Little Lake Theatre announces ’16 season
Despite upheaval that led to the departure of its artistic and managing directors in recent weeks, Little Lake Theatre in McMurray has announced a slate of plays for its 2016 season.
Kevin Gallagher, the president of Little Lake’s board, said the plays were chosen by a committee led by Art DeConciliis, a veteran of both Little Lake and the Pittsburgh theater scene. Gallagher also said in an email message, “It also should be noted that the rest of the members of the voluntary board of directors have worked tirelessly in making all the necessary preparations to open the theater for our 68th season.”
That season will commence May 5 with the comedy “Jeeves Intervenes,” based on stories from P.G. Wodehouse. It will be presented through May 7, and again May 12-15 and 19-21.
Little Lake’s season will wrap up in December, with an adaptation of “A Christmas Carol.” It will be presented Dec. 1-4, 7-11 and 15-18.
In between, the rest of Little Lake’s is as follows:
• “Enchanted April” by Matthew Barber, May 26-28, June 2-5 and 9-11.
• “Light Up the Sky,” by Moss Hart, June 16-18, 23-26, 30 and July 1-2.
• “Anna in the Tropics,” by Nilo Cruz, July 7-9, 14-17 and 21-23.
• “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie,” by Jay Presson Allen, July 28-30, Aug. 4-6 and 11-13.
• “Loot” by Joe Orton, Aug. 18-20, 25-28 and Sept. 1-3.
• “A Fine Bright Day Today,” by Philip Goulding, Sept. 8-10, 15-18 and 22-24.
• “Luv,” by Murray Schisgal, Sept. 29-Oct. 1 and Oct. 6-8 and 13-15.
• “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” by William Shakespeare, Oct. 20-22, 27-29 and Nov. 3-5.
• “Last Train to Nibroc” by Arlene Hutton, Nov. 10-12, 17-19, 25 and 26.
Looking Glass Theatre, a theater series designed for young audiences, will be presenting “The Tiger Who Came to Tea” June 29 to July 16, followed by “Beauty and the Beast” July 20 to Aug. 6, and “A Surprise for Lydia,” Aug. 10-27.
A fall family matinee of “Fancy Nancy: The Musical” will be presented on various dates from Oct. 30 to Nov. 26.
“A Fine Bright Day Today,” a British play, will be receiving its U.S. premiere at Little Lake, and “Luv” will be directed by Sunny Disney Fitchett, the former artistic director of Little Lake and the daughter of founder Will Disney. Disney Fitchett and her husband, Rob Fitchett, who had been the theater company’s managing director, left Little Lake last year in order to move to California. However, Disney Fitchett remained on Little Lake’s board.
Their replacements had short tenures. Roxy MtJoy, a Greene County native who had been named artistic director in January 2015, was fired by the board in January, with managing director Bob Rak resigning three weeks after. While the board declined to comment on why MtJoy was given her walking papers, Rak said he stepped down because “the board’s vision for the growth and future of the theater changed midstream, and it no longer matched how I thought the organization would best grow, based on my past experience and expertise.”
Little Lake’s resident designer, property master and technical director also resigned.