Blast From The Past

May 10, 2006

When the curtain rose on “You Can’t Take It With You” 60 years ago, it also unveiled a new theatre group in Petoskey. The show was the first production of the Petoskey Little Theatre, an early group of amateur thespians who were eager to bring the dramatic arts to Petoskey.
Today, that seminal company is known as the Little Traverse Civic Theatre, which celebrates its 60th anniversary this month with a restaging of its very first play. “You Can’t Take It With You” runs May 11-14 and 18-21 in the Ross Stokes Theater, where the original play was held so long ago.
April was a big month for the Little Traverse Civic Theatre.  The group welcomed in new Executive Director Sumner Green, who was appointed in February, and celebrated their 60th anniversary. It’s all a big deal for what is essentially the only theater group in town, where locals and visitors can see fully-staged plays, usually for well under $15-20 per ticket.
Green is spearheading big changes for the theater group. Insiders hope her addition will make the organization “more legit” and keep things on a consistent, professional level.  Green’s expertise is being directed primarily towards helping with corporate sponsorships, plus grants and other funding that is needed to secure the future of the theater. 

LOOKING BACK
Reproducing Petoskey’s very first play seemed a natural for the 60th anniversary.  In 1946, the Petoskey Little Theatre staged “You Can’t Take It With You,” the story of two families, the Kirbys and the Sycamores, as written by Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman. 
The plot is classic family farce, echoed today by comedies such as “Meet the Fockers,” which has a similar plot: A young man, Tony Kirby, takes his proper parents to meet the zany parents of his true love, Alice Sycamore. Alice is embarrassed by her family’s eccentric behavior, but her fiance sees that the Sycamores are on a better path than his own family.
One of the performers in the production 60 years ago was local June Zoerhof, who played the grand dame in the play. Today, Zoerhof’s daughter will be bringing things full circle by taking on a role in the restaged play, which will be directed by Jerry Christin on May 11-14 and 18-21.   
Looking ahead, after “You Can’t Take It With You,” LTCT will prepare for their November performance of “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum” (music and lyrics by the famed Stephen Sondheim), their February 2007 performance of the Pulitzer Prize winning play “Proof” (recently brought to film by Gwyneth Paltrow, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Anthony Hopkins), and their May 2007 performance of “Moon Over Buffalo,” a comedy by Ken Ludwig. 
 
For more information or to purchase tickets for this week’s show, check out the LTCT online at www.ltct.org or give them a call at their box office numbers, 231-348-1850 or 231-347-2730. Tickets are $12 adults and $8 for kids, with weekend shows at 8 p.m. and Sunday matinees at 2 p.m.