[NEohioPAL] Fill the Seats and Light the Stages of Akron's Vacant Depression-Era Amphitheaters

[Linda Ryan]

Dear Tessa, I have no problem with your ideas about using the amphitheaters
around the area (I didn't even know they existed, and I've lived here for
over 30 years). However, I do take exception to your comment, "Seeing as
there are so few community theater opportunities in the Akron area." What?!
You must not be looking! There are tons of community theaters around this
area. And we've worked at most of them. Just off the top of my head, there's
Coach House, Weathervane, Norton (Wolf Creek Players), Hudson's not that far
away; Brecksville has TWO community theaters and it's 25 minutes from Akron,
Dynamics in Tallmadge, Independence CT, and several others I'm not as
familiar with. I've lived in many places in the world and this is THE most
community theater-filled area of all of them. We also have a couple of
professional theaters right here in Akron, the most notable of which is
Actors' Summit. You can't go wrong if you want to be involved in theater in
this area.

 

--Linda Ryan

 

From: neohiopal-bounces at lists.neohiopal.org
[mailto:neohiopal-bounces at lists.neohiopal.org] On Behalf Of Tessa Gaffney
Sent: Thursday, August 22, 2013 3:33 PM
To: neohiopal at lists.neohiopal.org
Subject: [NEohioPAL] Fill the Seats and Light the Stages of Akron's Vacant
Depression-Era Amphitheaters

 

Hello theatre friends,

 

I am a current student at the University of Akron majoring in Political
Science and minoring in Theatre Arts; my sister is a recent graduate from UA
with a Bachelor of Arts in Business and Organizational Communications and a
minor in photography. It has recently come to our attention that there are
beautiful stone amphitheaters that were built during the Depression in an
effort to create jobs in Chestnut Ridge Park (in Kenmore) and Waters Park
(in North Hill) that haven't been used in years. Seeing as there are so few
community theatre opportunities in the Akron area, it is really a tragedy to
see these historic landmarks crumbling from disuse. I would like to assemble
local playwrights, composers, directors, actors, musicians, singers,
choreographers, dancers, stagehands, makeup artists, costumers, etc. in a
Summerstock-type community theatre program at these locations during the
fair weather months. Since the Waters Park amphitheater is smaller, that
could be reserved for youth productions, while the Chestnut Ridge venue
could showcase more adult content. Rehearsals and performances would be held
from May-September, with one show a month, although more than one could be
going on at a time with two stages. I have written to the city of Akron
Recreation Department about acquiring permits for such an endeavor and we
have their approval, but there are still logistics that need to be worked
out. If you have any interest in helping this idea come to fruition, please
email me at tmg343 at gmail.com.

 

Thank you,

Tessa Gaffney

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