It was such a fun ride.

Gosh, it was a fun ride.

The people you meet, the things you do.

Part of something that happens and part of the beauty of the continuation of theater and the continuation of doing plays and the continuation of people coming to see those plays is that it affects people's lives.

We realized that the first production stage by the Shreveport Little Theater and the three ladies that founded it was titled The Maker of Dreams.

Oh, how appropriate for our centennial, for our theater.

So now assault is 100 years old, and I was a part of it.

I was just a little brick in that big wall.

I like to think it could be a part of something larger than myself.

And I think that's what the little theater does.

Buying tickets, sitting in the seat and seeing people, you know, in your community up there on stage performing.

And to be able to sit in a place and in a space and watch people's reactions and how they enjoy it, and to know that they are enjoying a space that I helped create.

We're just lucky to have this space and the opportunities it affords to all of us.

It's really one of the gems of the culture of Shreveport and I think it really plays.

And I'm very proud of a wonderful institution with great history, great people.

The joy of a theater is not only being able to perform on the stage and not just being able to go see a play, but it's how it helps you blossom as a person.

I think community theater and little theater at its worst is clicky can't be skipped like, and at its best it's revolutionary and I have found so many things that I've looked for for years here at the little theater.

I know nothing that I like better than being a part of a play.

And when those lights come up, it's a whole different world.

And I know that that's my world.

The story of the Shreveport Little Theater is one that resonates with theaters across America.

It's a century long relationship between a community and its theater.

It's a love affair because it is a maker of dreams for so many people through the ages.

For thousands of actors who have come through these doors and performed on the stage, as well as the artist who have painted our sets, and also our audience, they're out there watching us make our dreams.

They're creating dreams in their mind.

It's all about dreams.

Lately, I spend a great deal of time thinking about the past.

I reminisce about the plays I directed, the reaction of the audiences you see plays act as mirrors, reflecting every face of society and every phase of life.

Actors portray a rainbow of human emotions, and we recognize these feelings in ourselves, creating a sense of empathy for the characters.

A play can also be a window, providing an escape from our reality to play.

Gore is transported to another time and place they've never seen.

There were three of us Olivia, O.T.

Allan, a concert vocalist with a voice like an angel.

Opal Woodley.

Pardon me.

A well-connected lady with ambitious dreams, and me, Julia Elsner Rodgers, a drama teacher, actress and director.

We wanted to make a difference, change the world and give women a voice.

We wanted our own little theater, a place that would leave its mark in history.

This was our dream.

In the early 20th century, commercial road shows rolled through town and they were controlled by syndicates.

These syndicates dictated which shows would be shown in which cities and people of that time were very dissatisfied with the caliber of art that they were getting in the road shows, and that also they had been influenced by the European little theater movement.

The little theater movement made its way about the same time as the Harlem Renaissance 1917, 19, 18, 19, 19.

They wanted experimentation.

They wanted a freedom of expression.

America didn't have a theater identity, and so they were part of this national movement to establish American theater.

By that time, the first big strike in the Catto Parnell and Field had come in.

That was 1908.

And then there were several.

After that, the next major one was 1917, and there was a lot of money as a result of the oil boom.

It was very fashionable in the early 1900s to stage garden plays in the backyards of beautiful mansions.

Julia was one of the ones who staged many of these plays in the garden.

Her family lived on Margaret Place and she would hold these garden plays in her home and most of the time her friends came and a lot of times children were in the plays.

Also, Olivia and Opal were involved in these plays and they were extremely popular.

People could have fun, they had artistic freedom, and so they became a regular around Shreveport.

Little did we know that we were about to open a window that would launch the little theater movement in Shreveport, Louisiana.

We were making our dreams come true, but our story and Shreveport love.

The performing arts started many years before.

I think that community theater was a way for places like Shreveport that had a substantial population.

At that time, we were the second largest city in the state.

This was a venue that was ready to happen.

The arts are as much a reflection of what is going on as in a society, as the arts are a challenge to us to move forward.

It leads us into having to have conversations about social topics that might be difficult or challenging to discuss.

It leads us to have hard conversations.

The women in America led the charge for the little theater movement all across America.

They formed hundreds of women's clubs, and with these women clubs, they had power.

They were organized.

They were doing a lot of the literary and artistic pursuits for women.

They had just earned the right to vote.

But Southern ladies had figured out since colonial times they might not be able to own land, They might not be able to have their own bank accounts, but they control the purse strings.

And if a banker didn't want to do what a project was, they would just go get their husband or their brother or their best friend and say, Who would you be?

The front man on this?

That's how things got done.

You know, it made us believe that we could do things bold and innovative.

Certainly looking at the arts as a part of that into the 19th century, you have a long standing tradition of of people seeking artistic expressions.

Our dream took root in the spring of 1922.

Olivia hosted the loveliest Garden Theater party of the season.

Enchanted by the beauty of the setting and the intimacy of the play, our guests responded with robust enthusiasm, clapping, cheering and laughing.

Our little play was a welcome change from the colossal Broadway road show that rolled through town.

The three ladies that founded the Shreveport Little Theater were very brave women during the suffragettes times.

They felt their power and they wanted to bring art and performing arts to the Shreveport Bossier City, northwest Louisiana area.

During a meeting in November 1922 at a house just a block and a half away from the present day Playhouse location.

The ladies create the Shreveport Theater Guild on December 5th, 1922, in the City Hall Auditorium in Shreveport.

Their premiere performance opened and was enthusiastically received by a large and representative audience.

Two One act plays directed by Julia Rodgers, were presented.

One wonders what it must have been like in Julia's living room as the three women were discussing.

What play should we do?

They chose the Maker of Dreams, which is a fantasy play by elephant down.

At that moment I thought how appropriate our debut play was the maker of dreams.

Our dreams had come true.

So Julia, to her credit, was bringing in contemporary work.

When you have these groundbreaking type of production or a topic or something new and different, then it becomes very exciting and stimulates the audience.

The actors who participate would also get that kind of a feeling from the community as well.

This was the beginning of 100 years of great American theater in Shreveport.

They played in the city hall basement of the synagogue.

They also performed in the auditorium next door in the women's Department Club.

And finally, there came a time when the women realized that they needed some business support.

Once the men came into the picture to support them, the whole story changed.

All of a sudden, the men took credit as being the real founders of the little theater movement.

And this was sad in a way.

At that point, Julia disappeared from the scene.

At 25, Olivia died of appendicitis.

When she died, her father wrote this letter to the newspaper, carefully worded because he didn't want to insult anyone.

He was listing her accomplishments and one of her proudest accomplished moments was as a founder of the Shreveport Little Theater.

He was sure that it was an oversight and a mistake.

That's the original women founders weren't credited with starting the little theater instead of the men.

The guiding principles of the founders were responsible for assuring 100 years of continuity for the Shreveport Little Theater.

In the case of the Shreveport little theater, the original board had people that were very, very strong in industry, people that made vast fortunes.

Those same businessmen were determined to bring new talent in order to keep the attention of the patrons.

So they decided that they must hire a professional director.

Henry, a Huguenot was hired, the Grand Opera House was rented, and the play, the whole town's talking was presented to a sold out crowd.

