YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – With its centennial season underway, The Youngstown Playhouse will honor those who guided the theater over the years and the many great artists who learned their craft there.
But the theater has also set its sights on the future.
With a goal of lasting another century as a premiere arts destination, the theater has embarked on several physical improvement projects.
In June, state Rep. Lauren McNally delivered $238,000 to replace the roof and then state Sen. Michael Rulli obtained an additional $100,000 for discretionary maintenance and improvements. Repaving of the entrance drive to the parking lot is underway.
“The things we invest in today, those who come after can continue to enjoy,” McNally said. She was speaking at an Aug. 16 press event at which she delivered a proclamation from the state House of Representatives congratulating the Playhouse on its 100th anniversary.
“At the State House, we give commendations out to a lot to people and events,” she said. “But when you get to be 100, you get put in the history books of Ohio… Now, [The Playhouse] is not only our own treasure but the state of Ohio’s as well.”
The theater will remain a high priority for Valley politicians and economic development leaders.
Retaining arts organizations and nonprofits and helping them get funding and thrive is one of the core tenets of the Valley Vision 2050 plan, a blueprint for economic development in the Mahoning Valley.
The plan, which was launched this year, involves the Mahoning and Trumbull County boards of commissioners, and five economic development organizations: The Regional Chamber, Eastgate Regional Council of Governments, the Port Authority, the Youngstown Foundation, Valley Partners.
The Trumbull and Mahoning County commissioners each put up $1 million in seed money. Although the group has only been meeting for a few months, Mahoning County Commissioner David Ditzler hints at big things to come in the next two years.
“We have a 10-year plan,” Ditzler says. “The initiative will probably flourish when we are not in office anymore.”
With the 2050 plan’s emphasis on helping arts organizations remain viable as drivers of economic development, it remains to be seen what ideas will be floated for the Playhouse. But the theater is prominent in whatever form those plans will take, Ditzler says.
John Cox, chairman of the Playhouse board, is attuned to the theater’s role in attracting development.
“The arts have economic value, not only artistically but for what they can bring in, outside companies and corporations,” Cox says. “An arts scene is attractive. Other postindustrial cities have used this model to grow their community multiple times, and I want to continue to show that the Playhouse can be a viable part of that.”
The theater on Glenwood Avenue kicked off the season Aug. 23-25 with the Valley premiere of the Tony winning musical “Beautiful: The Carole King Story.” It drew large crowds for its performances at Powers Auditorium.
The Playhouse has been steadily sprucing itself up in anticipation of this year. A new digital sign was installed recently along Glenwood Avenue. Future plans call for replacing the seats in the auditorium and adding a central aisle.
To pay tribute to the forefathers of the theater, portraits will be mounted in the lobby in time for the upcoming production of “Something Rotten,” which opens Sept. 20. The first three will be of Arthur Sircom, Bentley Lenhoff and Jim Cameron – executive directors under whose watch the theater reached new levels of prominence.
“Those three were pivotal but we will probably add more portraits later,” says J.E. Ballantyne Jr., Playhouse historian.
The season will be capped by a gala celebration on June 21, to which past performers and others will be invited.
The centennial season has brought an increase in ticket sales.
“We’ve had more flex passes sold at this point than in the last several years,” Cox says. He is referring to the flexible season ticket option in which holders can use four admissions any way they like.
The pandemic dealt an economic blow to all theaters, and some didn’t survive, Cox says. While the Playhouse has weathered the storm, it is not immune to general trends.
“Since Covid, the business of theater has been different,” Cox says. “Presales are not happening. People are buying tickets very last minute.”
The Playhouse has noticed the trend, although it sales have been strong.
“Looking at the number of seats we have sold two weeks in advance has no bearing on how well a show will ultimately do,” Cox says, explaining that performances that have had little to no presales have wound up being sold out.
Here is a look at the rest of the 2024-25 season:
• “Something Rotten,” Sept. 20-22, 27-29, main stage.
• “Puffs,” Oct. 25-27, main stage (youth theater).
• “The Thanksgiving Play,” Nov. 15-17, 22-24, Moyer Room.
• “August Wilson’s Gem of the Ocean,” Feb. 21-23, Feb. 28-March 2, main stage.
• “The Lightning Thief,” March 28-30, main stage (youth theater).
• “Oklahoma!” May 9-11, 16-18.
• “Almost, Maine,” June 6-8, 13-15, Moyer Room.
For tickets, go to YoungstownPlayhouse.org or call 330 259 9651.
Pictured at top: Connor Bezeredi and Brianna Rae Quinn rehearse a scene from the Youngstown Playhouse’s production of “Beautiful: The Carole King Story.”