Grant Awarded: November 2005

Type of Grant: We the People Grant

Sponsor: Grand Traverse Heritage Center

Contact: Daniel Truckey, 231-995-0313, gtheritagecenter@sbcglobal.net

Website: www.gtheritagecenter.org/

Award: $11,900

The Grand Traverse Heritage Center (Traverse City) has been awarded $11,900 to produce “Summer Stock Theater and the Cherry County Playhouse.” The primary goal of the project is to educate the public about the history of summer stock theaters and in particular the Cherry County Playhouse and Northern Michigan theatres. The project will include a temporary exhibit to open on May 13, 2006, a youth theater mini-camp directed by Traverse City Children’s Theater, a lecture on the history of the Summer Stock Theater, and weekend performances by Riverside Shakespeare at the Heritage Center.

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PRESS RELEASE

Date: April 26, 2005
Contact Person: Daniel Truckey, Executive Director, 995-0313 or gtheritagecenter@sbcglobal.net

Cherry County Playhouse exhibition to open at Heritage Center
As the summer approaches, the Museum of History will be bringing back to life some wonderful memories from summer’s past. The Grand Traverse Heritage Center is pleased to announce the opening of its exhibition, Summer Stock Theater and the Cherry County Playhouse, on Saturday, May 13 from 10a.m. to 4p.m. The exhibition will be on display in the Museum of History at the Heritage Center from May 13 through October 14, 2006. This exhibition is funded in part by a We the People grant from the Michigan Humanities Council, an affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Admission to the exhibit is $3.00 for adults, $1.50 for students, and free for kids 12 and under.

The exhibition will tell the history of summer stock theatre in the United States, with a particular focus on the Cherry County Playhouse. Summer stock theatre has its roots in the late 19th century but flourished during the first half of the 20th century. The Cherry County Playhouse wasn’t started until 1955 but during its nearly 40 year run was one of the most important summer stock theaters in the U.S. and certainly the Midwest. Besides bringing celebrity performers to the community, it fostered the careers of many other theater professionals and was an important part of Traverse City’s summer culture. The exhibition will consist of interpretive panels, an interactive theatrical stage, a gallery of stars, display cases with artifacts related to the Cherry County Playhouse and related summer stages, and an audio-visual station to research film clips, photographs, oral histories, news coverage and related digitized materials.

The Grand Traverse Heritage Center is located at 322 Sixth Street, near downtown Traverse City. Admission is $3.00 for adults and $1.50 for students. Children under 12 are free. Hours are noon to 4 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. on Saturdays (Beginning in June). The Heritage Center is the home for the region’s historical resources and organizations including the Museum of History, Grand Traverse Historical Society, Maritime Heritage Alliance, Railroad Historical Society of Northwest Michigan, Grand Traverse Rock and Mineral Club and the Women’s History Project of Northwest Michigan. For more information, call (231) 995-0313 or visit www.gtheritagecenter.org.