In May of 1926, he announces a playwriting contest.

The rules were that the play needed to be original no longer than 45 minutes.

And also he wanted it to have a Louisiana theme.

Manuscripts came in from all over Louisiana.

The winner of that competition was a lady from Mendon, Louisiana, named Ada Jack Carver.

The play was put together and they decided to take it to New York City and enter it in the Belasco Theater Competition.

The New York Times reported that the judges had never had such a difficult time deciding who the winner was.

There was a tie for winner of first place in that competition and the Shreveport little theater on a second vote came in second to the Dallas Little Theater.

But we were very proud.

Now, keep in mind the Shreveport little theater was only four years old, but they took that long train ride up to New York City and came home champions and our communities.

This contest at the Belasco Theater was a very prestigious award.

It was publicized in all of the theater magazines.

And for Shreveport, it was a pivotal time in our history.

The Shreveport little theater became an integral and vital part of the artistic community of Shreveport.

It was time to establish a permanent home for the Shreveport Little Theater.

The financial success of the Cajun gave the board 20 $500 to begin construction at Margaret Place.

A key figure in making the dreams come true of a new theater.

Was board President Clyde R Minor.

My grandfather was the second president of the theater.

1925 to 1934.

Nine years.

He bought the land where the theater is now from a widow, Mrs. Rand.

And on the sale, it says, sold to Mr. Minor, a married man and then there's a little handwritten note here that says, Whose wife is Audrey?

Noelle Minor.

She wanted her name in there on the contract.

And then on this one where it was sold to the theater organization.

It was sold by C r minor husband of Audrey.

No, all minor.

So she had the official printed name on this one.

Say, I thought that was just pretty funny.

So they were fortunate to be able to build a theater of their own as early as they did.

The Shreveport Little Theater was the first independent performing arts organization to have its own venue, and that is still true today.

Net profits allowed Shreveport Little Theater to hire Arthur Maitland as the second full time director.

Arthur Maitland was a professional director and he had been trained by the Masters.

He ran a very tight ship.

So he told his cast the first day.

Ladies and gentlemen, I do not know under what conditions you have worked in the past, nor what have been the policies of your former directors.

While I am in charge, I do not want you to say a line or make a gesture, except as I shall tell you to say it or to make it.

If the play is a success, you shall have the credit.

If it is a failure, I will take the blame places for act one.

Arthur Maitland stayed for five years.

He was very successful as a director and his cast and crew learned to admire and respect him.

He was a master of his craft.

On March 14th, 1927, the building was finally completed.

Arthur Maitland had the privilege and the responsibility of opening the performance for the new theater on Margaret Place.

The Yellow Jacket was the very first production here at 812 Margaret Place.

It was a huge production.

It was had an Asian theme and a colorful costume, elaborate sets.

The whole community got behind this production and supported it, and it was a big deal for Shreveport.

The yellow jacket is one of the outstanding plays of modern theater.

It had a continuous stage life of 30 years.

What happened in Shreveport is a very good example for us to look at in understanding the whole era of the little theater movement.

People were infatuated with the lavish costumes, with the symbolism.

The Shreveport Times hailed the opening night performance at the new Theater as the social event of the year.

Arthur Maitland directed 36 plays for five highly successful seasons.

These box office success has helped to pay off most of the building debt until the 1929 Great Depression.

Community theater everywhere has survived pretty well as long as there is a community of patrons to support it.

It becomes something where you adapt or you die.

Other institutions that depend upon public funds of public money would have suffered a little bit during the Great Depression, although I would argue that Shreveport didn't suffer as much as other areas did because we had a booming oil and gas industry.

In 1931, the fourth director, H. Talbert Pierson, steps in bringing to the Shreveport little theater his amicable personality and his refined British culture.

Talbot had a series of notable plays.

Most noteworthy was Yellow Jack.

The Shreveport Little Theater was the first theater outside of Broadway to produce the play Yellow Jack memorialized the Yellow Fever Epidemic.

What was so special about that play and the reason that it became nationally known was that the cast was made up of medical doctors, physicians here from this area.

So naturally, it grew a large audience and a national magazine picked up on that story that doctors were performing in a play about the yellow fever epidemic.

Many women who were neither members of the board nor were they actresses, wanted to participate in the work of the theater.

To that end, in 1932, a woman's skill was formed.

The purpose of the Guild is to support the theater and the education of the arts in the community over and again.

The Guild proved to be indispensable, contributing in crucial times, such as helping pay off the mortgage and giving aid to the theater in ways too numerous to mention.

Our community is deeply grateful for the Shreveport Guild of the Little Theater, according to the history that I've read about Talbert Pearson.

He was successful until his last production, which he was asked to leave.

That play hinted toward a relationship between two men and of course, back in the 1930s that was not socially acceptable.

So Mr. Pearson moved on.

The board set out to find a fifth director who was suitable for the town's conservative community and arrived in Shreveport on the 3rd of May.

But the weather was so beautiful that I was able to unpack my white suit, which I'd packed in the snow.

That seemed really to impress the board that any Yankee who had dense enough to bring a white suit to the south on the 3rd of May was pretty smart.

When the Youngs came in, they had something that was already reasonably established and they were able to raise the bar with quality ity programing and direction.

And to think that the young started in 1936 when he was the fifth director of the Shreveport Little Theater.

He had seven productions and his budget was $50 per production, and that was the sets, costumes, everything imaginable.

You look at Genre Young's tenure here.

He was doing some fairly incredible plays during that period of time.

He was finding the plays that were current at the time that were not just slapstick comedies.

But he found some plays and there was some real meat.

The Youngs opened the 15th season with Ceiling Zero.

An aviation play, which was a smashing success.

Membership grows rapidly.

Barksdale Air Force Base is located just across the river in the city.

Many Barksdale Airmen served their time here at Shreveport Little Theater as well on stage.

One of those was a airman who was a disc jockey, part time at KGO Radio, and he was to become comedian George Carlin.

He was in two production cars in 1958, and it was his first time on stage.

And of course, he became quite famous.

The commanding officer stated their ongoing participation with the theater was the best connection between the base and the Citizens for Public Relations during World War Two.

Mr. Young took the plays once they had been staged here at Shreveport Little Theater.

They would pack up the set and move it to Barksdale to Hangar nine and perform it for the servicemen who were still stationed here.

I wound up doing eight shows for Genre and Mrs. Young.

It was a ride.

It was a lot of fun.

And I learned a lot about acting.

I learned a lot about getting along with people.

And he was very interesting guy.

The people he knew, the Indians he had first time where they had a sketch way ahead of the game.

Mrs. Young, I think kind of song from the beginning was just John for a guy has some talent.

She was about the only one in the room, including me, who believed me because I was really shy, skinny and scared.

So, you know, she believed I me she pushed John to put me in bigger roles.

And and he did.

And my first involvement at the Shreveport Little Theater was as a high school student.

John Ray Young would invite high school classes to dress rehearsals of some of his plays before the plays started.

Mr. Young would come out and stand in front of us and he would always say, Be sure to applaud the set when the curtain opens because his wife was a designer.

So we always had to dutifully applaud when the curtain opened.

While John Ray is the official director, the Youngs collaborate on all productions.

