SPRINGVALE — The old theater was empty Monday. A piano was covered with a dropcloth, props were perched willy-nilly in the reception area and the stage was in darkness.
But Sanford Maine Stage company is hoping they’ll be able to tread the boards as usual in this theater perched on Hilltop Lane in Springvale come June.
Right now, a matter of money stands in their way.
The theater building, owned for the past decade or so by John and Mary Pitcher, was sold earlier this year. Sanford Maine Stage Company Director and Company Manager Mary Stair said the new owner, Bill Plante, whose home is adjacent to the theater, has said expenses associated with the mortgage and upgrades he plans to make to the property means he’s seeking a heftier rent than the prior owners.
Instead of $3,000 for the season, the new lease is $6,000, said Stair.
“We can’t afford it, but we want to come back,” said Stair. She and others long-involved with the company hope the community will step in to help.
“We know times are hard, everyone has economic problems, businesses too,” said Stair, “but we’re hoping the town will stand behind us.”
To that end, the theater company has appealed to the community for help. People can pledge their support in large ways and small. The company offers a number of sponsorships that include advertising in theater programs, invitations to a Sponsors Night and blocks of tickets from $75 to $1,000, but all donations are welcome, she said.
“Any kind of donation, of $1 to $5 or more helps,” said Stair. “It adds up.”
In order to open in June, the theater company hopes to have cash in hand by May 1.
Plante said he has to raise the rent to make improvements, as the building has had little attention in recent years, and to pay the mortgage. He has already cleared the land around the theater building of years of scrub trees and brush, plans to paint the metal roof and the exterior of the structure and loam and seed the green spaces. Plante said he wants the building to look inviting for those who come to see performances here.
“It takes money and time to enhance it,” said Plante of the building. “We want people to come up here and say, ”˜Holy smokes.’”
The building was once the old Nasson College social hall. Its “roots” go back to World War II, when the Navy installed a concrete slab there as a helicopter landing pad. After the war, the college built the social hall on the slab.
The community theater company called Sanford Maine Stage evolved from other community theater entities called Hilltop Players and Pine Tree Players. Those earlier companies followed a professional theater company also called Sanford Maine Stage. The community theater, a non-profit entity, runs productions from June through December. All together, audiences have been attending productions here for 36 years.
Past performances have included musicals like “Hair,” “The Music Man,” “Carousel,” “Oklahoma,” and farces like “No Sex Please,” “We’re British” and “Love, Sex and the IRS.” During the holiday season, “A Christmas Carol” is a popular production.
Sanford Maine Stage Company sublet the theater building for the 2008 and 2009 seasons to another theater group.
“We wanted to take a breather,” said Stair, but they’re now ready to return. And throughout their long run in Springvale, and today, the company continues to perform their popular murder mysteries in a variety of locations. Many are fundraisers for entities like the upcoming May show for the Massabesic High School Odyssey of the Mind. In the past, the company has donated to a number of local entities, from food pantries and shelters to literacy organizations and agencies like the Red Cross.
Some folks have suggested the theater company use Nasson Little Theater, and Stair said the company has performed there and may do so again in the future.
“We have a good relationship, but we want to come back to our own theater,” she said.
Stair and other members of the board of directors hope the community will rally behind the company.
“We recognize that the economy is precarious now and that many people are just hanging on, but we hope that people will get behind their local theater with continued support ”¦,” they wrote in a letter to local businesses and individuals.
More information can be found on the company’s Web site at www.sanfordmainestage.com.
— Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 324-4444 or twells@journaltribune.com.
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