As the Upstate’s oldest and largest locally-producing, professional theatre, Greenville Theatre strives to cultivate, inspire, entertain, and educate our community through theatrical experiences of the highest caliber. The Beginning
The year is 1926. Seventy-five devoted men and women worked together to “develop the art, culture, and drama which for so long has lain dormant among Greenville folks.” These 75 artistic minded citizens enlisted the help of Columbia’s Town Theatre, which had started just 7 years earlier. A crowd gathered at the Greenville Library on Main Street to hear representatives from Columbia describe the process they went through in creating Town Theatre. Just a few months later, the "Greenville Artists Guild" presented its first performances in the Ramsey Fine Arts Auditorium on the campus of the Greenville Woman's College.
Two years later the theatre group renamed itself "Community Little Theatre" and later, "Greenville Little Theatre." They presented one to four plays annually for the next several years, rehearsing in either the Poinsett Hotel or the Christ Church Parish House. They performed in any local auditorium boasting a stage, such as Greenville High School and the Carolina Movie Theatre, but most frequently on the stage of the Woman's College.
After WWII, the Greenville Little Theatre reorganized with renewed vigor and began presenting plays in the Greenville High School Auditorium, where Robert McLane, head of Speech, Art, and Drama, directed several plays. In 1946, Mr. McLane directed the family drama, I Remember Mama, featuring a young high school student. A local critic at the time said, "I don't know what Joanne Woodward's artitstic ambitions are, but she is a born actress."
With steadily increasing attendance, scheduling at the high school became difficult. The perfect solution came with the purchase of an Air Force Glider Base movie thetare on Lowndes Hill Road, vacant since the end of the war. Greenville responded generously, raising $25,000 for renovations, as well as volunteering countless hours to refurbish the facility. In 1948, Mr. McLane was persuaded to give up his high school job and become the full-time director of the theatre, and on March 8, 1948, the doors swung wide as 450 audience members entered the theatre's new home.
The theatre flourished over the next two decades, gaining a national reputation. Talented local performers were joined by New York professionals, such as John Randolph, Murray Matheson, George Matthews, Renato Cibelli, Gene Hollmann, and Mary Ann Cannon. Productions such as Life With Father, South Pacific, You Can’t Take It With You, The Barretts of Wimpole Street, The King and I, and The Miracle Worker helped establish the theatre’s reputation for excellence.
Home on Heritage Green
After 15 years, it became clear that GLT had outgrown the makeshift facility on Lowndes Hill Road, so the Board of Directors purchased land in downtown Greenville to build a new theatre. The perfect site proved to be the very spot where the theatre had begun back in 1926. The Greenville Woman’s College merged with Furman University in 1955 and moved to its current site north of town. The old downtown campus fell into disrepair, and city leaders envisioned a cultural campus taking the place of the old college. On April 11, 1967, GLT staged a spectacular opening of the Lerner & Lowe musical Camelot in its new, state-of-the-art theatre. Heritage Green took shape when the Public Library moved in the next year, and the County Museum of Art followed in 1972.
Over the next 10 years the theatre’s reputation grew with stellar productions of shows such as Hello Dolly, The Odd Couple, Man of La Mancha, and Showboat. The theatre was even chosen to showcase two professional world premiere productions: Will Rogers USA starring James Whitmore and Eleanor starring Eileen Heckart.
Before retiring, Bob McLane convinced his former student, now Academy Award-winning actress, Joanne Woodward to return to GLT and play Amanda Wingfield in The Glass Menagerie. The production became a huge hit for the theatre and proved integral in retiring the debt on the nine year old building.
In 1976, J. Lake Williams became the new Artistic Director and took the theatre to unprecedented heights with productions including Gypsy, Same Time – Next Year, Peter Pan, Grease and A Chorus Line. By 1983, the theatre had grown to 9,000 subscribers as it presented the first regional production of the recent Broadway sensation Annie. Mr. Williams hired the canine actor who portrayed Sandy in the original Broadway production. Sandy disembarked at the Greenville-Spartanburg Airport to a red carpet welcome, and the play was presented for 20 sold-out performances.
Greenvillle Theatre In The Present
After the tragic death of Mr. Williams, the theatre struggled for six years with no long term goals and several interim directors. In 1993, the Board of Directors hired Allen and Suzanne McCalla to lead the theatre back to prominence. The McCallas brought considerable professional experience having performed and directed across the country at some of America’s most prestigious theatres. The McCallas immediately brought professional quality back to GLT and reaffirmed the theatre’s mission by showcasing talented local performers in hits such as Beehive, Fiddler on the Roof, A Flea In Her Ear, The Foreigner, My Fair Lady, The Little Foxes, Into the Woods, Lend Me a Tenor, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, To Kill a Mockingbird, Noises Off, and Les Miserables.
Since 1993, attendance has grown from 24,000 to more than 74,000 annual patrons, and a name modification to Greenville Theatre was made in 2019 better reflecting the size and influence of the Theatre. Significant capital improvements have been made to the lobby, the sound system, the exterior of the building, the fly system, and the lighting infrastructure. GT now produces 6 full-length main stage productions as well as 3 concert shows, at least 1 studio production and 2 hour-long plays for young audiences. GT On Tour brings the magic of live theatre to elementary students, touring to schools throughout the Upstate.
Celebrating 94 years, the Greenville Theatre has a history to be proud of and a future in which the possibilities are endless.
Have you worked with Greenville Theatre?
Sign Up and then add your credits to include yourself on the alumni list.
Update Your Credits to add yourself to the alumni list.
Update Your Credits to add yourself to the alumni list.
