Playhouse to Honor Greatest Leaders Before ‘Thanksgiving Play’

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – The Youngstown Playhouse will continue its centennial celebration this weekend by honoring its three greatest leaders.

The ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 15, before the opening night performance of its next production, “The Thanksgiving Play.”

Photo portraits of the three late leaders – Arthur Sircom, James Cameron and Bentley Lenhoff will be mounted in the lobby of the community theater on Glenwood Avenue.

Sircom, Cameron and Lenhoff were professional directors who contributed to the quality of the Playhouse in many different areas and are considered the most influential of all Playhouse leaders.

Sircom was the first to bring top professional quality to Playhouse productions. A veteran Broadway director when he came to the Playhouse in 1948, he was instrumental in securing other Broadway directors to helm Playhouse shows and elevated the reputation of the theater to a national level.

Sircom would remain at the Playhouse on an intermittent schedule until 1954. The Arthur Awards, the coveted Playhouse honor, were named in his honor.

Cameron, like Sircom, was hired as a director but took over management responsibilities when needed. He was also a professional director with Broadway credits and continued the rise of the Playhouse to an even higher level during his tenure from 1956 to 1961. Cameron is also credited with starting the arena theater concept while the Playhouse was still on Market Street. It paved the way for a special space for the arena theater to be  added when the current theater opened in 1959.

The theater’s first full musical would also be produced during Cameron’s tenure. He was also responsible for instituting acting classes at the theater and introducing touring shows within the community.

Lenhoff did not have Broadway credits, but he did have a strong theater background from operating his own theater in Petoskey. Mich. He was hired as the executive director in 1965 and remained in that position until 1985. He again took the helm in 2004 during a period of financial trouble, and restored the Playhouse to a successful operational level before departing in 2005.

Lenhoff led the Playhouse for an unmatched 21 years. He also directed some of the most notable shows during the theater’s heyday. He built on Sircom’s and Cameron’s efforts to make the Playhouse one of the top community theaters in the country.

Lenhoff’s wife, Nancy, and his daughter, Alyssa, will both be present for the dedication. The photo portraits of the three leaders will be the first of what will be many tributes in the lobby.

‘The Thanksgiving Play’

“The Thanksgiving Play” will be performed Nov. 15-17 and Nov. 22-24 in the Moyer Room.

The play is a satire that follows a group of educators trying – and hilariously failing – to create a culturally sensitive Thanksgiving pageant. With biting humor, “The Thanksgiving Play” explores identity, performative activism, and the complexities of representation in America.

Directed by Nick Mulichak and featuring Renee Cole, Eric McCrea, Brendan Boyle and Jaclyn-Sarah Senich, the timely comedy provides food for thought. It spotlights FastHorse’s unique voice as the first Native American playwright to have a work produced on Broadway.

Performances are at 7:30 p.m., with Sunday matinees at 2:30 p.m. Tickets are available at YoungstownPlayhouse.org or by calling 330 259 9651.

The play is not appropriate for children.

Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.