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Calumet Players return this October

CALUMET — After a two-and-a-half-year absence, the Calumet Players are returning to the stage of the Calumet Theatre for a show in October.

Stephanie Booth, vice president of The Calumet Players, Inc. said it is really exciting to be back in the theater, putting on a show for the community.

“It’s very exciting,” she said.

Booth said COVID changed things for the Players. Their last scheduled performance for the 2020 season at the theater, Sherlock Holmes, was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We did film a show last year in the theater,” said Booth, “but there was no audience, so it’s just not the same.”

Calumet Theatre Co. Board President Dan Jamison said he, like Booth, is excited.

“I think it’s a cool thing,” he said. “This being a community theater, they are (located) just diagonally across the street from us. We should be working together on every, single thing that comes through.”

Jamison said the Theatre Board broke with past arrangements and is not charging the Players rent for using the theater for their rehearsals and preparations.

The Theatre was recently awarded a $16,000 operational grant from the Michigan Arts and Culture Council (MACC), the objective of which is to use those monies to defray the cost they (the Calumet Players) would otherwise incur.

“Unlike previous engagements, we’re not charging them rent for every second,” said Jamison, “we’re giving them support, but more importantly, they’re bringing people back into the place and that’s just the coolest thing.”

The MACC works to increase and broaden the influence of arts and culture within Michigan communities. MACC Operational Support is a competitive grant program that provides operational support to arts and cultural organizations only. Municipalities, schools and non-arts nonprofit organizations are encouraged to apply in one of the other categories.

Booth said the show premiers on Friday, Oct. 7, with six additional performances through Oct. 16. The production is a musical adaptation of the 1972 classic novel by Mary Rodgers and the hit Disney films Freaky Friday.

“It’s a show called Freaky Friday,” Booth said. “It’s a story of a mom and a daughter who get to switch places for a day and learn about each other’s differences, their emotions and all of the things that they might not appreciate about each other.”

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