Lakeland Players celebrates 40 years on stage

Theatre group nears 150-production mark

 

By Tyler Lamb

Editor

Old friends, good memories and a touch of nostalgia: that’s what the Lakeland Players promise this month as it celebrates 40 years on the stage.

Composed of amateur actors and actresses, who have blended together to form a community theater group, the Lakeland Players season schedule at the Sprague Theatre opens Oct. 25 with “The Rocky Horror Show.”

Delavan resident Linda Kouzes is one person who has been part of the theater group since its initial performance of “The Unsinkable Molly Brown.”

The presentation was conducted by a small nucleus of theatre enthusiast who appeared in more than one role, managed scenery, lights and publicity.

“We did our first play at the Sprague Theatre. It was a movie theatre at the time, so the stage wasn’t even half of what it is today,” Kouzes recalled. “We had to go around the screen to do the show. I played five or seven parts that first performance.

“Back stage it was cramped,” she continued. “Everyone in the cast, who was over five feet tall, had a big knot in the middle of their forehead because there was decorative plaster work sticking out.”

For her part, Kouzes has directed more than 100 plays, most of them musicals. However, she first fell in love with acting during the early 1960s at the Belfry Theater in Williams Bay.

Prior to purchasing the Sprague Theatre in 1990, the Lakeland Players preformed in a variety of locations, including the old auditorium of the Elkhorn High School and the city’s municipal building.

Once settled within the walls of the Sprague Theater, the Lakeland Players turned its attention to making the facility a shining monument to the grand old days of theatre.

“We’ve done a lot of refurbishing and remolding, and we used to dress in the old fire station,” said Arline Wolfer, longtime Lakeland Player. “The theatre was so archaic.”

Steve Hay, a frequent show participant, echoed Wolfer’s sentiment.

“Peter Kouzes (Linda’s late husband) was instrumental in getting the theater,” Hay said. “It was his dream. So after a frantic year of fundraising, we bought it. When we bought the theatre it had been empty for quite some time.

“The water didn’t work because the plumbing had frozen, there was a hole in the roof and the plaster work had fallen into disrepair,” he continued. “Theater groups often go under when they incur a lot of debt, so at that time we were only able to fix the roof and put in a new furnace.”

Since then, the Lakeland Players have replaced all of the theater’s seats, laid carpet, constructed a new concession stand, painted and added on to the stage four times, according to Hays.

A few years later during auditions for the production of “My Fair Lady,” Hay met his future wife, Joan. He played Henry Higgins and she played the role of Eliza Doolittle.

“I thought she was beautiful and had a great voice,” he said.

They married two years later, and have been staple of the Lakeland Players since.

“Part of what keeps us going is theatre itself, but also the comradely,” Steve Hays said. “Acting is one of the most intense things you can do. When you’re really into a part you are totally living in the moment. That kind of experience in life is rare and wonderful.”

For more information, contact Kouzes at (262) 728-5578, or linda.kouzes@lakeland-players.org.

 

Rocky Horror Show

The Lakeland Players will perform a seasonal treat with the “Rocky Horror Show” Oct. 25, 26, 31 and Nov. 1 and 2 at The Walworth County Performing Arts Center, 15 W. Walworth St., Elkhorn. All shows are at 7:30 p.m.

The “Rocky Horror Show,” a musical by Richard O’Brien, is a humorous tribute to the science fiction and horror B-movies from the 1940s through the early 1970s. It conveys the story of a newly engaged couple getting caught in a rainstorm and coming to the home of a mad transvestite scientist unveiling his new creation, a muscle man named “Rocky Horror.”

The show includes adult content and is unfit for anyone younger than the age of 16.

The musical was adapted into the film “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” which today has a cult-like following and is the longest running release in film history.

Filmgoers frequently bring items – from confetti to gloves – to play with as the action on screen dictates. According to Kouzes, carry-in prop bags will not be allowed at the Lakeland Players’ performances. However, prop bags will be for sale at the theater. Lakeland Players also encourage patrons to come dressed in costume.

The production is co-directed by David Whitney, and Amber Fox.

 

40th anniversary season

“The Rocky Horror Show”:Oct. 25-26, Oct. 31 and Nov. 1-2

“A Dickens of a Christmas”: Nov. 30, Dec. 1, Dec. 7-8

Holton Band Holiday Concert: Dec. 14

“Sweet Charity”: Feb. 21, Feb. 23, Feb. 28-March 2

“Best of Broadway”: May 9-11, May16-18

All shows at 7:30 p.m.

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