When Naperville’s community theater, The Summer Place, performed a benefit back in March, they had no idea it would be the last time they’d perform all season.
Their 54th program was going to be a good one. Commemorating the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II, the accomplished troupe of amateur actors and professional musicians planned to present “Cabaret,” “The Diary of Anne Frank” and “The Sound of Music.” Instead, they’ve done one small concert with five performers on Zoom.
“Our 54th season, the season that wasn’t,” President Don Gingold said. “I love the idea of making people happy. Society says the arts are frivolous but it’s what people are drawn to. Parents tell their children to become managers, doctors, etc., but we attract people who need to create at a minimum cost in their time.”
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Since 1966, The Summer Place has gathered people from all walks of life looking for their moment in the spotlight. Although some have appeared for more than 30 years, every year there’s a fresh batch of hopefuls ready to sing their hearts out in return for the warmth and applause of faithful audiences.
“For a small amount of effort, for a summer you can have a lot of fun,” Gingold said. “If you have a great talent and want to show it off, you can be the lead in a musical. It’s quite a rush to have a group of people applaud and laugh at a line. It’s a major reason for doing it. A lot of people do it to get over shyness or stage fright.”
Summer Place was founded by Donald “Doc” Shanower, who at the time was dean of theater at North Central College. He saw it as a way to keep students involved during the summer months. Since then it’s become a 501(c)3 nonprofit and a much-loved Naperville institution.
Funding comes from ticketing, concessions, grants and donations, with the bulk of the money spent on royalty fees, set building and costumes. Actors are not paid, although there are some honorariums for directors and musicians. They’re supported by Naperville Park District and Naperville School District 203.
Season ticket holders for this year have either moved their subscriptions forward or donated what they paid to the theater. Fortunately, the pandemic hasn’t caused Summer Place great financial hardship because they were given refunds on the shows they booked.
“We need eight to ten weeks to prepare a show,” Gingold said. “When we choose something, we have to apply six months ahead for a license. Fortunately, we had the fees we laid out for ‘Cabaret’ refunded.”
The process isn’t as straightforward as it may sound. The theater licensing company has to ensure that the same show won’t be put on close by in a similar timeframe.
“Summer Place was the first community theater to perform ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ in the 1970s,” Gingold said proudly. “We thought we had another coupe with ‘Mamma Mia!,’ we were the first ones signed up. We were scheduled at the end of July, but by the time we went on five other companies had done it before us.”
Although this is the first year in its history there’s been no summer season, Summer Place has faced challenges before.
In recent years they’ve performed at Naperville Central High School, but last year’s season was in danger of not being produced at all because new lighting was being installed.
“In the end the Yellow Box church offered us their black box theater,” Gingold said. “We did lose some of our audience to that and now we’ve lost an entire season we will have build up again next year. They’ll be a little bit of changing gears, it’s all uncharted waters. When all this is over, we want to get back to comedy and fun.”
Gingold says it’s created a hole in his life.
“When we talk about gathering together a lot of people think of gathering in bars to drink, but there’s always music in the background. You get used to congregating and listening to songs. I’ve missed it,” he said.
Disappointed as he is, the professional voice actor and website developer is not lowering the curtains on 2020 just yet. The group is still banking on one favorite event and a brand new virtual one in addition to online classes.
“Actors are huggers so in one sense it’s sad, but the show must go on,” Gingold said.
The entire community is being invited to participate in a virtual event being launched on Labor Day. Summer Place is looking for as many contributors as possible to sing the British war time favorite, “We’ll Meet Again.”
“The words are very appropriate in the current climate,” Gingold said. “We’re asking everyone to video themselves singing, either alone or with their family, and send it to us. We’ll put everything together and present it virtually on Labor Day.”
Ghost Stories in the Park is planned as usual for the first weekend in October. Held at the Grand Pavilion on the Riverwalk for the past 25 years, the event involves about 10 storytellers who try to scare the wits out of children and possibly adults, just in time for Halloween. It’s hoped the outdoor event with social distancing in place will be as safe and enjoyable as ever.
If you’d like to participate in the “We’ll Meet Again” project, go to bit.ly/SUNsong or https://summerplacetheatre.org/News/well-meet-again
Hilary Decent is a freelance journalist who moved to Naperville from England in 2007.
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