Waukegan's Bowen Park Theatre Company to close after this season
The curtain will go down on the Bowen Park Theatre Company after its spring performances, but many in the Waukegan
arts community are already mourning the loss of a professional
production company that has staged comedies and dramas for nearly three
decades.
Smaller audiences and reduced state funding are among the issues that led to the decision, according to artistic director Jason Clark and Claudia Freeman, superintendent of cultural arts at the Waukegan Park District.
"I feel like Clockwise (Theatre) is losing a big brother," said Gurnee resident Madelyn Sergel, playwright and past artistic director of Clockwise Theatre, which opened about six years ago in Waukegan.
The Bowen Park Theatre Company "has fought the constant battle for audiences, actors, media and dollars to bring vibrant art to our neck of the woods," Sergel said.
Bowen Park Theatre Company's last performance will be the final showing of "On The Verge," according to Clark.
The park district oversees the theatre and other activities at the Jack Benny Center for the Arts including the Waukegan Symphony Orchestra and Waukegan Concert Chorus, which perform at various venues in the region, plus arts and music classes and other cultural activities. All of those activities will continue, Freeman said.
Freeman said both she and Clark are "heartbroken" about closing the theatre's doors, but that it's time to move on.
"This is a choice Claudia and I made to step back, to re-evaluate the future of Bowen Park Theatre," said Clark, adding that local theatre supporters have expressed disappointment about the decision.
"Claudia and I had talked about this for a while," he said. "We've been having fewer and fewer people audition and there's been a slow decline of the audience over time."
Clark said he wants supporters to know "it was our decision, not the park district's decision to close." He added it hasn't helped that funding for the theatre from the Illinois Arts Council has declined to about one-tenth of what it once was.
Clark, a Waukegan resident, actor and set designer for various local theater companies, will be acting as Long John Silver in the Devonshire Playhouse production of "Treasure Island," beginning Feb. 13 in Skokie. The role, he said, will help "lighten the sting a little" from closing Bowen Park Theatre.
It's also still possible the theatre may return to produce one production a year or in some other capacity, Clark said.
"We may do one show next year. We still hope to produce a show in the future," he said. "We are hoping this is not our swan song."But there is no plan to create another season of performances, he said.
As little as a decade ago, Clark said, "We'd add seats for our productions. We needed to because we sold out."
The theatre seats up to about 100 people, Freeman said. For a recent production of "A Few Good Men," the theatre averaged about 54 tickets sold for each showing. At another production before that, the theatre sold an average of 12 seats, she said.
Freeman said closing the theatre is a sign of the times.
"Things have changed. The numbers have gone down for performance arts (venues) in the metropolitan areas as well," she said, pointing out the December closing of Redmoon Theater of Chicago after about 25 years. Apple Tree Theatre of Highland Park closed in 2009 after 26 years of productions.
Freeman said the lighting and sound system will be maintained in the Bowen Park Theatre's space, and that it likely will continue to be rented out to other theater companies or for meetings.
"It's good space," she said.
The roughly $20,000 annual budget used for the theatre can be put to good use, she said, adding that cultural arts is alive and well at the park district.
Lynn Schornick and Ken Smouse founded Bowen Park Theatre Company and the Bowen Park Opera Company in 1987.
In 2003, the Waukegan Park District and the Jack Benny Center for the Arts renamed the Goodfellow Hall Theatre, the Dr. Lynn Schornick Theatre, where Bowen Park Theatre holds its productions.
The Jack Benny Center, located in Bowen Park, is the cultural arts division of the Waukegan Park District.
The opera company closed in 2010, said Freeman, "because we were not filling seats."
Sergel said she has seen Bowen Park Theatre's recent play, "Agnes of God," which continues through this weekend.
"It's a superb production, beautifully directed, with all three actors doing wonderful work," Sergel said.
She added that Bowen Park Theatre has been a "kind and generous friend to Clockwise, always there with a loaned prop, coming to shows, and cheering Waukegan on.
"Jason Clark could have gone other places, set up his professional tent in Chicago or L.A., but he chose to stay in Waukegan, offering up his numerous talents as director, actor and designer to his hometown," she said. "He also quietly provided opportunity to dozens of young people and was a constant advocate for designers, actors and playwrights. His work and the work of Bowen Park Theatre Company will be sorely missed."
