Theater Has Role to Play in City

The staging of the play “Our Town” in Hart Park’s historic band shell through Aug. 30 will launch permanent community theater, producers and city officials hope.

The city joined with R.L. Hudson Production Services, an Orange-based company, to put on a free theatrical pilot project largely to test whether sufficient support exits for a community theater.

About 250 people turned out with blankets or folding chairs for opening night Friday. It was a heartening sight for producer Patricia DeLaunay, who worked with director Marla Gam-Hudson and performed in the show.

“It was fantastic,” she said of the opening weekend. “We had a great turnout.”

The play, which is being presented on Friday and Saturday nights, is a “labor of love” for the producers and the cast of 25, all of whom are working for nothing, DeLaunay said.

“It’s so important to get more access to more people to see these things,” DeLaunay said. “Parts of the community are troubled economically, and I see those kids and wonder who is going to show them that there are lots of things in the world: theater, dancing and opera.”

The play, a bittersweet drama that explores the lives of ordinary men and women in a small town at the turn of the century, is being presented in a 1930s-era band shell built by the Civilian Conservation Corps.

City officials hope that it will spur some large companies to commit funds for a long-running effort.

“The hope is to have several plays year-round,” said Pam Doss, recreation supervisor with the city’s Community and Library Services Division. “We will evaluate the interest in the community and the financial impact. We are looking for a sponsor, and we’d like to find a theater we could use.”