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Danville Light Opera began in 1956,
making it the oldest musical theatre group in the
area. DLO presents three adult shows each season,
a
fall and a spring mainstage production and a winter
dinner-theatre production. DLO also presents a
youth musical every summer. DLO occasionally
produces special
programs that can be booked as entertainment
for parties and other special occasions by
individuals, groups, or businesses.
Board of
Directors | Directions
to Theaters | In
the News | History
| Past Presidents
| Support
& Sponsors
DLO
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
President:
Gary Lickfett
Vice-President: Angie Mansfield
Secretary: Sara Hunt
Treasurer: Tom Fricke
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Ron McDaniel
Bob McIntire
Todd Nardoni
Belinda
Smith
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Brad Smith
Kathleen Spain-Swiersz
Susie Willard
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DIRECTIONS
TO THEATERS
The fall and spring shows are usually
staged at the Danville High School Auditorium (map);
and the winter dinner show and summer youth musical
are normally presented at the Danville Area Community
College Theatre in Bremer Conference Center (map).
DLO Center Stage, a rehearsal space,
is located at the Village Mall (map)
in the east wing near the former J.C. Penny store.
DLO Upstage, a set construction/storage space, is
located at 121 1/2 N. Vermilion St.(map).
Please note that all mail must be
sent to our post office address: PO Box 264, Danville,
IL 61834-0264.
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DLO
IN THE NEWS
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HISTORY
OF DLO
Danville Light Opera: The First 50 Years
by Ron McDaniel
In the autumn of 1955, a small group
of citizens interested in both music and theatre met
at First Presbyterian Church. Its intention was
to establish an organization that would allow
individuals to display talents in drama, music, and
dance while broadening the appreciation of these arts
in the community. Shortly before Christmas of
that year, the framework was established, and on
February 27, 1956
, DANVILLE LIGHT OPERA COMPANY was incorporated as a
not-for-profit organization. The Articles of
Incorporation were signed by Myrtle Young, Richard
Telling, and Bill Dorn. The founding board of
directors consisted of Alan Oster, Euva Bracewell,
Rolland E. Craig, Arlene Howard, and O. D. Mann, Jr.,
along with Mrs. Young, Mr. Telling, and Mr. Dorn.
Plans were immediately underway for the first
production, The Merry Widow. Opening
night,
April 12, 1956
, brought a small but appreciative audience to the
gymnasium at
Schlarman
High School
to watch a cast of 29 bring Franz Lahar’s classic
operetta to life. No sooner did the curtain
close than arrangements began for the next two shows, No,
No, Nanette and A
Connecticut
Yankee. Early DLO shows truly were “light
operas,” or operettas.
At first, finances were so limited that board members
and other interested citizens lent the group money for
scripts and music. Luckily, the company and its
appeal to the community grew steadily.
In 1960, at the start of its sixth season, DLO moved
from the Schlarman gymnasium to the auditorium at
Danville High School
for its first staging of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s South
Pacific. There it remained for 10 years,
producing 20 shows. The seasons at DHS included
a few operettas, but audiences soon showed their
preference for popular Broadway musicals.
However, the expense of producing such shows was, and
still is, staggering. Facility rental fees,
royalties based on seating capacity, and costs of
building scenery for a huge stage drained financial
resources. Consequently, in the fall of 1970,
the stage fell dark.
But DLO was not inactive. It sponsored a
fund-raising dance. It solicited contributions
from local businesses. A special committee
searched for a more affordable site and finally
recommended
Danville's
Masonic
Temple
. The first production at that site was Hello,
Dolly!, which played to three nearly sold-out
houses in the spring of 1971. Audiences enjoyed
the arena-style staging with its stylized settings.
In May 1975, DLO honored a request from the Danville
Scottish Rite to join with it in co-producing the
musical 1776 as part of the nation’s
Bicentennial Celebration. DANVILLE LIGHT OPERA
provided technical assistance and publicity personnel,
and many of its members took part on stage.
Scheduling conflicts with Masonic groups for use of
the Temple
resulted in DLO’s moving to the Danville
Junior College
(now Danville
Area
Community College
) Theatre for the spring and fall of 1975. There
the organization coped with a facility in disrepair
and with major parking problems until it could return
to the Masonic
Temple
in the spring of 1976.
In 1979–80, DANVILLE LIGHT OPERA celebrated its
silver anniversary season with what remains one of its
most ambitious productions, West Side Story,
and with a reprise of The King and I. The
auditions, casts, crews, and audiences were the
largest and most enthusiastic in years.
For more than 25 years, DLO built and stored scenery
in unheated buildings, stored costumes at several
locations, and rehearsed wherever space was available.
In 1981 the organization was able to bring set
construction and storage, costume storage, and
rehearsals under one roof when it rented the gymnasium
of the former
St. Joseph
’s
Catholic
School
. The new facility was named DLO Backstage.
The summer of 1981 saw DANVILLE LIGHT OPERA produce
its first children’s musical. Funded in part
by the group’s first grant from the Illinois Arts
Council, The Wizard of Oz was staged at the
Danville
Civic
Center
with a cast of 90 children 6 to 14 years old.
The following year DLO presented Hans Christian
Andersen as a children’s musical in the theatre
at
Danville
Area
Community College
.
In 1982–83, DANVILLE LIGHT OPERA, for the first
time, expanded its season from two shows to three.
The middle show, Oh Coward!, staged in February
at the Danville
Civic
Center
, was presented cabaret-style, with wine and cheese
served at intermission.
