A Model of It's Kind
In the summer of 1955, in the sleepy New England town of Williamstown, Massachusetts, a group of local businessmen launched the Williamstown Theatre Festival (WTF). The Festival started with a three play season at Williams College, an outstanding liberal arts college nestled in the Berkshire hills of northwestern Massachusetts. From its inception, the Festival aimed to benefit the local economy by attracting a diverse audience from the region: local theatre goers, tourists, the New York and Boston theatre communities, and the "family" of artists who gathered each summer to bring the Festival to life.
That family attracted early members who have returned year after year: Olympia Dukakis (30 years), Blythe Danner (19 years), James Naughton, Maria Tucci.
With success, the family of artists expanded. Well known actors have included Christopher Reeve, Richard Thomas, Michael York, Linda Purl, Suzanne Pleshette. Sigourney Weaver, Chris Noth, Elizabeth Banks and many others.
Today, the WTF is a summer-long celebration of theatre that brings together a vast and impressive array of artists and offers its audience varied cultural experiences. The WTF presents two hundred or more performances on numerous stages in Williamstown. Classic and new plays, cabaret performances, workshops, readings, and programs for apprentices and disadvantaged youth; truly, this is one of America's great artistic success stories.
We're Already Miles Ahead of 1955 Williamstown
As you can see, Williams Theatre is a model of its kind—a high quality professional theatre absolutely thriving in its small town surroundings. This is the model we want to adopt for Danville, Ky., and Centre College.
That might seem like an enormous task; how can we hope to replicate the most successful summer repertory theatre in America? Luckily, we are miles ahead of Williams, Mass., in 1955.
The ground in Danville has been well prepared: strong local businesses and restaurants, avid commitment to the arts, excellent social and political leadership, and unique cultural attractions. But perhaps most important of all, we have available one of the finest theatre facilities in the nation—Weisiger Theatre.
Additionally, Danville is an area primed for growth and economic prosperity, and with a commitment to downtown through the Heart of Danville, we're convinced that Kentucky Stage can make life for local businesses better and stronger.
There's a huge and impressive effort underway to move Danville forward, to make this town and this county a cultural magnet: the Great American Brass Band Fesitval, Perryville Battlefield, Pioneer Playhouse, Shaker Village, the Great American Balloon Race, on and on. We want to be part of that. In fact, we hope that our enterprise might be a catalyst for further growth and exciting projects, a crown jewel of cultural interest that helps Danville and Central Kentucky achieve new heights.
The First Season
Kentucky Stage plans to raise the curtain on its first season in the summer of 2010 with two shows produced by professional theatre practitioners: Tartuffe by Molière (translated by Richard Wilbur) and All My Sons by Arthur Miller. The following year, we plan to expand the season to include three shows. In order to fund Kentucky Stage's initial endeavors, we have set a projected goal of $200,000. It is our hope that you will partner with us in seeing Kentucky Stage off the ground.