A Message from Grosse Pointe Theatre

History
Grosse Pointe Theatre just completed its 72nd season. In 1948, GPT’s founder, the late Russell Werneken, had a vision to create a community theater that would offer quality theatrical productions to the community. He went door to door in hopes of securing funds to achieve his goal and find a permanent home for the theater group’s productions that would foster excitement and a love for the performing arts. A 22-year-old drama teacher, Werneken established Grosse Pointe Theatre as a nonprofit 501(c)(3) community theater starting with just 30 members.

For many years, members rehearsed in basements and churches and performed in whatever space was available. Finally, in the early 1960’s, the Fries Auditorium was built as part of the Grosse Pointe War Memorial and became GPT’s permanent performance facility. In 1981, a long search for our own rehearsal space resulted in the acquisition of an abandoned nursing home in Grosse Pointe. Renovations, many by members themselves, transformed the building to include: a stage-sized rehearsal room, offices, a scene shop for set construction, a room for costume design and construction, and storage spaces for costumes, props, lighting and sound equipment and the group’s archives.

The end of the 2016-2017 season suddenly saw Grosse Pointe Theatre looking for a new venue to perform. For the past three seasons, Grosse Pointe Theatre has partnered with the schools and leased space from the Grosse Pointe Public Schools and University Liggett School. We made the commitment to “bring community theatre to the community” with performances in several different auditoriums around the community.

Mission, Vision and Values
Grosse Pointe Theatre’s newly-approved Mission:  We connect, create, and inspire communities through theatre.

And our Vision Statement:  Grosse Pointe Theatre will be recognized as a national leader in community theatre, consistently demonstrating artistic, educational, and operational excellence.

Grosse Pointe Theatre is guided by the following Values:

• Respect and Integrity
• Stewardship
• Community
• Diversity and Inclusion
• Collaboration

Financial
Grosse Pointe Theatre’s financial position is strong. GPT, a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organization, has no debt, owns its administrative office/rehearsal space/scene shop on Fisher Rd. with no mortgage, and has a solid investment portfolio and an endowment fund. Our royalties and venue lease payments have always been timely, and, in many cases, paid in advance of the due dates. We just closed out a fiscal year where due to COVID-19 we had to cancel five productions and we still managed to show a modest profit. Since hiring an Executive Director in 2012, GPT has shown profits each year. One exception to our financial success in recent years is the 2017-2018 season, where we showed a small loss due to expenses incurred changing our venue to the schools at the last minute. (Click to view 2019 990-EZ and Data Arts Profile)

A typical season for Grosse Pointe Theatre includes five Main Stage productions, offering a mix of musicals and plays, two Youth on Stage productions and one Purdon Studio Theatre, contemporary “blackbox” production. Our Youth on Stage program is an educational program where students work for approximately 10 weeks on preparation for their production, helping young people develop confidence, creativity and leadership while bringing imagination alive. A Youth Technical Theatre program was added this past season due to a grant from the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation.

GPT’s plans for growth include adding additional performances to our schedule once we are in a venue with additional capacity. Current opportunities for growth have been held back due to the limitations with performing around the school schedules so we look forward to expanding our season and maximizing that potential once we are in a new permanent home. Recent ticket sales for blockbuster shows such as 42nd Street (3,461) and Shrek the Musical (2,986), Annie (3,681) and Mamma Mia (3,403) have clearly demonstrated the opportunity to expand our performances for an additional week and casts and crews are excited for the extended opportunity to perform for expanded dates.