In 1983, DLO purchased the former
St. Joseph
’s Catholic Church at
405 Sager Avenue
with the intention of turning it into a performance
site. However, it proved impossible for the
group to meet the myriad of building-code demands
imposed upon it. The Holy Family Catholic
Church, which held the title to the building,
graciously let DLO out of its contract. Were it
not for this action, the organization’s resources
would have been exhausted, and DLO would not exist
today.
At almost the same time that DANVILLE LIGHT OPERA’s
dreams of having its own theatre were dashed, the
space in the old St. Joseph
’s School building became unavailable. In
August 1985, the group leased the second floor at
121 North Vermilion Street
, which previously housed the
Danville
Beauty
School
. Appropriately renamed DLO Upstage, the
6,000-square-foot facility initially contained a 40 X
60 foot rehearsal hall and a smaller rehearsal room,
along with an office and space to build and store
scenery and to store costumes, props, and lighting
equipment.
In December 1984, with the help of a grant from the
Danville Area Arts Council, DLO undertook a special
project. In cooperation with Laura Lee
Fellowship House, it presented D. J. Byrd’s musical
production Genesis—The Creation Story, which
featured an African-American cast.
The 1986–87 season saw the organization stage its
first dinner-theatre production, Pretzels, at
the former Danville Ramada Inn. Since then,
sites have varied, but the winter show of every season
has been presented as dinner theatre.
In 1993, DANVILLE LIGHT OPERA joined with the Danville
Symphony Orchestra and Sunshine II Productions, Ltd.,
to produce a spectacular presentation of Man of La
Mancha at
Danville
High School
.
After an interval of 11 years, in the summer of 1993,
DLO resumed production of its children’s musicals
with Jack and the Giant. In keeping with
the organization’s plans to stage such a show every
other year, the next children’s show was presented
in 1995, followed by another in 1997. The shows
proved so successful, however, that since 1997, a
children’s musical has been staged every summer.
To reflect the age group involved more accurately, the
productions will be renamed “youth musicals” in
2005.
In the spring of 2003, DLO leased a new rehearsal
hall, named DLO Center Stage, in the strip mall behind
the Village
Mall
Shopping Center
. That fall, the rehearsal facility was moved
into the Village Mall itself and is now located in the
east wing next to the former JC Penney store.
DLO Upstage, in the downtown area, is currently used
primarily for construction and storage.
Over the years, being a group without a permanent
home, DLO has moved the sites of its shows many times.
To accommodate growing audiences, the organization
took two of its 2003–04 productions to the
auditorium at
Danville
High School
and will stage its fall and spring productions (South
Pacific and Annie Get Your Gun) there
during its fiftieth season. The winter dinner
theatre (The Fantasticks) will be produced at
the Danville Area Community College Theatre in
Bremer
Conference
Center
.
Throughout the years, DANVILLE LIGHT OPERA has been
admired for its inventiveness and versatility.
Old-fashioned operettas, modern Broadway musicals,
familiar shows, unfamiliar ones—DLO has done them
all, staging them in every conceivable way—on a
proscenium stage, in the round, cabaret-style, and as
dinner theatre. Truly, DANVILLE LIGHT OPERA has
brought quality and variety to the cultural
environment of our community.
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PAST
PRESIDENTS
| 1956
Russell Suycott (Gen. Mgr.) |
1982–83
Daniel J. Miller |
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1957
Jack Baldwin (Acting Gen. Mgr.) |
1983–84
Duane H. Prentice |
| 1958
Jack Baldwin (President) |
1984–85
Harold French |
| 1958–59
Roy Haakon Goranson |
1985–86
Daniel J. Miller |
| 1959–60
Frank Williams |
1986–87
Ruth Bryant |
| 1960–61
Robert Westwater |
1987–88
Ruth Bryant |
| 1961–62
Roy Haakon Goranson |
1988–89
Kathleen Spain |
| 1962–63
Harold French |
1989–90
Rebecca Majors Quetone |
| 1963–64
Frank Williams |
1990–91
Rebecca Majors Quetone |
| 1964–65
Barbara Bowles |
1991–92
Mary Lou Mauck |
| 1965–66
Richard G. Hall |
1992–93
Nancy Henderson |
| 1966–67
Dale Everts |
1993–94
Nancy Henderson |
| 1967–68
Tom Goder |
1994–95
Nancy Henderson |
| 1968–69
Ron McDaniel |
1995–96
Danita Morfey |
| 1969–70
Beverly Anders |
1996–97
Laurel Soderstrom |
| 1970–71
Harold French |
1997–98
Nancy Henderson |
| 1971–72
Harold French |
1998–99
Nancy Henderson |
| 1972–73
Louise McCollum |
1999–2000
Nancy Henderson |
| 1973–74
Louise McCollum |
2000–01
Amy Hegg |
| 1974–75
Louise McCollum |
2001–02
Amy Hegg |
| 1975–76
Jamie Briggs |
2002–03
Ann Soderstrom |
| 1976–77
Bill Lucas |
2003–04
Ann Soderstrom |
| 1977–78
Mary Lou Spain |
2004–05
Lon Henderson |
| 1978–79
Duane H. Prentice |
2005-06
Lon Henderson |
| 1979–80
John R. Orsulak |
2006–07
Lon Henderson |
| 1980–81
Pamela Shaw Heath |
2007-08
Gary Lickfett |
| 1981–82
Daniel J. Miller |
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SUPPORT
& SPONSORS
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DLO
is supported in part by grants from: |
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DLO’s
Official Media Sponsors: |
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