Graham Jaehnig/Daily Mining Gazette The Calumet Players performed Disney's Freaky Friday at the Calumet Theatre. Community theater offers residents an opportunity to work in artistic collaboration or experience a unique cultural event.

CALUMET — The Calumet Players’ seven-night run of their rendition of Disney’s Freaky Friday wrapped up this past Sunday before a well-attended audience at the Calumet Theatre.

The light-hearted musical adaption of the 2003 fantasy-comedy film, based on the 1972 Mary Rodgers novel of the same name, showed four times between Oct. 7 and Oct. 9, and three more times between Oct. 14 and Oct. 16, including two matinees.

Benita Maksimchuk, who was the house manager for the production, is also a volunteer at the Calumet Theatre, as well as a member of the Calumet Players organization, said that members of the Players designed and constructed a rotating stage of sorts, specifically for the stage of the Theatre.

“It’s something that they designed for this play specifically,” she said.

It consists of three sections, each section serving as a different set.

“It can be rotated from the gym to the home and to the school room, Maksimchuk explained.

Jonathan (Jake) Pressel and his wife, Pat, built it, figuring out the rotating design, and constructed in the work shop in the Calumet Players building on Sixth street, said Maksimchuk.

The Calumet Players, Inc., a non-profit community theater organization founded in 1979, is comprised of many local residents from the area.

“It is people from many different walks of life,” said Maksimchuk. “Some of us are retired nurses, some of us are teachers. We have a band director, one is an electrician — we have many different people from many walks of life from the surrounding communities and this community.”

Maksimchuk said everyone comes together and everyone has something to give.

“Everybody gives 110%,” said Maksimchuk. “They really do.”

Maksimchuk said community theater is important to communities.

We want people to come and see — we like to share what we’re doing with our art, she said. She is not alone in her belief.

The American Association of Community Theatre (AACT) states that community theatre enriches the lives of those who take an active part in it, as well as those in the community who benefit from live theatre productions. On either side of the footlights, those involved represent a diversity of age, culture, life experience, and a strong appreciation of the importance of the arts.

Maksimchuk said that something common to live, community theater is attendance steadily increases with each performance. Freaky Friday was typical of that.

Opening night is seldom performed to a large audience.

“But word gets out,” she said. “You talk to your friends and we end up with more people every night.”

Dave Crowley, another member of the Players, has been involved in live theater for 54 years, directs middle school and high school plays and has also written several plays and children’s books.

Crowley agrees with Maksimchuk on the importance of community theater.

“In a community this size,” he said, “it gives people the opportunity to see live theater. If we didn’t have this — if we didn’t have the Players, and the schools didn’t do some school plays, there’d be nothing.”

Crowley echoed the sentiments expressed on the AACT website, which states:

“In many areas of the country, especially away from large cities, community theatre provides the only performing arts entertainment – and active participation – for residents.”

Crowley, who was born in Lake Linden and moved to Calumet with his family when he was just over a year old, said that when he was in school, the Calumet Theatre was a movie theater.

Crowley said since he got involved in live theater, he has seen several changes in the culture of community, as well as professional theater. Among them is the use of recorded music. The Calumet Players, he said, once had an orchestra that sometimes numbered 20 musicians, including a horn section.

“They had a couple of trumpets, a couple of violins and a cello,” he said.

Eventually, however, they pared it down, he added, because it became increasingly difficult to find musicians.

Another aspect of using pre-recorded music for live theater productions may be copyright and licensing laws. The stage licensing for Freaky Friday became available in  2018, through Music Theatre International. Theatremania.com published an article on June 27 of that year stating that “In addition to the new Disney Channel one-act musical, Freaky Friday, the stage musical was developed by Disney Theatrical Productions for licensing to professional and amateur theaters.”

Community theater continues to buck the odds of modern types of entertainment, and continues to be a major component of American performing arts culture.