Community Impact
Grosse Pointe Theatre takes pride in its community impact. Our artists from the Grosse Pointe community and beyond, volunteer their time and talent to create art for our patrons. We have given away performing arts scholarships for the past four decades to encourage the love of theatre arts and help students in the community cover summer camp and college expenses. We partner with numerous community organizations such as the Grosse Pointe Chamber of Commerce, the Grosse Pointe Historical Society, the Ford House, Grosse Pointe Park’s After 6 on Kercheval, St. Paul’s Church, Beaumont Health Systems community outreach, the Grosse Pointe Public Schools and University Liggett School, and others. We also partnered with the Boll Family YMCA in Detroit last year and brought the summer camp kids to a special daytime mini performance of Annie, as well providing instructors to offer a week-long theatre camp program to the Y summer campers. In 2018, Grosse Pointe Theatre was honored with the Pointer of Distinction Award for Outstanding Nonprofit Activity by the Grosse Pointe Chamber of Commerce. (Click to view the Chamber Article)

Patrons
Grosse Pointe Theatre would like to express our gratitude to the thousands of patrons who have supported us over the years. In just the 2018-2019 season, we had 941 season ticket holders and had a total attendance of 15,142 people see our productions. In the five Grosse Pointes alone, GPT patrons number almost 1,900 households. The 2019-2020 season attendance was on its way to be a record year, but was cut short due to the pandemic.

Members
GPT draws its strength from the passion of its dedicated member volunteers, numbering about 400 each year. GPT artists are actors, directors, choreographers, painters, set designers, builders, costume designers, lighting and sound specialists. All of these artists are volunteers from across Southeast Michigan, and many have extensive experience performing and working with other community theaters as well as professional groups. Several of our choreographers teach at dance studios, but also volunteer their time and energy with GPT.

Many music directors are teachers/professional musicians, and many directors have extensive experience directing shows for high schools and other theater groups. The only exceptions are the rehearsal accompanists and pit musicians who are paid Michigan artists. We employed 37 musicians this past season. To create and present each production takes extensive volunteer effort – 15,160 hours logged during last season’s production of Annie.

GPT also draws actors from a wide talent pool and 500 artists have auditioned for GPT productions the past two years, expanding our regional reach in the area. We are inclusive and open to anyone with a love of the performing arts. Our artists are excited for our move to the Schaap Center so we can expand our artistic visions and technical capabilities in this exciting new venue.

Donors
We are grateful for the donors who have supported us over the past years and have given so generously to Grosse Pointe Theatre. Every gift helps to ensure Grosse Pointe Theatre’s mission of engaging and enriching our community by continuing its tradition of theatrical excellence. Over 418 donors, sponsors and foundations have supported GPT in the past year with gifts of all denominations and encourages us to continue our mission. (Click to view our Annual report and Annie community thank you)

The Schaap Center
Grosse Pointe Theatre is excited for the opportunity to partner with The Schaap Center. We look forward to signing the Letter of Intent immediately following approval by the Grosse Pointe Park Planning Commission. We have received a Memorandum of Understanding from the URIF solidifying our role as an anchor tenant for a minimum of 22 weeks, which will include both performances and weeks for technical rehearsals. The Schaap Center will allow GPT to optimize the calendar and expand our performance schedule, possibly establishing a holiday show tradition for the community. The recent success of numerous shows based on robust ticket sales have made it clear we can handle extended performances once we are no longer hampered by the school schedules.

As an anchor tenant, Grosse Pointe Theatre is highly engaged in the fundraising both with our members and patrons. We hope to reactivate our fundraising energy after Planning Commission approval. GPT is targeting to raise two million dollars of which one million has already been received in pledges. But once we reach that goal we will continue to actively help with fundraising until we reach the finish line, when full funds for the project have been secured. Based on community response, we are optimistic about our fundraising capabilities.

The Schaap Center offers a new level of excellence for Grosse Pointe Theatre. Our members and production teams are thrilled about the enhanced artistic and technical milestones we will be able to reach with a space that includes: fly space, hydraulic pit lift, LED wall, advanced lighting capabilities and perfect acoustics.

Please visit our information page to access the noted documents about to find out more about Grosse Pointe Theatre. If you have any questions, please email GPT President Danielle Caralis at [email protected] or Executive Director Linda Zublick at [email protected].

Grosse Pointe Theatre is excited to be a program partner and is committed to Making a Difference.

Our theatre. Our community. Our future.