Couple Works Tirelessly To Establish Gretna Little Theatre
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Theater is in Janina Shoemaker’s blood, and that’s good news for appreciative Gretna residents, who have welcomed her with open arms.
Shoemaker and her husband, Hal, moved to the area in 2007 from Florida and immediately set out to bring community theater to the area. Just two short years later, the Gretna Little Theatre is going strong, well into its second season of performances.
“We were looking for a small town where we could be a part of the community,” says Janina Shoemaker, executive director of the Gretna Little Theatre. “We were looking for a retirement home. We’re very happy here in Gretna.”
Although the Shoemakers may have moved here with retirement in mind, they have hardly been idle. Both have had long careers teaching at the college level with involvement in theater wherever they lived.
“When we moved here, we knew there was no community theater in Gretna. We just put a notice in the newspaper that we were getting ready to start a community theater and anyone who wanted to be a part of it should come to a meeting,” Shoemaker says. “Not too many came, but the people who did come were really enthusiastic, and we just built on that enthusiasm.
“I’ve been teaching theater, speech and English since the mid-1980s,” Shoemaker adds. “Every place I’ve been, I’ve either been involved in community theater as a performer or producer-director, as well as teaching at the college level and directing plays in college theater. This is nothing new for me. Theater is what makes me tick.”
In its inaugural 2008 season, Gretna Little Theatre performed If a Man Answers, The Merry Widow, Curse You, Jack Dalton! and staged a holiday Broadway showcase. The 2009 season featured Romantic Comedy in February, Done to Death in April and The Marriage-Go-Round, a Readers Theatre performance, in May. In Readers Theatre, performers read from a script instead of delivering memorized lines.
Winding up 2009 are All American in August and Sentimental Journey in October. Performances are held in The Gretna Theatre, a 1950s movie theater and former store, which was renovated and reopened in 2006. Rehearsals are at First Baptist Church in Gretna.
Gretna Little Theatre is a nonprofit, and participants are volunteers. GLT splits the box office with The Gretna Theatre, located at 107 N. Main St.
Ticket prices for GLT performances are $10 for musicals and $6.50 for other shows. The main productions are performed three times during a weekend.
“We’re drawing basically from the greater Gretna area, but we’ve drawn people from as far away as 30 miles who are coming to be a part of what we do, and we’re drawing our audiences in the same manner,” Shoemaker says.
“The community of greater Gretna has been very receptive and very supportive.”
Story by Anne Gillem