Margaret Mary is by his side every step of the way as the designer and the technical director, and she wore down here in the daytime a lot, getting these sets done.

And they were always wonderful sets.

Even even the reviewers would say, Oh, the sets are great.

But she was very talented in that area, and that was her training.

She was trained in New York to do that as a young person, and they could have directed professionally, she could have designed professionally, but they really believed in community theater.

And I believe their belief in community theater affected hundreds of people that sort of carried that on and influenced generations of people.

I remember John read Talisman Inherit the Wind was written by a friend of his, one of the two writers of the show.

And when it came off Broadway, the first community theater in the country to get it was Shreveport Little theater.

They had known so many people around the country, in theater and in the arts.

Helen Hayes and Orson Welles and John Gassner and Sam Wanamaker.

These people were giants.

They were interconnected to the fabric of what was going on in the United States at that time.

And there was energy and focus, the possibility of a national theater happening in the United States.

The Shreveport Little Theater's productions were of such high quality that they not only brought great satisfaction to the Shreveport audiences, but many actors, trained under the Young's directions, were prepared for promising careers.

John Ray was like the guy, you know, as far as community jitters go.

He had written four or five books on the community theater idea in America.

So John knew the people.

He knew the people on Broadway and knew the people in films.

Around 1938, a well-known Hollywood producer, David Selznick, was searching for his Scarlett O'Hara for Gone with the Wind during a rehearsal at the Shreveport Little Theater.

His casting director spotted Marcella Martin after multiple screen test in New York.

She was cast as Kathleen Calvert in Gone With the Wind.

The Young's not only trained and directed, but they frequently performed together.

Audiences were delighted to see the celebrated husband and wife in plays together.

The Young's carved for themselves a place among the masters of American community Theater in the late sixties, early seventies, after John Ray Young had been here.

That was the only time the productions began to lag behind.

And that could have been for a couple of reasons.

One might have been that it was just you stick with what you know.

And another might have been that after is over 50 years in theater, he was just tired.

The Youngs were wonderful, nationally known.

But by the early seventies, it was time for the theater to change.

The Young's work together longer than any husband and wife team in the history of American theater, presenting 288 productions.

They were ups and downs in their reign.

The young spent 37 years paving the way.

So it's a little theater.

Movements arrived in Shreveport.

John, where Young has been called the father of the little theater movement.

The Shreveport Little Theater is eternally grateful to the Youngs for their steadfast dedication to the artistic culture in our community.

Hello and welcome, everyone.

I'm John Dennison, Denison, friend of OPB.

And you're watching Shreveport, Little Theater Maker of Dreams.

Thank you so much for joining us for this celebration of 100 years of community theater in Shreveport, Louisiana.

And thank you to help for sharing your story with all of us.

We'll hear even more insight in just a moment when we're joined by two very special guests and my co-host, Robin Merrick, who are all in the OPB studios at this brief intermission.

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For $20 a month, receive the Shreveport Little Theater combo, including the hardcover book about the Shreveport little theater maker of dreams and 100 years of great American theater.

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And now let's say hi to Robin in the studio.

Thank you, John.

So glad to have you joining us via Skype and even is delighted to have joining us here in studio today, Dr. Robert Darrow, who serves as the managing and artistic manager of the Shreveport Little Theater, I should say, managing artistic director of the Shreveport Little Theater and Dr. Sherry Kerr joining us as well.

She's a former board member for the Shreveport Little Theater, as well as a former actress, our current actress for the Shreveport Little Theater.

So very glad to have you guys with us today.

This is exciting going on here in studio.

John, I know you're out there mixing it a little bit with us, but just want to get started.

This is a huge trip, 100 years of little theater in Shreveport.

I'm excited for it.

Being a Louisiana native, where did this the film come about?

Well, we wanted to document our history.

It's so rich and we had an opportunity being our centennial, and we had a wonderful filmmaker locally that helped us.

And we also had a lot out in our archives out at Northwest Louisiana, Archives the Dallas U.S. And so we had those sources to pull from and magic happened.

I love it.

Magic happens, John.

Magic happens.

I know you happens here to be a part of I know you're both proud to be a part of that legacy.

Tell us how each of you were first introduced to sell to.

Well, my first introduction was actually on a visit to Shreveport from Los Angeles.

I lived there for quite some time, and I came to Shreveport for a visit and bought tickets to the Shreveport little theater.

And I was watching a tune A Christmas, directed by Bobby Darrow.

It was wonderful.

And I'd seen a lot of theater in Los Angeles.

And honestly, I was so impressed with the Shreveport little theater and the quality of the performance.

So when I moved to Shreveport, I wanted to be involved and I was invited by Bobby to do that.

So I joined in Dallas.

And John, I started as a child actor.

I was about 11 years old when I did my first play at Shreveport Little Theater, and now they pay me to do it.

I've been there about 23 years as managing and artistic director.

And while you look right for, let's see, 23 plus 11, that's good math.

Well, you know what is.

Thank you both for the opportunity to have us look at this film and share it with everyone here in Louisiana.

Viewers have the chance for an exclusive opportunity for their own introduction to Shreveport little theater with a special credit card offer.

So for a pledge of $500 or more on a credit card, you will get a one night stay in Shreveport.

A pair of tickets to the Shreveport little theater production that you see on your screen right now and an LP weekender bag.

Plus all gifts from Tonight Show, including the wonderful book about the theater.

So you're going to love the Shreveport experience.

And you can help us tell more Louisiana stories by taking advantage of our corporate challenge.

Beau Harris Wealth management is challenging all viewers to donate during the program.

They will match dollar for dollar to the first 1500 dollars called in, so that makes your donation worth twice as much as LPI be enough.

Right.

Thank you Gifts Great credit card offer good corporate challenge.

We do it all for you here to help you, right, Robyn?

That's right.

We do it all right here at LP B and we want you to give us your call and your pledge of support.

It's eight, eight, eight, seven, six, nine, 5000 and here are the thank you gifts that you can receive when you give us that call in that pledge of support for $20 a month, receive the Shreveport Little Theater combo, including the hardcover book about the Shreveport little theater maker of dreams, 100 years of great American theater, plus the LBB Louisiana Production Fund Mug, and a DVD of this documentary for $15 a month.

Receive the book The Maker of Dreams by Shreveport Little Theater Managing and artistic director Robert Darrow, or for just $10 a month, receive the LBB Louisiana Production Fund Mug and a DVD of this documentary at every level.

Receive Visions LP B's Monthly Program Guide, a subscription to Louisiana Life Magazine and access to LP Passport ID, the streaming service for the best of PBS and LP.

Plus, we have a very special offer for a pledge of $500 or more on a credit card.

Receive a one night stay at Remington Suite Hotel and Spa in Shreveport.

A pair of tickets to My way, a tribute to the music of Frank Sinatra at Shreveport Little Theater and an LP weekender bag.

Plus all gifts from this program.

As always, great Thank you.

Gifts from Lvb.

And we're really delighted to have one of the best thank you gifts here.

And this is the book.

Bobby, I'm going to start calling you Bobby.

This is a book that we have we're delighted to offer.

This is the book about the 100 years of the Shreveport Little theater.

