plays at the Avenue Theatre , London. This included a new play by Yeats, The Land of Heart's Desire , and the première of George Bernard Shaw 's play Arms and the Man . In 1903 Yeats persuaded her to go to Dublin to back productions by the Irish National Theatre Society . Here she discovered her skill as

3402-440: The time the theatre was being run by Annie Horniman, a wide variety of types of plays were produced. Horniman encouraged local writers who became known as the Manchester School of playwrights. They included Allan Monkhouse , Harold Brighouse —writer of Hobson's Choice —and Stanley Houghton , who wrote Hindle Wakes . Actors who performed at the Gaiety early in their careers included Sybil Thorndike and Basil Dean . From

3465-440: Was a tea merchant and the founder of the Horniman Museum ; her grandfather was John Horniman who founded the family tea business of Horniman and Company. Annie and her younger brother Emslie were educated privately at their home. Her father was opposed to the theatre, which he considered sinful, but their German governess took Annie and Emslie secretly to a performance of The Merchant of Venice at The Crystal Palace when Annie

3528-486: Was aged 14. Annie's father allowed her to enter the Slade School of Fine Art in 1882. Here she discovered that her talent in art was limited but she developed other interests, particularly in the theatre and opera. She took great pleasure in Wagner 's Ring cycle and in Ibsen 's plays. She cycled in London and twice over the Alps , smoked in public and explored alternative religions. The "lonely rich girl" had become "an independent-minded woman". In 1890 she joined

3591-516: Was an earlier theater, but it was an established stock theater that had then been used as a summer venue.) The structure was to present different plays in weekly or biweekly repertory, performed by a resident company, generally between June and September. The usual fare consisted of light comedies, romances and mysteries. The theaters were located in rural areas. Touring companies would carry hand props and costumes to each venue, where sound, lights and set would be awaiting them. Summer stock provided

3654-521: Was attentive, supportive." Performers such as Paul Lynde , Bill Bixby , Karen Morrow , Phyllis Diller , Andy Devine , Gordon MacRae and Patrice Munsel starred in Kenley stock productions. Ethel Merman performed in Call Me Madam at the Kenley Players in 1968 (as well as appearing at the Parker Playhouse and Coconut Grove Playhouse in Miami earlier that year). The Cape Playhouse in Dennis, Massachusetts opened in 1927 with The Guardsman , starring Basil Rathbone , and has continued through

3717-567: Was formed in March 2009 by artistic directors Nathaniel Fried and Ryan LaPlante, and currently resides and performs in Kingston, Ontario . It shuttered in 2019. The old English-style repertory theatres such as Ottawa 's CRT (Canadian Repertory Theatre) and Toronto 's Crest Theatre no longer exist—although they did have a version of summer theatre in smaller holiday districts, such as the "Straw Hat" players of Gravenhurst and Port Carling at Ontario 's vacation Muskoka Lakes area. State-subsidized theatres on continental Europe have been suggested as

3780-454: Was one of the most successful repertory theatres in the United States, touring for four years and holding residencies in several cities before finally joining the Phoenix Theatre in New York City, where it was known for staging plays with modest prices. Currently, the American Repertory Theatre is considered one of the most distinguished repertory theatres in the United States. Since its foundation in 1979, it has earned several awards including

3843-440: Was the major show making the tent circuit in the summer of 1957.) The theatre-in-the-round concept brought Broadway-style musicals to northern California under a big top tent each summer. Original producers Russell Lewis and Howard Young presented their first production, Show Boat , the same opening production at both the Lambertville and the South Shore Music Circus. The original Lambertville theater closed in 1970, and both

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3906-406: Was the only city in the country that could and did support two summer stock companies:" He went on to quote an 1896 article stating: The summer theatrical season Is now at its height and both Manhattan Beach and Elitch's Gardens are doing splendid business, and deservedly, too, for nowhere in the country are to be found better attractions or better Summer stock than those with which our local public

3969-424: Was the second stock season and J. H. Huntley was signed to direct the resident stock company, headed by leading actress Jennie Kennark. The season opened with Rosedale , a play by Lester Wallack . However, opinions differ on the official first year of summer stock. In a 1955 article for the Princeton University Library Chronicle, the authors suggest it was 1897: Devotees of the straw hat circuit are usually under

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