Studio Players celebrates 60 years of community theater
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Sixty years ago, The Studio Players lifted the curtain on their very first production, “The Play’s the Thing.” The performance was held in the dressing room of a dance studio because the non-profit theater group did not yet have a stage to call its own. The troupe spent the next six years performing wherever it could, including the University High School, and even Keeneland, before finding a home in 1959 at the Carriage House in Bell Court.
Bob Lynch, a veteran of Studio Players, remembers those early days. “We did a play called ‘Three Men On a Horse’ out at Keene-land in the round. We were lifting furniture over the audiences head to get it in place,” he said, laughing. “The Carriage House made a big difference. Just having one place where you keep everything, you could keep all your materials and paint in one spot. You didn’t have to move around to have a show.”
Since the Carriage House was literally a place where horses and carriages were kept, turning the space into a theatre took some hard work. “We had to build a stage in there and make it ready to have an audience,” Lynch said.
In addition to the stage, wooden risers and roughly 1900 seats from the Woodland Auditorium were installed. Over the years, small improvements were made as funds and resources allowed, but it wasn’t until 1994 that a full renovation took place.
“We got to add on the vestibule with the nice restrooms,” Lynch said. “The audience members used to have to go upstairs where the actors were.”
The location and the unique history of the building certainly helped the Studio Players to build a presence in the community. It’s nearly impossible to walk, drive or bike by the park in Bell Court without noticing the bright white structure that sits at the edge of the park and serves as the community theatre.
“The people who live in the Bell Court area, their kids will play [in the park], they’ll walk their dogs; they will walk by and see what’s going on,” said Mylissa Crutcher, the current board president of the Studio Players. “Because something is always going on.”
Studio Players is often busy, as it runs a full production schedule of five plays per year. When one production is rehearsing, the next one is auditioning. The high volume of the theatre means that the organization has a variety of roles to fill, both on and off the stage. As a result, community involvement is highly encouraged, through helping with the set or costumes, to acting.
Some of the actors have prior experience, such as in college, and others are ingénues to the stage. “For people who have a job and a family,” Crutcher said, “community theatre might be a better opportunity to get onstage because those dreams are closer to home.”
If history is any indication, participation in the Studio Players may become a lifelong journey. Bob Lynch and his family have been a part of the organization since the early ’50s. His parents, Jack and Grace Lynch, were involved in theatre in both New Jersey and Chicago before moving to Lexington. They sought out a theatre group in their new home and found the newly formed Studio Players.
Lynch’s family has remained involved with the Studio Players for the entirety of its run. His mother was president of the board three times, and his father and brother also served terms as president. Lynch served on the board and, from 1968 to 1979, performed in roughly two to three plays per year.
Mylissa Crutcher also attributes family ties to her involvement with the group. Brenda Crutcher, her mother, served as the stage manager of a show in 2002. She recruited her daughter to assist the scenic designer with painting sets. Crutcher remembers her first task with the Studio Players as painting “many, many bricks on a porch.”
Since Crutcher was trained in Design and Tech in Theatre from the University of Kentucky, the Studio Players also invited her to put those skills to work. Before long, she was working as the lighting designer for two shows a year, and once an entire season. Her passion for the organization quickly earned her an invitation to join the board.
The board at Studio Players is a working board, which means everyone is involved in the shows in some capacity. The board is made up of those who are involved in the theatre and show sincere interest in the direction of the group. Crutcher served as president-elect in 2012 and was moved to her current position in June of this year. She is responsible for officiating meetings and trying to get everyone on the same page. “When decisions have to be made,” she said, “you have to look at everyone’s input and try to be a good voice of reason in decision making.”
The input of the community also plays a starring role in steering the type of productions performed onstage. The Studio Players has several repeat season ticket holders and the board makes a point of choosing entertainment that will keep them coming back. “We rely on the opinions of our audience members and what’s popular with them,” Crutcher said.
Looking ahead, Crutcher hopes the Studio Players will thrive as long as possible as a community theatre, providing a place for people to express themselves and get involved in the arts.
“We want to continue the success of putting on good shows and having good people involved,” she said. “We want to keep bringing people and generations in, having them experience the theatre and wanting to be involved. That’s what it’s all about – being able to appreciate the craft, demonstrate that to other people, so they can appreciate it as well.”
Studio Players open their 2013-14 season Sept. 19 with "Dracula Bites, which runs through Oct. 6. Visit www.studioplayers.org for more information.