High Springs Community Theater
real High Definition Theater
real High Definition Theater
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History of High Springs Community Theater
History of the High Springs Community Theater
In July of 1993, a dream of a local community theater was born and a fledgling group of actors
presented Rainmaker in cooperation with the Lake City Community Theater. Then in November of
1993 the fledgling group of actors went solo and presented A Funny Thing Happened On The Way
To The Forum and High Springs Community Theater was born. During their 1993 -1994 Season this
new theater group presented five more plays.
High Springs Community Theater was officially incorporated on August 1, 1994 by the founding
officers, Graham and Diane Williams. Jeannette Peters and Jim Gabriel, both prominent residents of
High Springs were members of the first Board of Directors. Soon, the theater entered into a formal
usage agreement with the New Century Woman’s Club.
From 1993 through 2001, HSCT staged thirty nine shows at the New Century Woman's Club.
During those years, HSCT expanded the stage area and added a small lighting booth at the back of
the meeting room. A Green Room was also enclosed along the back of the building. The final
contribution that HSCT made to the New Century Women’s Club building was the addition of a
beautiful lobby and two restrooms. With the addition of the two restrooms the theater group was
finally able to abandon the practice of having to rent port-a-potties to place in the side yard during the
run of each production. What a relief that was.
But alas, both organizations were growing at a steady pace and their activities were increasing,
leading to some scheduling issues, so HSCT started looking for another venue. They located and
purchased the building at 130 NE First Avenue in High Springs October of 2001. And thus, through
the generosity of the community, their sponsors, and dedicated patrons, HSCT realized the dream of
owning their own building. Through the years the building had housed several businesses and
churches and become known as the pink church. Now HSCT was prepared to transform the building
into a theater.
In October of 2001 they presented Calamity Jane, their last play presented on the stage of the New
Century Women’s Club. They took possession of their new building in January of 2002 and a flurry of
activity ensued. Under the direction of Tom Solomon, owner of The Rustic Inn, and largely through
his hard work, the interior of the building was modified to add a stage and to provide a Tea Room,
Green Room and Dressing Rooms. On February 21, 2002 an Open House and Ribbon Cutting
ceremony was held to celebrate the theater’s move into their new building. A week later, HSCT
opened Man of La Mancha, the first show to be presented on their new stage. The theme song “The
Impossible Dream” from the show epitomized what HSCT had accomplished in obtaining their new
venue.
A special program that HSCT started in its first year is the Summer Youth Production. Through the
program, youths from ages 8 to 18 are given the opportunity to participate in presenting a play on
stage. For many years, the Directors, Stage Managers and staff, and technical staff for these shows
were adults. In 2004 the Board of Directors decided that the Summer Youth Production should
become a full workshop for the youth of their communities. Starting with that year’s show, Beauty is a
Beast, the Directors, Stage Manager and staff, and technical staff were all teenagers. Two adult
advisors were assigned to help the teens, but the show was totally produced by the teens and their
cast. Shanna Swiers, Director and Emma Harbert, Assistant Director blazed new territory for the
youths involved in the HSCT Summer Youth Production and they blazed a magnificent trail As a
further feature of the revised Summer Youth Production program, the youth also participate in some
fund raising activities during the summer, such as car washes and bake sales. This helped them to
appreciate the hard work that it takes to provide financing for a show. The Summer Youth Production
continues to be a much anticipated focal point of easons at HSCT.
In the fall of 2005, HSCT began providing further theater education for the youth of our communities.
In conjunction with a grant through the Gainesville Association of the Creative Arts, Dr. William
Eyerly conducts a series of 6 week workshops for the youth from High Springs and the surrounding
communities. They are held on Wednesday afternoons at the theater and have been very well
attended .
HSCT has also begun to offer workshop seminars for the adults of the community in directing, acting,
and technical skills. These workshops are conducted evenings and on weekends and are the perfect
opportunity for interested individuals to come learn what community theater is all about.
When they purchased the building, both of the restrooms in the building were behind the stage area,
so once again HSCT was in need of restrooms for their patrons. Since they opened in 2002 , the
restroom behind stage right has been the public restroom used by the patrons. Thanks to many fund
raising efforts and the continued support of our sponsors and patrons, at the beginning of 2006 we
were able to make final plans for the renovation of our building, to include two new restrooms. Ross
Ambrose, a local resident was the Project Manager and did a lions share of the work and HSCT now
has two very beautiful public restrooms as well as an enlarged Green Room and upgraded dressing
rooms.
In the last two years HSCT has attracted many new faces to both their stage and their audiences.
They continue to plan for additional improvements to their building and they are developing programs
to draw more persons from their community into their theater family. They have expanded their
program so they present five main stage shows each year as well as the Summer Youth Production.
They are also in planning stages for implementing a series of single performance concerts and even
perhaps a Coffee House Theater program.
