PENSACOLA LITTLE THEATRE HISTORY

Pensacola Little Theatre is 70 years "young" this season! Let's take a look back at the history and progress of PLT.

In 1926, before the present corporation came into being, a group of culturally minded citizens met in the fashionable elegance of the San Carlos Hotel and put together a Board of Managers to provide theatrical talent. The Opera House was gone, the new rococo Saenger was a professional house, there was no Fine Arts Auditorium at Pensacola Junior College, and no University of West Florida. Since people with a creative bent must find outlets for their talents lest they wither away, performers, technicians, even writers combined their efforts and for several years produced their shows at "the" high school.

After a short period of "dark years" - a theatre term meaning no current production - a new group was formed. It was 1936, and in the depression recovery, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) created numerous theatre companies across the land. In Pensacola, it was the Civic Drama Players, incorporated one year later as the Pensacola Little Theatre, Inc., in the State of Florida as a nonprofit organization.

PLT'S first performances were held in the old Chamber of Commerce auditorium, and rehearsals continued there until 1950, when the rear of the building collapsed. After that, while the Pensacola High School stage was still home for performances, rehearsal and storage space became a problem.

In 1949, the Board of Directors began discussions on the need for a home of its own. A fund drive was initiated, plans were drawn up, and by August of 1951, with a $20,000 loan to match funds on hand the Federal Government gave permission to build an auditorium. In January of 1952, the first production in the new theatre was ready.

Three years later, a $15,000 loan was procured for the purpose of additional construction to the original Quonset. New wings provided two new dressing rooms, a rehearsal hall and stage, costume and prop storage, rooms for paint and electical equipment, and a new shop.

Through the American Red Cross and the Recreation Department at the Naval Station, a certain number of seats were made available to patients at the Naval Hospital. Then, as now, many of the participants, backstage and on stage, were active duty personnel and their families. Through the fifties and early sixties, PLT continued to serve the community through the talent and unremitting efforts of a corp of dedicated volunteers.

During the early 1970s, the Quonset that had served so faithfully at PLT's home deteriorated to the point that the Fire Commissioners demanded installation of a sprinkler system and several other major improvements which would require a sizable capital outlay. Purchase of land and erecting a new building would also be prohibitively expensive. So the Board of Directors began to look at existing buildings. In 1977, the Quonset was sold and the old Florida Movie House at 186 North Palafox Street was renovated and reopened as Pensacola Little Theatre.

Pensacola Little Theatre still needed a permanent home. Through a commissioned study, the group found that 24 nonprofit arts organizations in the community had similar needs. Convincing the Escambia County Commissioners that a central location with space and facilities for existing and new arts groups was needed, PLT was deeded the Escambia County Court of Records Building and Jail. Built in 1911, the abandoned land mark was to be readapted to become the Pensacola Cultural Center.

With local contributions along with state, county and city matching funds, the Pensacola Cultural Center was renovated in three phases. Construction began with assistance of Carter Quina, an expert in historical renovations, serving as the architect and Greenhut Construction Company, as the contractor. Phases 1 and 2 saw completed renovations in April 1992.

Construction was completed on the Rehearsal Hall, dedicated to the memory of one of the key players in PLT'S acquisition of the Cultural Center, Mr. Lew Taylor. Additional rooms included the M. C. Blanchard Courtroom, Gallery, Boardroom, Atrium and Green Room.

In January 1996, Phase 3, the theater, was completed and the Pensacola Little Theatre finally had a glorious home to call its own. The state-of-the-art theater has 474 seats over three floors. Each seat has an unobstructed view of the theater. The theater now features at least 6 performances of 6 plays in the Mainstage Season. Local high schools also have opportunities to perform major productions in our Schools on Stage program. The theater is also rented out for various events. In 1999, a children's theater was established under PLT called the Treehouse Theatre which has a season of its own.

In an effort to expand PLT programming, the Courtroom serves as a studio theater for a third season of plays under the PLT umbrella called Chamber Theatre. Acting classes as well as all rehearsals are held in the Rehearsal Hall. As part of our outreach programming, PLT sponsors a traveling outreach program, POP Tour, and an acting program at the Pensacola Boys Base, a facility for at-risk youth.

It is important to recognize the thousands of volunteers who make up the Pensacola Little Theatre, but special recognition goes to the PLT Guild. With service to PLT for more than 20 years, the Guild members volunteer their time in the box office, stuffing programs, ushering, holding fundraiser's, and getting the word out about PLT. They were instrumental in initiating the plan to have a Green Room in the Cultural Center. With many fundraiser's and the assistance of local interior designers, the Green Room became a reality - beautifully decorated and serving as a highlight of the facility.

PLT has long been the area's leader in quality community theater. Volunteers from all walks of life have banded together across generations to bring Pensacola the very best PLT has to offer. Theater cannot die because it has the ageless appeal of magic. The stage is a magic mirror in which life is reflected in a manner closer to our heart's desire than reality.

Historical information from historian and former PLT Board Member, B.J. Miller