Tell us a bit about this book.

Well, we had hundreds of photographs floating around the theater, and individuals would bring me photographs from 80 years ago.

And we also had images out of the archives of Dallas us.

So I knew that our centennial year was coming and I wanted to create history.

We had this produced, Oh wow, back before I was born in 1938 and the ladies preserved those first 15 years of the theater for us.

Incredible.

So this was an inspiration.

And so we put together all that we had.

We have over 200 photographs in the book.

As you can tell, it's quite heavy.

It is quite a lift there.

It's quiet.

It's the highest quality and we only printed 300 of them.

So it's a so it's going to be a prized possession one day and this is going to certainly be a collector's item.

And I want to remind everyone you can get it here at LP B by giving us your call and your pledge of support.

My job.

That's right.

Cheryl, you were part of the historical reenactments and it was really nice and fascinating to me to see the three female founders.

That's right.

Getting their due.

I grew up near Shreveport and I wasn't aware of them.

Tell me about them.

Well, a lot of people were not aware of the founders in this story.

And as we delved into the history and found out the story behind the founders, we were fascinated and we knew their story had to be told.

They had just, you know, earned the right to vote.

They were very savvy.

They knew they were well aware of the little theater movement, and they wanted to test the waters in Shreveport to see how it was received.

So they had these garden parties in the gardens behind the mansions along Fairfield Avenue and Stoner Avenue.

So the way we did that basically, instead of opposing it as a as an enactment, I invited a lot of people to my home in my garden.

And we we had a play in the garden and the theater had costumes and people chose their own costume with some help.

And really it was just a very authentic feeling.

And a lot of fun.

And when we finished, everybody said, Can we do this next weekend?

Well, it brings a lot to the story.

In addition to the photographs, it brings some of the history to life.

And I think it was extremely well done.

And it was fun to watch.

I want to remind our viewers now, of course, we always want you to call in and pledge and become a member.

But don't forget that special credit card offered right now for $500 or more on a credit card.

You get a one night stay in Shreveport, a pair of tickets to the theater's production that you see on your screen now.

Plus, an Lvb weekender bag and all the gifts from tonight's show, including the book there that Robin has and also the corporate challenge.

Both Harris Wealth Management challenging viewers to donate during the program.

They'll match dollar for dollar for the first 1500 dollars and make your donation worth twice as much.

Fantastic.

Thank you, John.

All right.

Thanks, folks.

We'll be right back.

We're going back to the show, particularly beginning in the 1950s and onward is when you begin to see such rapid social change that Shreveport as a conservative pocket here in the Deep South would have tried to put the brakes on to that, making it all the more important that we have the arts to keep us honest about always looking forward and looking deeper and beyond.

When I first started out, it was predominantly white casts and plus it was we can't say any bad words.

We have to change, we have to change things.

And so we don't offend anybody because we're in the middle of the Bible belt.

We can't offend anybody.

I really don't mind offending people.

I really don't.

As artists, I think that's our job some time.

So right here in Shreveport, we witnessed the magic of community theater in our city, much as it happened in cities across America in the beginning of the little theater movement during the twenties, the public yearned for relevance theater, and the playhouses responded by introducing contemporary theater, bringing fresh ideas, opening eyes to different perspectives.

Half a century later, during the tumultuous seventies, the community is in influence.

The theater, when patrons demanded that theater reflect their pressing concerns, such as women's rights, civil rights, minority equality, environmental issues and the ongoing Vietnam War.

So we see the cycle of the symbiotic relationship between a community and its theater.

It continues to the benefit of both.

One wonders what might theater audiences mandate next?

The next show, after Mr. Young's retirement, was Toys in the Attic, and I was involved in that very first show.

I ran the soundboard right over there.

It was a controversial show for SL TI.

They did things I think one was Toys in the Attic was the first one, and it had miscegenation in it.

So, you know, that was kind of shocking for people.

This play specifically challenged Shreveport stance on racial issues by featuring an interracial couple, a white female character having an affair with a black chauffeur that was a little risque for the Shreveport little theater.

And on top of that, he cast Now, this is in the seventies, a mixed race couple, and they old guard of the Shreveport little theater were not very happy with that.

In fact, a lot of the members laughed.

So it brought the theater into a new era.

The theater moved forward with it.

You know, some people weren't happy, but other people were saying, yeah, they're things that the way they were at one time, they are not that way anymore.

But I also know that there is room for a lot of changes even now.

Back in the early seventies, Isabel Rosenblum established a community theater, children's theater.

Peter Pan Players, which was housed here at the Shreveport Little Theater, was the first theater to receive production rights on an animated Walt Disney film.

That means that Shreveport Little theater was the first to stage a Walt Disney production on stage.

And that's quite a big deal, considering that Broadway is full of Disney productions right now.

The Playhouse experienced several years of artistic cast managers and directors before Michael Scotti took the reins at the end of my first season to pick the plays for the following year.

We obviously worked very hard to bring something a little different to the table.

The musical that we decided to do was grease and grease was a fairly standard show and the community theater rotation at that time.

But in the early 1980s it was still a little bit of a racy show.

I would sit at the cafe door in the lobby, in the box office at night, and I got an equal mix of having my ear up by one patron that was unhappy with some of the lyrics and Grease and other people that were just thrilled with it and wanted to see more of the show.

I knew we were reaching an audience, but I also knew that we were alienating a base and sometimes those went over really well and I was for many times they did not.

And so it just depends on the quality of the shows and whether the audience was going to pick up on them and accept them.

We followed with several other plays that were a little more esoteric in nature, a little more challenging to what people perhaps were used to darker comedies and things of that nature.

When Mike Scotti produced The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, which I don't believe that we think of now as being particularly outrageous or cutting edge, it was a very controversial show at the time, this musical in which we have the word whorehouse, but it went on to shatter box office records.

At that time.

Little did we know that the production of Key Exchange would be the last production on the original stage of the Shreveport Little Theater.

I have the dubious honor, I suppose, of having said the last lines uttered on the Shreveport little theater stage before the fire.

And those memorable lines so cataclysmic.

The line was, We'll see.

Blackout.

That's a phone call I'll never forget.

I think it was about 11:00 at night at my home.

And I get a call and you kind of wake up and you kind of think it might be a prank or something.

You know, Shreveport Fire Department.

Are you president of theater?

Yes, you are.

Well, the little is burning.

And you say what?

Yes, the little is burning.

So I rushed up here and at that time, everything upstage of the proscenium was totally engulfed.

The firemen were fighting valiantly to save the auditorium and the lobby, and they did a very effective job of doing that.

The 1986 fire took out the dressing room area up to the proscenium.

It was one of the coldest nights I've ever spent in my life.

There was a lot of crying and a lot of lot of sad there.

And somehow we still produced shows.

There was no big break.

They reorganized and used other venues and there was a lot of hard decisions to be made.

And you know, you can always say hindsight, but we moved temporarily to that old movie theater on Line Avenue, and we did some really knock out theater down on our own, fair on line.

But the audiences were going away.

But once that lease was terminated, they were everywhere trying to find a place to be.

I guess in the history of the theater, those were some some hard times.

