Lake City Playhouse offers high-quality entertainment

I am not a stage parent. It is true that my son is into theater big time, and I do support him in his endeavors, but I am not out there pushing him. For one thing, I know nothing about acting, singing, or dancing myself. There is no way I’d even walk across a stage if anyone was sitting in the audience.

I’ve enjoyed plays over the years, but I have never been a big enough fan that I’d push my son into it. This is a niche that Taylor has carved out for himself. And it’s not just that he wants to be a star either, although he wouldn’t mind. He realized at age 10 that he loved acting, and he just seems to be naturally good at it.

That’s my first disclaimer for this piece. I am not a stage parent. If Taylor is good enough to get parts on his own ability, that’s great. At 14, he still requires that I pay the bills and drive him from here to there. And I’m glad to do it. But I wouldn’t try to get him into anything that he can’t do on his own.

My second disclaimer is that last May I had the privilege of joining the board of directors of the Lake City Playhouse. This was actually a case of the child getting the parent a job. Around the theater I was simply known as “Taylor’s dad.”

I have no theater background, but as I’ve followed Taylor’s career, I’ve developed an interest in community theater, which is exactly what Lake City Playhouse is. It is not professional theater in the sense of highly paid – or even reasonably paid – actors. The actors are talented people who enjoy performing, but they are your neighbors. They do it because they love it, and they are good at it.

What community theater is not, at least in the case of Lake City Playhouse, is poorly done amateur theater that is both painful to watch, and a chore to put on. What it is, is high quality, exciting and very entertaining productions of all sorts of plays – including comedy and drama, as well as musicals.

And it is run by theater professionals. Both Tracey Vaughan, artistic director, and Todd Jasmin, technical director, have master’s degrees in theater – a large achievement both artistically, as well as academically, in the theater world.

Above all, it’s a fun place to be. For me it has been fascinating to see all that goes into a production – from auditions, to rehearsals, to direction, to set design and construction, to advertising and public relations, and finally to the actual show. It’s amazing how the chaos of the first week turns into perfection by the first show.

That transformation doesn’t happen overnight, though. In the last show that Taylor was in, the director and actors spent four or five evenings each week, for six weeks, getting ready. Once the previous show was finished, there were only two weeks to get the set ready for the new show.

And throughout that whole period, there were lines to memorize, sometimes songs and dances to learn, and a lot of work for the whole cast outside of scheduled rehearsal times. Also, most costumes are made from scratch, as are all aspects of the sets and props. A show is a big production. And a lot of people give a lot of themselves to make it go.

Then there are two or three weeks of the actual show. Plays are put on Thursdays through Sundays. Volunteers help in the box office, sell snacks and drinks at the concession stand and usher. Then, after about three months of work, the run is over and everyone is sorry to see it end.

Lake City Playhouse began in 1961 and acquired the theater building, previously a church, in 1966. If I’m adding correctly, that makes this the theater’s 45th season. Over the years many Kootenai County citizens have had their moment in the spotlight on that stage.

The Carousel Players, the professional acting group that puts on the great musicals each summer at Coeur d’Alene Summer Theatre, started at Lake City Playhouse. Ellen Travolta and Jack Bannon have their names on two new seats at the Playhouse, demonstrating their support of our community theater.

Lake City Playhouse produces nine shows – two are children’s theater – during its regular season which runs from September to May. In addition, there are five reader’s theater presentations at local coffee houses, and a full summer program of plays and workshops for children and teens.

Does it sound as if you’ve been missing out on something special? I found that I had been. But now I’m having as much fun as everyone else, as long as I stay away from the stage.