Sheryl DeVore is a freelance reporter for the News-Sun.
Smaller audiences and reduced state funding are among the issues that led to the decision, according to artistic director Jason Clark and Claudia Freeman, superintendent of cultural arts at the Waukegan Park District.
"I feel like Clockwise (Theatre) is losing a big brother," said Gurnee resident Madelyn Sergel, playwright and past artistic director of Clockwise Theatre, which opened about six years ago in Waukegan.
The Bowen Park Theatre Company "has fought the constant battle for audiences, actors, media and dollars to bring vibrant art to our neck of the woods," Sergel said.
Bowen Park Theatre Company's last performance will be the final showing of "On The Verge," according to Clark.
The park district oversees the theatre and other activities at the Jack Benny Center for the Arts including the Waukegan Symphony Orchestra and Waukegan Concert Chorus, which perform at various venues in the region, plus arts and music classes and other cultural activities. All of those activities will continue, Freeman said.
Freeman said both she and Clark are "heartbroken" about closing the theatre's doors, but that it's time to move on.
"This is a choice Claudia and I made to step back, to re-evaluate the future of Bowen Park Theatre," said Clark, adding that local theatre supporters have expressed disappointment about the decision.
"Claudia and I had talked about this for a while," he said. "We've been having fewer and fewer people audition and there's been a slow decline of the audience over time."
Clark said he wants supporters to know "it was our decision, not the park district's decision to close." He added it hasn't helped that funding for the theatre from the Illinois Arts Council has declined to about one-tenth of what it once was.
Clark, a Waukegan resident, actor and set designer for various local theater companies, will be acting as Long John Silver in the Devonshire Playhouse production of "Treasure Island," beginning Feb. 13 in Skokie. The role, he said, will help "lighten the sting a little" from closing Bowen Park Theatre.
It's also still possible the theatre may return to produce one production a year or in some other capacity, Clark said.
"We may do one show next year. We still hope to produce a show in the future," he said. "We are hoping this is not our swan song."But there is no plan to create another season of performances, he said.
As little as a decade ago, Clark said, "We'd add seats for our productions. We needed to because we sold out."
The theatre seats up to about 100 people, Freeman said. For a recent production of "A Few Good Men," the theatre averaged about 54 tickets sold for each showing. At another production before that, the theatre sold an average of 12 seats, she said.
Freeman said closing the theatre is a sign of the times.
"Things have changed. The numbers have gone down for performance arts (venues) in the metropolitan areas as well," she said, pointing out the December closing of Redmoon Theater of Chicago after about 25 years. Apple Tree Theatre of Highland Park closed in 2009 after 26 years of productions.
Freeman said the lighting and sound system will be maintained in the Bowen Park Theatre's space, and that it likely will continue to be rented out to other theater companies or for meetings.
"It's good space," she said.
The roughly $20,000 annual budget used for the theatre can be put to good use, she said, adding that cultural arts is alive and well at the park district.
Lynn Schornick and Ken Smouse founded Bowen Park Theatre Company and the Bowen Park Opera Company in 1987.
In 2003, the Waukegan Park District and the Jack Benny Center for the Arts renamed the Goodfellow Hall Theatre, the Dr. Lynn Schornick Theatre, where Bowen Park Theatre holds its productions.
The Jack Benny Center, located in Bowen Park, is the cultural arts division of the Waukegan Park District.
The opera company closed in 2010, said Freeman, "because we were not filling seats."
Sergel said she has seen Bowen Park Theatre's recent play, "Agnes of God," which continues through this weekend.
"It's a superb production, beautifully directed, with all three actors doing wonderful work," Sergel said.
She added that Bowen Park Theatre has been a "kind and generous friend to Clockwise, always there with a loaned prop, coming to shows, and cheering Waukegan on.
"Jason Clark could have gone other places, set up his professional tent in Chicago or L.A., but he chose to stay in Waukegan, offering up his numerous talents as director, actor and designer to his hometown," she said. "He also quietly provided opportunity to dozens of young people and was a constant advocate for designers, actors and playwrights. His work and the work of Bowen Park Theatre Company will be sorely missed."
Sheryl DeVore is a freelance reporter for the News-Sun.
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© 2016, Lake County News-Sun
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