ELMWOOD PLAYHOUSE • 10 PARK ST • NYACK • NY • 10960 • (845) 353-1313 • Award Winning Community Theatre since 1947

elmwood timeline, 1892 - present day

1892	The German Lutheran Mission bought a parcel of land on Park Street, Nyack.
1897	St Paul's Lutheran Church was built on it for a TOTAL price of $1,300
pre 47	We were evolving under different names: The Curtain Callers, Camp Shanks Players, Nyack Players.
1947	We started meeting at the Rockland Foundation building, formally located at 150 North Broadway, Nyack. Our band of players has a name, but no permanent home.
1948	Mr. A. Paulson was elected our first honorary member for his translations of Strindberg plays.
1948	Our first public performance: ‘The Boor’, ‘The Work-house Ward’ & ‘The Dark Lady of the Sonnet’ performed at Liberty Street School, Nyack. Tickets were 74 cents each.
1948	Drafted our first Constitution and By-Laws. Our name officially was the ‘Rockland Community Theatre, a unit of the Rockland Foundation, Inc.’
1949	The Rockland Foundation moved to their new home in West Nyack.
1951-52	We tried performing 3 shows, instead of 2. The next season we went back to 2.
1951	Our first benefit performance, ‘The Curious Savage’ directed by Robert Bacon at Congers HS. Tickets of $1 to benefit Rockland County Squadron of the Civil Air Patrol.
1952	Voted to pay the director of each play $100. Amended on 3/24/52 to be $200. This did not last into the 1953/54 season.
1953-54	We tried performing 5 shows that year. Also started selling ‘season tickets’ at 3 pairs for $7.50, with students at 50 cents.
1953	Monopoly of male directors broken for ’The Madwoman of Chaillot’. First female Director - Margaret Manning. Performed at Shanks Village Community Center, Orangeburg, NY
1954	We were the first non-professional group in the Country to do Arthur Miller’s ‘The Crucible’. Directed by David Manning.
1954	’Where's Charley?’ directed by Bob Coyman was our very first ever musical. It was performed at Singers Hotel, Spring Valley.
1955	Our first show done ‘in-the-round’. ‘Hello Out There’ by William Saroyan, directed by Lorna Priest.
1956-57	Sue Nickerson and Jon Kastner become the only 2 actors in our history to act in every show in any one season.
1958	We bought the St. Paul’s Lutheran Church property and building for $8,000. Located on Park Street, Nyack. We had a home at last!
1958	New Name, New Home! ‘Bus Stop’,directed by Tally Messer, becomes the 1st production by the newly named Elmwood Community Players in our own building.
1959	’The Happy Time’ was our first show that ran for 4 weekends. It was directed by TV actor Harry Bellaver.
1959	Our logo with the two actors in the line-drawn Elmwood building appeared for ‘Janus’.
1960	’Finian's Rainbow’ - 1st Musical in "our building. Directed by Albert Messer. Performers Jane Hunt, Mary MInichiello, Beth Lynch, and Florence Newman.
1960	1st Annual Ball at Singers Hotel. Used as a fund-raiser and social, admission was $5 per couple and $3 a single.
1961	Separate Tables' 1st show with new comfortable individual seating instead of church pews.
1961	Performed our first original show, the musical ’Exurbia '61’ written by Tally Messer and Murray Masarky. Directed by Tally Messer.
1962-63	Experimented with performing 7 shows each having a shorter run of 1, 2, or 3 weekends. It was a success but a lot of work.
1963	Elected our first female President of the Board of Directors, Stella Levine. 42 years later still active at Elmwood.
1968	First show done twice, ’Arsenic and Old Lace’ in '51 and again in ‘68.
1969	First play writing contest winner, ‘Gabriel’ performed. Written by Clifford Mason and directed by Stan Lachow.
1970	’Oh Dad, Poor Dad’ had the 1st double-cast, including present Elmwoodians Jane Dowling, Tom Cardullo, Harvey Gardner, Ed Thom, and Dolores Hodesblatt.
1971-72	Two musicals in one season. '71 ‘Straight Ahead’ (our 2nd original musical), directed Albert Messer, and '72, ‘A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum’ directed by Mark Rinis.
1972-73	Marked our 25th season as a group.
1972	Life Membership initiated to honor members serving above and beyond expectation. First honored charter member Adair Downing McKean.
1974	David and Elaine Vogel become the only married couple elected to the Board of Directors. They served together through 1977.
1975	Frank Nixon appeared in his last of a record 31 different shows from 1954, ‘The Lady's Not For Burning’ to ‘The Country Wife’.
1976	We purchased the buildings next door, giving us the entire corner of Park Street & New Street in Nyack for $25,000. They become our workshop, storage, and rehearsal studios. President was Elaine Vogel.
1976	‘Fiorello’, an fund-raiser for our newly bought building, had our largest cast ever - 55 people. It ran 2 weeks at South Orangetown Jr. High, a much larger stage and house.
1978	’Two Gentlemen of Verona’ was the last of a record of 30 plays directed for our group by Albert ‘Tally’ Messer.
1986	Elmwood installs Air Conditioning! ‘Uncle Vanya’ is cool! Directed by Barbara Sandek. Prior to this, we didn't do any scheduled summer shows because of the heat.
1989	’Pack of Lies’ marked Scenic Designer Bob Olson’s 100th set designed for us. Directed by James Loranger.
1990	The only time that an Elmwood director directed the same show twice was veteran Carl Spatz with ‘Long Day's Journey Into Night’ in both 1974 and 1990
1995	We purchased and installed our computerized lighting control system. Moving forward into the 21st century
1996	Golden Elm Leaf Award created by Jennie Marino to honor members who perform arduous and often thankless jobs. First recipient was the awards inspiration, Debbi Fleckenstein.
1996	Mortgage burning party at Elmwood. Paid off the ‘new building’ bought in 1976. Elmwood’s President was once again Elaine Vogel.
1997	’The Fantasticks’ directed by Denise Beckerle, became our first experience at ‘sequenced’ computerized keyboard music.
1999	‘Tim’ written by Nick Meglin and Neil Berg, directed by Jane Hunt, became the 3rd original musical produced here.
2000	Started ongoing One-Act-Play performances with 4 original one-act plays, directed by Denise Beckerle, Rob Ward, and Bobbi Schevitz
2001	’Jekyll and Hyde’, directed by Elaine Vogel, received corporate sponsorship from Charles Schwab.
2008	New padded seats replace old worn-out seating for our audience.
2009	Bob Olson passes away, our longtime scenic designer since 1965 with over 200 sets designed for our beloved theatre.
2010	Elmwood proudly partners with the Israel Horovitz 70/70 project, exclusive production of Man in Snow. Our successful 2nd stage series, Sundays@7 is developed by Margaret Young as a fundraising showcase for area talents.
2011	Larry Beckerle, Larry Wilbur, Tim Reid and Ralph Felice unveil the Elmwood Playhouse expansion and renovation model.
2012	Renovations to our 100+ year old building begin by cleaning and sorting in preparation for the big renovation.