Theatre Jacksonville celebrates a century

Theatre Jacksonville celebrates a century
“My Sister Eileen” 1942-1943 Season

It was January 19th, and the black-tie event was essentially a Who’s Who of Jacksonville, circa 1938. Members and guests mingled on the black marbleized tile floors of the newly-built Art Deco-inspired Little Theatre of Jacksonville in San Marco Square, which had its lobby tastefully decorated in flowers and palms. Theatre members had patiently waited more than 19 years for this opening performance – until now holding their all-volunteer community plays, musicals and readings at various hotels and venues around the city. The popular comedy “Boy Meets Girl” was the starting show in the ’38-’39 season lineup of eight plays.

Just a few years ago, as the Florida Land Bust and Great Depression set in, membership was at an all-time low and plans for a downtown playhouse had been tabled. That was before membership chair Carl Swisher swept in with a generous offer to donate a San Marco land site and half the financing for a new building. Now, a packed house of members, special guests, reporters and photographers were finally celebrating the opening of the Little Theatre’s new home. The city was recovering from the depression, spirits were high, and the night culminated in the Swishers’ eight-month-old granddaughter Martha Elizabeth making a cameo appearance as the infant character “Happy.”

Theatre Jacksonville
Theatre Jacksonville

There is truly no better way to tell timeless stories, like this one of the inaugural night at Theatre Jacksonville’s “Little Theatre” in San Marco, than through the art of the theater. This is exactly what Theatre Jacksonville has been doing in Northeast Florida for the last 100 years. 

Celebrating its centennial birthday during the upcoming 2019-2020 season, Theatre Jacksonville reaches thousands of audience members each year, not to mention countless residents who have acted in and worked behind the scenes on yearly productions and hundreds of children and youth exposed to theater arts each year through summer camps and afterschool theater education. It is the oldest continuously-running community theater in the state of Florida and one of the oldest in the country. 

“It is a challenge to quantify what we do because the joy and creativity that theater arts inspires in people is hard to describe, particularly community theater where you are involving local talent on so many levels,” said Executive Director Sarah Boone, whose first exposure to Theatre Jax was acting in a play as a teenager. “Theater is above all a human bonding experience, with deep emotional interaction between audience, cast, and crew, and it helps us pay attention to those facets of humanity which we all have in common.”

There are many similar stories throughout the city of residents who have benefited for decades from their relationship with Theatre Jacksonville. Kelby Siddons, an English instructor at Episcopal School of Jacksonville, first attended summer theater camp as a child, and as an adult has been a frequent audience member, playwright competition winner and recent cast member. 

“It’s encouraging to have a performance space and artistic vision in Jacksonville that has endured for so long and that continues to spark conversations, share and challenge our values, and create fellowship. I’ve been introduced to some incredible performers, collaborators and friends through experiences as a cast and audience member at Theatre Jacksonville,” said Siddons. “As a teacher, I encourage my students to attend plays and am always grateful when a live performance can enliven our studies’ content and themes because story and action are our earliest and best teachers. Theater is not just entertainment but a conduit for empathy.”  

“Sister Act” 2019
“Sister Act” 2019

Among Theatre Jacksonville’s many educational offerings, one of its most popular is the Jr. MainStage program, which provides area high school students the opportunity to experience and produce a full theatrical production. Students audition for an annual play and work on all aspects of the performances, from the cast to costuming and tech. For Episcopal senior Anna Mayo, the opportunity to play Mercutio in the 2018 production of Romeo and Juliet was life-changing. 

“It was really inspirational to be surrounded by people my age from different places in Jacksonville who are as passionate about theater as I am,” said Mayo, who aspires to study acting in college. “It is an experience like no other because everyone is invested and putting themselves out there by auditioning in front of strangers, unlike being in a school play where there are often no cuts. Our director, Ron Shreve, pushed us in the best of ways and found something special to bring out in every single person in the cast.”

The Jr. Mainstage program debuted in 2010. On the other end of the educational spectrum, a new Theatre for Babies program was launched in 2017, targeting ages 3-12 months. Educational programs like these, as well as “season extra” and theatrical shows outside of the regular season lineup, are largely funded through grants and donations to the theater. 

A 100th anniversary operating endowment has been established to ensure that program growth and creative offerings can continue well into the future, said Boone. If the $2 million goal is reached, the theater should receive approximately $100,000 each year to maximize services, programs and human capital. The campaign has gotten underway with a $350,000 matching grant from the Weaver Family Foundation. 

“We are hoping that everyone in the Jacksonville community will chip in to have ownership in our endowment campaign – no amount is too small or too large,” said Executive Director Sarah Boone. “Being able to have a nest egg for operations will allow us to devote even more resources and energy to our creative direction for the future.” 

Anna Mayo as Mercutio
Anna Mayo as Mercutio

The 100-year celebration kicks off officially on November 1 with a spectacular line-up of shows, including “Something Rotten,” “Shadowlands,” “Love Quest,” “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” and “Matilda.” Season subscribers are also offered priority seating for season extra “Twelve Angry Men,” which starts September 13.

In March of 2020, Theatre Jacksonville will host an anniversary brunch in San Marco Square, featuring food and drinks from some of San Marco’s finest establishments.   

“There is something for everyone coming up,” said Boone. “We are looking forward to celebrating all season long with the larger Northeast Florida community. After all – Jacksonville, this is YOUR theatre!”

For a timeline, decade by decade, of Theatre Jacksonville, go to residentnews.net and search for Theatre Jacksonville.

(Opening story credit goes to Dr. Gerri Turbow, a cast member and board member who in the late 1980s spent more than two years compiling information on Theatre Jacksonville from its inception. She published a charming history from the perspective of Hermione, a theatre cat, that included a number of the historical details found in this article.)

Submitted by Laura Jane Pittman

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