So keep your eyes on High Springs Community Theater as they continue to grow and continue to
bring fine family entertainment to our community.
In July of 1993, a dream of a local community theater was born and a fledgling group of actors
presented Rainmaker in cooperation with the Lake City Community Theater. Then in November of
1993 the fledgling group of actors went solo and presented A Funny Thing Happened On The Way
To The Forum and High Springs Community Theater was born. During their 1993 -1994 Season this
new theater group presented five more plays.
High Springs Community Theater was officially incorporated on August 1, 1994 by the founding
officers, Graham and Diane Williams. Jeannette Peters and Jim Gabriel, both prominent residents of
High Springs were members of the first Board of Directors. Soon, the theater entered into a formal
usage agreement with the New Century Woman’s Club.
From 1993 through 2001, HSCT staged thirty nine shows at the New Century Woman's Club.
During those years, HSCT expanded the stage area and added a small lighting booth at the back of
the meeting room. A Green Room was also enclosed along the back of the building. The final
contribution that HSCT made to the New Century Women’s Club building was the addition of a
beautiful lobby and two restrooms. With the addition of the two restrooms the theater group was
finally able to abandon the practice of having to rent port-a-potties to place in the side yard during the
run of each production. What a relief that was.
But alas, both organizations were growing at a steady pace and their activities were increasing,
leading to some scheduling issues, so HSCT started looking for another venue. They located and
purchased the building at 130 NE First Avenue in High Springs October of 2001. And thus, through
the generosity of the community, their sponsors, and dedicated patrons, HSCT realized the dream of
owning their own building. Through the years the building had housed several businesses and
churches and become known as the pink church. Now HSCT was prepared to transform the building
into a theater.
In October of 2001 they presented Calamity Jane, their last play presented on the stage of the New
Century Women’s Club. They took possession of their new building in January of 2002 and a flurry of
activity ensued. Under the direction of Tom Solomon, owner of The Rustic Inn, and largely through
his hard work, the interior of the building was modified to add a stage and to provide a Tea Room,
Green Room and Dressing Rooms. On February 21, 2002 an Open House and Ribbon Cutting
ceremony was held to celebrate the theater’s move into their new building. A week later, HSCT
opened Man of La Mancha, the first show to be presented on their new stage. The theme song “The
Impossible Dream” from the show epitomized what HSCT had accomplished in obtaining their new
venue.
A special program that HSCT started in its first year is the Summer Youth Production. Through the
program, youths from ages 8 to 18 are given the opportunity to participate in presenting a play on
stage. For many years, the Directors, Stage Managers and staff, and technical staff for these shows
were adults. In 2004 the Board of Directors decided that the Summer Youth Production should
become a full workshop for the youth of their communities. Starting with that year’s show, Beauty is a
Beast, the Directors, Stage Manager and staff, and technical staff were all teenagers. Two adult
advisors were assigned to help the teens, but the show was totally produced by the teens and their
cast. Shanna Swiers, Director and Emma Harbert, Assistant Director blazed new territory for the
youths involved in the HSCT Summer Youth Production and they blazed a magnificent trail As a
further feature of the revised Summer Youth Production program, the youth also participate in some
fund raising activities during the summer, such as car washes and bake sales. This helped them to
appreciate the hard work that it takes to provide financing for a show. The Summer Youth Production
continues to be a much anticipated focal point of easons at HSCT.
In the fall of 2005, HSCT began providing further theater education for the youth of our communities.
In conjunction with a grant through the Gainesville Association of the Creative Arts, Dr. William
Eyerly conducts a series of 6 week workshops for the youth from High Springs and the surrounding
communities. They are held on Wednesday afternoons at the theater and have been very well
attended .
HSCT has also begun to offer workshop seminars for the adults of the community in directing, acting,
and technical skills. These workshops are conducted evenings and on weekends and are the perfect
opportunity for interested individuals to come learn what community theater is all about.
When they purchased the building, both of the restrooms in the building were behind the stage area,
so once again HSCT was in need of restrooms for their patrons. Since they opened in 2002 , the
restroom behind stage right has been the public restroom used by the patrons. Thanks to many fund
raising efforts and the continued support of our sponsors and patrons, at the beginning of 2006 we
were able to make final plans for the renovation of our building, to include two new restrooms. Ross
Ambrose, a local resident was the Project Manager and did a lions share of the work and HSCT now
has two very beautiful public restrooms as well as an enlarged Green Room and upgraded dressing
rooms.
In the last two years HSCT has attracted many new faces to both their stage and their audiences.
They continue to plan for additional improvements to their building and they are developing programs
to draw more persons from their community into their theater family. They have expanded their
program so they present five main stage shows each year as well as the Summer Youth Production.
They are also in planning stages for implementing a series of single performance concerts and even
perhaps a Coffee House Theater program.
So keep your eyes on High Springs Community Theater as they continue to grow and continue to
bring fine family entertainment to our community.
