Tom Ferris, RWT President |
Riverwalk Theatre, the home of the Community Circle
Players, is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) community theatre located on the
banks of the Grand River just three blocks east of the Capitol in
downtown Lansing,
Michigan. Within easy walking distance are the Impression
5 Science Center; the R.E.
Olds Museum; Oldsmobile
Park, home of the Lansing
Lugnuts; the Lansing
Center; numerous restaurants; and the Lansing
Radisson. |
| The Community
Circle Players, who for over 20 years performed at the Okemos
Barn Theatre, is the first
theatre group in Lansing to own its own performing space. |
| Riverwalk
produces outstanding dramas, comedies, musicals, and children's
shows. Riverwalk's season is characterized by taking chances
on new, off-beat, or controversial works — everything
from Roger Rochowiak and Doug Austin's charming musical Just
the Two of Us to David Mamet's
scorching Glengarry Glen
Ross. |
| Over
two decades ago, the Community Circle Players lost their lease
on the Okemos Barn Theatre. Seeking a new performance space,
they found an old warehouse belonging to the Impression 5
Science Center. They arranged a 20 year lease on the building
and raised over half a million dollars to convert it into
The Riverwalk Theatre. |
| The Community Circle players
was incorporated in 1958, and the group's first home was in
a warehouse on Sheridan Street (now Oakland) in Lansing, MI.
The group came very close to closing but was rescued by Bee
and Karl Vary and Win and Wes Olds, who gave it a new home
in the Okemos Barn. |
| CCP spent 22 years at the Barn
and gained a reputation for fiscal responsibility and artistic
integrity. |
| In 1986 the group lost it lease
on the Barn and, after a 2-year search, relocated in the south
half of the Impression 5 Science Center warehouse, a site
located by Ed Ingraham, Martha Mertz, Bob Mellor, and Bill
Helder. A 20-year lease was negotiated at $1 per year, and
Tom Ferris (then CCP President) prepaid the rent in full. |
| CCP went dark for 3 years to
focus on raising the $500,000 needed to build the Riverwalk.
The Capital Development Campaign was chaired by Bob Mellor,
with Alfreda Schmidt as Honorary Chair. |
| During the 3-year capital development
campaign, CCP staged 3 original shows by Roger Rochowiak:
"Blue Cross Hilton," "Old Age Isn't for Sissies,"
and "Mattress Mary and the Baggies" at the Center
for the Arts; "Inherit the Wind" with Judge Brennan
as the Judge at Cooley Law School; "A Slight Exaggeration"
at Eastern High School's auditorium; "Three Penny Opera"
in a tent in the parking lot and in the empty warehouse that
is now the theatre; "Magic Theater" and John Baldwin's
"Strang" in the lower level of Impression 5; and
Evelyn Weymouth's "The Secrets in Jody's Cellar"
in the all-purpose room of what is now the Black Child and
Family Institute. "Strang" and "Secrets"
were part of Michigan's Sesquicentennial celebration. |
| In the fall of 1989, Riverwalk
Theatre opened with "Dames at Sea." |
| In 1997 Impression 5 offered
to sell the warehouse to CCP, and a second 3-year Capital
Development Campaign to raise $355,000 was launched on Sunday,
January 11, 1998, co-chaired by Bob Mellor and Bill Helder. |
| In January of 1998, Tom Kronk,
Riverwalk's President, signed a land contract for $252,000
to purchase the warehouse (15,750 square feet) which nearly
doubled the theatre's space. Riverwalk achieved its purchase
goal in August of 1999 with the help of a $50,000 grant from
the Governor's fund for arts, cultural and quality-of-life. |
| The third year of the Capital
Development Campaign ended in January of 2001 as Riverwalk
reached its goal of $355,000, and the development of expansion
plans began. |
| Because the cost of the planned
expansion exceeded available funds, the project was divided
into two phases. In February, 2002, Phase I was completed,
adding a new scene shop, a prop loft, a green room, a board
room, and a rehearsal hall. (click here for pictures) |
| While plans to launch Phase
II are being made, the group will concentrate on the repair
and maintenance of the already existing facilities. |
| February, 2002 |
| top of the page |
| |
| Update |
| In 2008, Community Circle Players will observe the 50th anniversary of its incorporation. It will also mark the 20th year at the Riverwalk. To celebrate this dual occasion, a Golden Anniversary Campaign has been organized to build an 80-seat studio theatre to house our "black box" series of off-beat or experimental productions, increase our restroom facilities and enlarge our lobby. This effort, co-chaired by Bill Helder and Bill Shipley, was begun on January 1, 2007 and will end on December 31, 2009. It has gotten off to a strong start but it is not yet clear whether we will begin construction in the spring of 2008 or 2009. We expect to continue our tradition of not building until we have the funds available. It's the way we've conducted our business from our beginnings at the Riverwalk. In November of 2003 we passed the $1 million mark in funds we have raised and invested in our theatre. We are a debt-free theatre and we intend to remain so. |
| As our Golden Anniversary Campaign continues we will post updates. |
| (click here to see our expansion plans) |
| April, 2007 |
| top of the page |