You know, you were keeping the Shreveport little theater running and active, but it wasn't in its home.

The theater became somewhat of a nomad group.

We call them the Gypsy years.

The board started talking about we're looking at the death of the theater, said to hell we are.

There's no place like home.

We needed our own facility.

Edwin decided to just do a design for a thrust stage and a black box.

So he drew a design.

Like Edwin was putting in a new thrust stage.

Yeah, that kind of a stage.

What do you call the thrust?

Thrust?

I'm not even a go.

You can't say that on camera.

The thrust stage, it zoomed out into the audience and there were 80 seats, I believe, as the count around that thrust stage.

I think coming back here, even for just the black box space, also was very, very popular and there was a lot of sentimental feeling.

The theater, Edwin was the one who brought us back.

It was during this time that Dr. Robert Darrow is hired as the managing and artistic director of the Shreveport Little Theater.

My first theatrical experience was in 1969.

The house lights went dark, the orchestra started and the curtain opened and I was hooked.

From that time on, I was in a show or backstage page.

I liked the repetition that community theater brings.

You work on a show for two months and then you're working with a whole new group of people on a whole new script and it's ever changing and you never get bored.

The first show I directed was Dearly departed.

It was a good old country comedy, but it brought people in and was a huge hit.

After that, I directed a series of Greater Tuna and those were huge hits.

So the board of directors thought they better keep this kid around.

He's bringing people in.

It's really because of Bobby Darrow that I am involved.

It's a little theater.

I immediately loved Bobby and his enthusiasm is completely contagious.

Bobby took this theater at a time when it was very vulnerable and and made it what it is today.

And so I've got to be here.

In the era of Bobby Darrow, I wanted the theater to reflect the community, to be a mirror of our community.

And that included African-Americans, people of all races and cultures and our lesbian and gay community.

I think the thing that I admire most about the little theater and especially now, is its inclusiveness seems to have gone really made many strides in that area, to be inclusive of all of ethnic groups in the city.

And so impactful because it has allowed me to express myself and not only doing that to show others, Hey, you can do this too.

For instance, when we did and I'm pretty sure that there were a lot of setbacks and maybe discomfort.

Yeah, probably for a lot of the patrons and a lot of the people that probably came to see the show.

So they just don't realize, I don't think maybe even realize how he opened the door for people to say, Wow, thanks a lot.

There have been productions generally, you know, that have included, you know, gays and AIDS.

And so it's been able to grow like that.

And I'm you know, I'm proud of Shreveport that they've been willing to do those kind of productions, because I know doing the light hearted musicals are much more lucrative for them.

And much more popular.

It was very interesting watching that because there were some people in the audience that you could tell were offended.

And in fact did not come back for the second act.

And it wasn't because it was a poor production, because it was a good production.

We're very fortunate to have Robert Alford in this community.

He staged that assault, the first all African-American cast.

But again, in 1997, that was the first play I directed here, Shreveport Little Theater, and it was the play Fences by August Wilson.

And it happened.

That was the first play with an all African-American cast and an American playwright.

Shreveport little theater, Oklahoma.

Black actors obviously on stage before and never one that was all black cast and a black director before.

So that was a landmark.

In 1997, we did it again 15 years later in 2012, and it was very exciting, you know, to be able to be here and to work on that play.

Theater is so enlightening and so educational, and sometimes people have no exposure to other lifestyles than their own.

So by presenting this, we can help people grow.

Dr. Darrow takes us into the next century.

When I took over the job as managing and artistic director, the theater had less than $3,000 in the bank and owed more to vendors.

In the summer of 2000, we we undertook the first steps of the transformation.

The resurrection, if you want to call it, of assault.

We stripped the auditorium.

We refinished the auditorium.

We spent a lot of time cleaning the brick on the inside because it still was covered with soot from the 86 fire.

And we had some issues with rotten wood and termites and other things that were falling apart in the middle of the show, of the run of the show.

One night we were performing until suddenly a swarm of termites flew out of a stage set and swarmed into the auditorium, causing everyone to scream and yell As good actors, we never broke character and just carried on with the show.

But I will never forget that swarm of termites that night.

We performed on that stage for several years, and then we built a stage house that connected to the original auditorium.

The interim solution that kind of became a semi-permanent solution was the the lean to in the back.

And there was not much room for wing space.

We had one room for a cast of about 30 it seemed like to be in.

And so much of the time when if you weren't on stage, you had to go outside, behind the theater, into the hall in the back and or rain or shine day or night when we were outside.

It was very primitive.

But, you know, it's one of those things where if you don't for your art, it suffers itself.

So it was amazing the productions we were able to stage in that small space, but we kept pitching our pennies and being frugal with our money and saved and saved until we were able to rebuild the backstage stage that had burned down in the mid-eighties.

We hired an architectural firm with Bobby's help, we located original blueprints.

We had saved our money, but we did not have enough.

And I approached our local state representative and Senator.

That was Roy Burrell and Lydia Jackson, and they helped me secure a state capital outlay funding to build the backstage and stage.

Everything was looking good.

A play was in production.

Who knew?

Who knew?

A tragedy of a strike began on that particular day.

I had two fire chiefs in my office reviewing.

Some plans for the for a proposed maintenance facility.

I was home in bed and received a call.

One of our actors worked nearby and saw the smoke billowing from her window.

The radios started going crazy and all kinds of chatter back and forth.

Then you could hear them.

I need more proper trucks, I need more ladder trucks.

I need, you know, everybody there that they could get there.

And then it came the radio.

Shreveport little theater.

I know the color drained out of my face and I said, Oh, my gosh.

So naturally, I raced up here and it was engulfed in flames.

They wouldn't let me get close to the building.

A group gathered across the street and we just watched our beloved theater burned down.

There were, I think, at least 50 people standing across the street that just came to be say, oh, no, you know, and what can we do?

There was a lot of sadness because a lot of history had just been lost with that.

The front part of the building of all the stuff that got burned up in that second fire.

I saw all that history and those two beautiful portraits.

I just it just broke my heart that they did not survive.

We opened another show at three weeks after the fire, and I want to say at another venue.

And so, you know, we just keep turning.

And I think it's made a tremendous difference with the community people.

Something to be proud of as well.

It still brings motions to think about those days, but it signaled a new beginning for the theater.

We had to get insurance money and rebuild the auditorium in tandem with the backstage.

So we had a brand new theater.

However, it's built on the exact same footprint as the original theater, and we tried to duplicate the ambiance and feeling of the Shreveport little theater when it was all over and done with.

We got a great theater.

State of the art, everything paid for.

We were in as good of financial shape as before.

There was a little controversy or argument whether we should build back here in this location and also whether we should try to replicate the old theater.

And luckily the old won out because there's so many memories and there's so much sentimentality over this location and people coming here as children and their parents and grandparents come in here that I think we made a good choice.

We rebuilt a state of the art theater for future generations, and we hope it'll be here another 100 years that I remember being so grateful about walking into the building after it was all finished and this had been changed and beautified, as had courtyard out here.

But once you went through those doors, it was exactly the same, the exact same warmth, the exact same.

A cut from all the the chandelier was duplicated, the one that was ruined.

This lobby got even nicer looking than it was before I went into the theater.

