Kalamazoo Civic Players Informations

The Kalamazoo Civic Theatre is the third largest community theatre organization in the United States. It is located in Kalamazoo county, Michigan.

The Kalamazoo Civic Players was established in 1929. Founders of the theatre included Dorothy Dalton, Norman Carver Sr., Howard Chenery, Ruth Noble, Paul Fuller, Louise Carver, and Jean Huston. Since then, the theater has continued to grow in popularity.

1931 – The Players move into their permanent home at the South Street location. The theatre was state of the art for the time. Its elegant house and surrounding spaces added greatly to the performances within.

1933 – Norman Carver Sr. was instrumental in forming the Michigan Little Theatre Enclave (later to become the Community Theatre Association of Michigan).

1941 – The Civic was asked by the publishers of Stage Magazine to present a production of one of their plays on Broadway.

1945 – An Intern program was created. It was the first of its kind in the nation. The first intern was Betty Ebert, who later married Jack Ragotzy. Together they founded The Barn Theatre in Augusta, Michigan.

1945 –In order to support the war effort, the Civic began touring productions to outlying communities. This outreach program was an important part of the Civic's mission during the war years.

1949 – The Imaginary Invalid was staged in an arena style setting. Audience members sat on the stage, surrounding the action. This venture gave a hint of what was to come with the Carver Center.

1950 – The Civic staged its 200th production The Madwoman of Chaillot.

1952 – Norman Carver was elected as the inaugural president of the newly created National Organization of Community Theatres.

1953 – The Civic celebrated its 25th anniversary.

1956 – The tradition of opening the season with a musical began a tradition that continues to this day.

1958 – The Civic Auditorium Trustees built an annex to the auditorium. This new facility, built one block south of the auditorium, was needed to give the players much needed shop and storage space. It also provided a multi purpose space that was used as a second performance area for experimental productions. It also was used as office and rehearsal space for the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra. The trustees honored their manager of 30 years, Norman Carver, by naming the facility after him.

1958 –James Carver joined The Civic staff as a Production Assistant.

1960 – The Civic was the first community theatre in the nation to present Raisin in the Sun.

1969 – The Civic entered its first AACT festival. Due to an accident during the performance they were unable to complete their performance. However, because of the quality of the performance they were given an Honorary Mention.

1974 – James Carver was promoted to Managing Director of The Civic.

1983 – Fools, having won first place in State and Regional AACT/Fest competition, went on to represent The Civic at the National Festival. It was voted second place in National Competition. This Civic production represented the United States at an international theatre festival in England.

1989 – The Civic presented its 500th production Our Town.

1994 – The Civic produced Dancing at Lughnasa. This was another festival entrant, winning State, Regional, and National Competitions. They also received recognition for both the outstanding performance of the actors as well as design of the production.

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