Every year the Sheboygan Theatre Company goes a bit dormant during the summer months preparing for the next year’s season. Now with the seventy-seventh season about to kick-off, the Theatre Company is alive, vibrant, and raring to go.

On Saturday, August 7 the 5^th Annual Theatre Festival/Flea Market starts out the season. Next will be their Reunion/Kick-Off Party on Tuesday, August 10, followed the next week by the auditions for the musical Nunsense. While rehearsals go on at the theatre, volunteers will be prepping for their booth at the Sheboygan County Fair in early September, where they will be drawings for prizes, selling season tickets and more.

First up will be the festival, which is like a showcase of the theatre and people in the theatre community. It will take place Saturday, August 7 from 8:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at Horace Mann Middle School. There are vendors, artists and performers all available at the festival. The festival gives the community an opportunity to explore what the Sheboygan Theatre Company is all about and allows the community to talk to the people behind the scenes, including the volunteers, board members and those who work for the theatre.

This past season was one of big changes and transitions. The Sheboygan Theatre Company feels it is important that the community has access to the information of how the theatre is evolving in its roll to provide quality entertainment.

One big change last season was the elimination of Tuesday night performances. “It was something the Theatre Company felt would allow for more efficiency and result in lower costs,” said Administrative Marketing Coordinator for the Sheboygan Theatre Company, Michelle Bestul. “And it worked. I find it encouraging that even by eliminating a total of five performances, the attendance only dropped by five percent when it could have easily been ten. It means, on average more people are coming to the shows we have, which was the point to begin with.”

Bestul continued, “With the economy as it is, we understand the difficulties people have gone through because we face much of the same. We know some patrons may not be able to commit as they once have.” The Theatre Company is taking a stance that instead of fighting the economic times, they’re adapting to them. Which may mean, adapting expectations. “It is an inevitable fact of our current reality,” commented Bestul. “It is also one of the reasons we encourage people to get involved with the theatre by volunteering, participating, or by being a patron of the theatre in other ways instead of just financially.”

The next year for the Sheboygan Theatre Company will bring more changes and growth, such as the continuation of rotating artistic directors. According to the Theatre Company, there were a large number of applicants, local and out of state. In the end the selections comprised of both and the jobs went to five highly credentialed professionals.

The feeling is that if the Sheboygan Theatre Company brings high quality theatre to their stage, the community will respond with everything from ticket sales, volunteers and performers.