And the rake was so wonderful.

When you sit now in the theater, you've got such a nice break that as an audience member, you can see no matter where you are, it's something that's been here forever, you know, and people could always depend on the Shreveport little theater never closed our doors.

And that's why one of the fundraising product projects was named the Phenix Project, because we literally rose from the ashes twice.

Hello again.

I'm Joan Denison, longtime supporter of LAPD.

And thank you for joining us for this broadcast of Shreveport.

Little theater maker of Dreams.

What fortitude we're seeing from the Shreveport community who rallied to rebuild their theater not once, but twice due to fire.

And how happy we are to see the legacy of the theater continue.

Now.

We'll hear more from our special guests in just a moment.

But first, a reminder that LBB is here because member support enables us to present independent films such as this, such as this one original APB productions, and all your PBS favorites, like Great Performances and Masterpiece Mystery.

So support the programs you love by simply calling or texting.

Give to eight, eight, eight, seven, six, nine 5000 Going online at L.P broad org or scanning the QR code on your screen.

Let's take another look at the membership gifts that are associated with this program right now for $20 a month received the Shreveport Little Theater combo, including the hardcover book about the Shreveport little theater maker of dreams and 100 years of great American theater, plus the LPI Louisiana Production Fund mug, and a DVD of this documentary.

For $15 a month, receive the book The Maker of Dreams by Shreveport Little Theater Managing and artistic director Robert Darrow, or for just $10 a month receive the LBB Louisiana Production Fund mug and a DVD of this documentary at every level.

Receive Visions LP's Monthly Program Guide a subscription to Louisiana Life Magazine and access to LP Passport, the streaming service for the best of PBS and LP.

Plus we have a very special offer for a pledge of $500 or more on a credit card.

Receive a one night stay at Remington Suite Hotel and Spa in Shreveport.

A pair of tickets to my way, a tribute to the music of Frank Sinatra at Shreveport Little Theater and an LP weekender bag.

Plus all gifts from this program.

And now back to my studio, co-host Robin Merrick.

Thank you, John.

Thank you so much for that.

And thank you again for being with us.

We have joining us once again, just in case anyone has missed this, we have joining us, Dr. Robert Darrow, who serves as the managing and artistic director for the Shreveport Little Theater, and Dr. Sheri Sherry Kerr joining us once again as a former board member for the Shreveport Little Theater and actress.

So glad to have you guys with us.

You heard John mentioned just a moment ago about the fires that took place, the devastating fires at the Shreveport Little Theater and how the community and the Shreveport little theater community really rallied together to bring the theater back.

And you did one of these.

You came back three weeks after one of the fires and actually put on a production.

Tell us a little more about that.

We were already in rehearsal when the fire broke out, and so we continued.

We wanted to keep our legacy of nonstop producing theater.

And so we went to the local college and they let us use their stage.

And so we kept on producing.

That's right.

The theater continued.

No matter where you were physically, show must go.

The show must go on.

I love that.

Yes.

That's not just a cliche, folks.

That's real.

Yeah, that is very real in your case, for sure.

And, well, I am very happy to know that so many of the historical photographs are in the book for the viewers to enjoy.

And that, you know, I know how much was lost in those fires, but you guys seem to have found another treasure trove of pictures.

Yes.

Luckily, they were all out at the archives at LSU.

US.

Yeah.

So safe.

Yes.

They were in a safe place, able to be used for this for this book that we put together.

And the photographs go back, of course, to 1922 when the theater was founded.

So there's some rich history in the book.

Yeah, this book alone, I mean, between the book and the documentary itself, this is so rich in history for Shreveport and certainly something that we want our viewers to not only know about, but to be a part of.

So this is a time for you to get that get that go into us, go on our website, and certainly pledge your support and get these great thank you gifts and take advantage of the credit card offer for your $500 pledge or more on the credit card.

You'll get a one night stay in Shreveport, two tickets to the little theater production you see on your screen right now and an LP weekender bag.

Plus all the gifts from tonight's show, including the wonderful book about the theater.

You're going to love the Shreveport experience, you know, Louisiana, love sharing stories about our city and producing stories about Louisiana.

Our recent productions have included why Louisiana, eight Mississippi, or anyplace else, for that matter, and the Precipice LP B has established the Louisiana Production Fund, so your support now helps this fund grow, and that effect makes you a producer of what you see.

I help us tell more Louisiana stories by taking our corporate challenge.

Shreveport or Bo Harris is challenging our viewers to donate during this program and Bo will match dollar for dollar to the first 1500 dollars, making your donation worth twice as much.

Back to you guys in the studio.

Thank you, John.

Thank you.

So, Bobby, I'm going to say this again.

This is a really great community that's taking place here in the Shreveport little theater world.

And as such, you guys work close knit family.

Talk to us about that because we're seeing it in the film.

So it's really evident that you guys are very close.

Well, it was overwhelming after the last fire, the amount of people that came to our rescue, the other theater groups in town that supported us in our time of need.

So we do have a strong sense of community at the Shreveport Little theater sharing.

Yes.

Yeah.

You're a former board member.

Have you acted as well on the stage?

I have.

I have.

Yes.

I started my acting interest in London, actually.

So that's where I started.

But she's been on our stage and has shined.

Yes.

And do you concede I hear I hear modesty in her voice, but I hear the artistic director saying she is a treasure and we are so happy to have her back.

Yes, that's right.

And we're all very fortunate to have this great artistic resource in Shreveport.

Now, let's remember that special credit card offered for your pledge tonight.

If you pledge $500, $500 or more on a credit card, you'll get a one night stay in Shreveport and we'll send you to the historic Shreveport little theater where you can see the production that's on your screen right now.

Plus, get all the gifts from tonight's show.

Let's take a look at that great list of thank you.

Gifts for $20 a month received the Shreveport Little Theater combo, including the hardcover book about the Shreveport little theater maker of Dreams, 100 years of great American theater, plus the LBB, Louisiana Production Fund Mug, and a DVD of this documentary for $15 a month.

Receive the book The Maker of Dreams by Shreveport Little Theater Managing and Artistic director Robert Darrow.

Or for just $10 a month, receive the LBB Louisiana Production Fund mug and a DVD of this documentary at every level.

Receive Visions LP LP's Monthly Program Guide, a subscription to Louisiana Life Magazine and access to LP Passport, the streaming service for the best of PBS and LP.

Plus, we have a very special offer for a pledge of $500 or more on a credit card.

Receive a one night stay at Remington Suite Hotel and Spa in Shreveport.

A pair of tickets to My way, a tribute to the music of Frank Sinatra at Shreveport Little Theater and an LP Weekender bag.

Plus all from this program.

So Sherry and Bobby, I want you guys to tell us a bit about some of your favorite historical moments over these 100 years at SLC.

Well, it's certainly worth talking about, John, where Young and his wife, Mary Margaret, they wanted to be out of town that they loved and they loved Shreveport.

He was there for 37 years and was known nationally as Mister Community Theater.

That's right.

John Ray Young wrote more books than anyone has ever written on the community theater, and he and his wife produced 288 plays and they were in 50 of them.

His books are still used at some of the major universities on community theater.

