Timber Lake Playhouse facts for kids
The Timber Lake Playhouse is a special theater in Illinois. It started in 1961 and is the oldest professional summer theater company that has been open all the time. It's a place where actors live and perform shows during the summer!
The playhouse is in the countryside near Mount Carroll. It's close to Timber Lake, which is a reservoir, and next to the Timber Lake Campground and Resort.
The first theater building burned down in 1974. But don't worry, a new one was built and opened in 1975! This new theater has 371 seats. The stage is cool because it can spin around! There are also 18 other buildings on the property. These buildings are used for things like making sets, creating costumes, and practicing for shows.
History of the Playhouse
The idea for the Timber Lake Playhouse came from a local college called Shimer College in Mount Carroll. Students, teachers, and people from nearby towns and counties helped make it happen.
Andrew Bro, who was a director at the college, and Donald Mackay, who owned the land around Timber Lake, led the effort. They held many meetings, and a group of volunteers decided to create a non-profit organization. By late 1961, they officially started building! Andrew Bro became the first president of the group.
Building the First Theater
For the first summer season in 1962, Andrew Bro helped direct the shows. He found 24 actors to live and perform there. They put on eight shows that summer. Most shows ran for one week with five performances.
Donald Mackay used wood from his own sawmill to help build the first theater. It had a big stage and 370 seats that were given by a nearby movie theater. The first show, Teahouse of the August Moon, opened on June 28, 1962.
The Fire and Rebuilding
Sadly, the first playhouse building was destroyed by fire on July 22, 1974. This happened shortly after a show called Under the Gaslight had finished playing to a full house. But the community worked together, and the current, new building was built to replace it!
Recent Shows
In 2006, the theater put on its first show with an all-black cast, called Ain't Misbehavin'. It was very popular and sold out every night!
In 2013, the Timber Lake Playhouse was one of the first theaters in the area to perform the musical Spamalot. This show is based on the funny movies by Monty Python. The theater got permission to perform it in 2012 but couldn't tell anyone until May 2013!
