The Peninsula Players Celebrate 75 Years

It’s kind of weird to try to put The Peninsula Players’ 75 years into perspective. When the venerable outdoor theatre in Door County started, it was some 38 years prior to Milwaukee theatre legend James Pickering’s first job as a professional actor. It was 1935. The Pabst Theatre was only 40 years old. The village of Fish Creek had only been a tourist community for about as many years when the Peninsula Players established itself.

It’s kind of strange to imagine someone visiting the idyllic wooded area in Wisconsin’s lower peninsula and thinking—“you know . . .this is really great and everything, but you know what it could really use? Noel Coward!” Not knowing anything else about the history of the Peninsula Players, I like to think that it might’ve been the conspicuous absence of Noel Coward in the Lower Peninsula that caused the Peninsula Players to come into being.  They opened a production of Hay Fever in July 25^th, 1935, At the time, the play was only ten years old. (Actually, it was the brother and sister team of Richard and Caroline Fisher . . . an exhaustive history of the company appears here.

 This July the 24^th, the Players will celebrate the 75^th anniversary of that opening with a production of . . . Over The Tavern.  The penultimate performance of the Tom Dudzick comedy will be accompanied by a pre-show picnic, a champagne toast and birthday cake.

Tickets for the Peninsula Players’ 75^th Birthday Party are from $51-$44 and include a ticket to the show, the picnic and the champagne.  For more info, call 920-868-3287 or visit the Players online.