Yeah, I'm Bobby your favorite moment.

It would have to be the first production I was in at the Shreveport Little Theater, and it was the very first staged production of a Disney film.

So that's quite an accomplishment.

And I'm proud to be the first theater to produce a Walt Disney staged production.

What was that?

That was Snow White, and I was Prince Charming, and I had hair before.

Of course, he wore.

That should have been a sight.

I would have enjoyed that for sure.

Folks, we're going to go back to the program.

Bobby and Sherry, thank you so much for that.

John.

We're going to go back to the program.

Shreveport, little theater maker of dreams.

In March of 2020, we were producing a children's show and COVID came into our lives.

The theater was forced to shut down and we started virtual productions.

We had to stay in touch with our audience and keep producing because we're one of America's oldest continually producing community theaters.

And we didn't want to lose that title.

We got it out there to our patrons.

Unfortunately, video is not live theater and it didn't go over well.

People did not watch our productions online.

So as soon as possible, we got back into the theater and we started producing.

The first show was actually at First Baptist Church because we were still social distancing with our mask on, and the large church provided a larger space to social distance.

The Shreveport Little Theater and Academy continue the tradition of training the next generation of actors, directors, set designers, technicians, board and guild members and patrons.

When we started talking about forming the academy and making sure that we gave proper training to students while allowing them to not only rehearse but be in shows and understand what the process of theater is like and what the expectations are.

Because we do not know where the next A-listers are going to come from.

We don't know who's going to win any kind of awards.

We want to present it to them and let them have that kind of experience.

So many life skills are taught through theater.

You know, you you you put on a production.

It involves everything, the technical aspects, math, all of that.

You know, many, many life skills are involved.

When a troupe or a community puts on a play, let's do a show.

We discovered good writers.

We've discovered a lot of fun actors and even some directors.

It's been a fantastic experience being part of that.

And then they had a casting call for Kinky Boots on Broadway and called me back and my mom and I went up to New York, and the day of the audition I actually found out that I booked the role and my mom and I lived up in New York for 20 months.

My first mainstage production was Sound of Music.

I was Gretl and I was like in kindergarten, I think maybe first grade.

And I was barely able to read, so I wasn't really able to read the script.

My mom had to read it to me, my affiliation.

I did one of my very first shows, To Kill a mockingbird, under the direction of Bobby Darrow, and I remember learning so much and it shoot me so much as an actor.

It stuck with me throughout my career and I mean still with me today and then having the guidance of Mary Juris, I feel just improved that even more.

Growing up in satellite, growing up in the academy, you do like take on this responsibility to like kind of move forward with it until like you get older.

And so hopefully I'll be a part of moving forward with SRT.

I get older, I'll be a part of carrying on the legacy while other people are gone.

I have been afforded the opportunity to work with everyone from little children to senior citizens and to watch how it's just changed.

I mean, we have kids now that started with us when they were 12 in the academy and they went throughout middle school and high school.

They graduated high school, they went to college and majored in theater.

They went and got their MFA in theater and they come back and do shows with us during the summer.

And it is it's just it's life changing in the fact that you see the passion that you instilled in these kids.

There's always a place in the theater, and I think that's what we sometimes forget about the other places at the theater, not just on the stage.

And we have been able we've been lucky to train some really fantastic tech students over the years who have gone on to are now working professionally.

If we do nothing else for you, if you hate getting on the stage, if you hate acting if you can't carry a tune in a bucket, I want you to appreciate what happens on the stage.

Off the stage.

I don't want you to appreciate what it takes to put on a show so that when you grow up and you have expendable income, you will come and support our little nonprofit theater wherever you are in the next hundred years.

I hope that we have directors and management of the theater that will push the limits, that will open people's minds through our productions, that will expand the possibilities of this community, that will make us a better community and more open to others.

And I hope that artist will continue to flourish here and go on to bigger and better things.

A community theater is an essential part for a vibrant, creative community that's growing and knowing together, learning together, and of course, live theater.

There's there's a rapport between the actors and the audience.

There's a lot of connection that you don't have, you know, and a cinema always with the thought of your audience in mind, does the season get constructed?

I think that the respect that's paid by the theater to the patrons is one of the reasons why the patrons continue to pay respect to the theater.

We have a fantastic audience base.

They have quite literally supported us for 100 years.

There's never a replacement for live theater, and what it means to me personally is that it opened my life up in a way that never dreamed.

I learned to leave my inhibitions at the door, and I like to film memories.

If I you know, if you wake up in the middle of the night and think, what shall I think about, say, pull up one of the happiest memories you can find.

And I can always find one in some play or something that was about to happen and how you're going to get it.

I have many special memories of the Shreveport Little theater.

I have many, many friends that I've met here, just to name one very important.

When I met my husband on the stage of the Shreveport Little theater or met him in The Sound of Music, the Bobby Darrow directed, and ultimately we got married on the stage of the Shree Portland Theater.

I feel like I'm going to cry when I say it as as he really gave me my start, I believe, because, man, a lot of us have really benefited from the beautiful little theater maker of dreams.

It's a it's a big a big title.

That was the very first play that was here.

And it was so appropriate to be a metaphor for the Shreveport Little theater.

It's that one that was three words Maker of Dreams could become the the the sort of the motto of the theater.

It sort of encompasses everything.

How do you make dreams?

First, you have to have one.

You have to have people around you that support them.

You have to be able to take risk.

You have to be an adventurous person.

The little theater is a place to do that.

The Shreveport Little Theater has been a hub for local performing artist for a hundred years now.

It's been a home for us to create our craft, our art.

What love, express our passion.

But it's also been a place to create our dreams, to let them come alive and to share those with our audience.

And so this place is a maker of dreams.

John Way, young used to tell the patrons when they came to the theater, The theater is yours and you are the theater.

The Shreveport little theater has survived and thrived and stands as an example.

A century long love affair of Shreveport and the arts.

Hello and welcome back one last time.

I'm John Denison, supporter and friend of OPB.

Help loves to share great Louisiana stories and this is certainly one of them.

We're delighted you could join us for Shreveport, Little theater maker of Dreams.

And if you want to help, help bring more stories like this to you, your membership makes it happen.

It's that simple.

Call us now at eight, eight, eight, seven, six, nine, 5000.

Text give to that same number.

Make your pledge online at LBB, talk or scan the QR code you see on your screen with your smartphone camera.

If you're already a help member, we thank you.

But we want you to consider making an additional one time contribution to take advantage of the offers have for you right now, including a member challenge, which means your donation will count twice as much to LBB, thanks to the generosity of both Harris Wealth Management at Shreveport.

We also have very special thank you gifts for you.

So let's take another look at those right now.

For $20 a month received the Shreveport Little Theater combo, including the hardcover book about the Shreveport little theater Maker of Dreams, 100 years of great American theater, plus the LBB Louisiana Production Fund Mug, and a DVD of this documentary for $15 a month.

Receive the book The Maker of Dreams by Shreveport Theater Managing and artistic director Robert Darrow.

Or for just $10 a month, receive the LBB Louisiana Production Fund Mug and a DVD of this documentary.

At every level, receive Visions LP B's Monthly Program Guide, a subscription to Louisiana Life Magazine and access to LPD Passport, The streaming service for the best of PBS and LP.

Plus, we have a very special offer for a pledge of $500 or more on a credit card.

Receive a one night stay at Remington Suite Hotel and Spa in Shreveport.

A pair of tickets to My way, a tribute to the music of Frank Sinatra at Shreveport Little Theater and an LP weekender bag.

Plus all gifts from this program.

And now let's go back to the studio, my co-host, Robin Merrick, and our special guests, Bobby Barrow and Sherry Kerr.

All right.

Thank you, John.

That's right, Bobby and Sherry and I are here and we're chatting it up about all things Shreveport little theater.

And it's been fascinating to watch this program with you and to even have you here to talk about some of the things that we're seeing on the screen, not to mention all the great things that are in the book, the coffee table book that's been put together.

You guys have done an amazing job with that.

But Sherry, I want to ask you, you know, there's been clearly a love affair between Shreveport and the arts for this theater to be in existence for as long as it's been in.

And I would have to think that the Shreveport community and the Shreveport natives and citizens of Shreveport are very proud of this film.

So what was your favorite part about producing this and doing this work?

Well, I would have to say whatever I was doing is my favorite part, but the most favorite thing was really listening to the stories and seeing some of these people who were in their seventies and eighties.

Their faces light up and reliving those moments on stage that they treasure and seeing their friends.

That was so special to to take that journey with them.

And we were lucky that a lot of them were still there in Shreveport.

Indeed.

And I've got to say, I've just got to tell you, the LPD is really proud to be able to tell a Louisiana story such as this.

That's one of the things that we pride ourselves on here in public broadcasting is to tell the Louisiana stories.

And so being able to share this with not just the Shreveport community, but now to have all of Louisiana see this story, how is that feeling for for you both?

We're very excited to get our story out there.

Yes.

Thank you.

Oh, yeah.

I'm excited to hear the origins and the garden parties and how this all got started.

I mean, new menu and just the entire little theater movement in and of itself, right, John?

That's right.

The companion book, which you have a copy of right there, Robin.

And we're talking about it tonight.

So one of our thank you gifts.

It has such a great historical archive with photographs from each decade.

It must have been just a labor of love to go through all those, try to figure out which ones you had to keep because you have so many you want to include.

Yes.

And everyone wanted to be included.

So.

So I'm on the naughty list for some of my actors.

We have hundreds of them and they have hundreds of stories.

And yeah, it's a great companion.

It's going to look well in on any coffee table.

And then the real key is you need to dig into it and just imagine yourself.

I could imagine, with some of those actors up on the stage.

Now, you viewers also have a chance for our exclusive opportunity for your own special introduction to Shreveport.

Little theater.

Log on in person.

Our credit card offer for $500 or more tonight on a credit card.

You got a one night stay in Shreveport.

We'll give you a pair of tickets to the little theaters production you see on your screen right now, an LP weekender bag.

And you'll get all of the goodies from tonight's show, including the wonderful book that you see there.

You will love the Shreveport experience.

Member support helps us in two ways.

It allows help to buy broadcast rights to air your favorite PBS programs, and it also allows our TV to produce original content like this and also present documentaries like this by independent filmmakers.

So there's your reason right there to continue as a member of OPB.

Bull Harris Wealth Management is our corporate challenger.

Tonight, he will donate the program up to 1500 dollars, your dollar for dollar.

So you call in up to 1500 dollars.

Bill Harris Wealth management will match that, and we thank him for his generous help with LAPD.

Robyn That's right, John And thank you so much, Bill Harris, for your support.

And of course this corporate challenge, dollar for dollar, matches what goes on in the contribution level.

But we want to talk a bit about another opportunity that's out there and that is the raffle that's going on right now.

And here's a little bit more about it.

So you can see how you can participate.

Power outages are a common threat in Louisiana.

Protect your family and support.

L.P. by entering to win a whole house.

Generac generator valued at over $13,000 from optimized generator.

People support friends of LP and you can help protect both of our futures before and after the storm.

Bobby The Academy is something that started under your direction that must be so rewarding.

Tell us a little about it.

Well, we began the academy in 2008 and it has since produced children that have grown up and gone on to Broadway directors, on Broadway actors and who are working professionally.

So we consider it a huge success.

And in fact, it's one of our biggest ticket sellers is our Academy shows.

Are our academy shows.

Yes.

It's great to know that Jobs and to add to that, it's just great to know that students give that opportunity to to gain these skills and share.

This is coming to you on that note that so many life skills are actually enhanced through the arts and through theater.

You know, we're so used to saying STEM as in science, technology, education and math, I'm sorry, science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

But we're changing that to steam now.

Science, technology, engineering, arts, arts and mathematics.

So tell us a bit about that.

Well, the arts are very, very important in education.

And if you think about it, an educator can use theater or drama as a context for learning almost everything.

If they put on a musical they have, they can learn their math that with budgeting and and building assets, they can learn language skills, history on and on.

It can really be contained in a theatrical context.

Almost everything you need to teach in the curriculum, every level.

And we love it as educators.

Of course, here at Public Broadcasting, we are Louisiana Education Television as well.

So that means a lot to us to be able to tell that story through the theater and through arts, right, John?

That's right.

Now, this is our last break.

So this is our last on air reminder about pledging.

And remember, special credit card offer of $500 or more.

We will send you to Shreveport for a one night stay.

You'll get two tickets to the little theater production that you see and an LP weekender bag, plus all of the gifts from tonight's show.

Let's take a one last look at those.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Gifts for $20 a month received the Shreveport Little Theater combo, including the hardcover book about the Shreveport little theater maker of Dreams, 100 years of great American theater, plus the LBB Louisiana Production Fund Mug, and a DVD of this documentary for $15 a month.

Receive the book The Maker of Dreams by Shreveport Little Theater Managing and artistic director Robert Darrow.

Or for just $10 a month receive the LPI be a Louisiana Production fund mug and a DVD of this documentary at every level.

Receive Visions LP's Monthly Program Guide, a subscription to Louisiana Life Magazine and Access to LP Passport, the streaming service for the best of PBS and LP.

Plus we have a very special offer for a pledge of $500 or more a credit card.

Receive a one night stay at Remington Suite Hotel and Spa in Shreveport.

A pair of tickets to My way, a tribute to the music of Frank Sinatra at Shreveport.

Little and an LP Weekender bag.

Plus all gifts from this program.

LBB, thanks to you, is celebrating its 48th year on the air.

So turn your viewership into membership and support what you love and tell you.

Robin I love this program and I love our guests today.

I appreciate you both coming in and joining us.

Absolutely, John.

We love this work.

We love LBB, We love the Shreveport Little Theater now that we know more about it.

And thank you so much for both being here with us today.

This has been amazing.

Any last final thoughts you want to share with our audience about the Shreveport Little theater case?

Yes.

Yes.

If you're ever up north, come and see us.

We're going to make a special trip.

Yes, we have some wonderful museums and theater and art galleries, so come see us.

Absolutely.

You heard it from the folks.

Come see us Shreveport Little Theater, and continue to watch us here on TV.

Going to go back to some really great programing right here on Louisiana Public Broadcasting.