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ENGAGE

ENTERTAIN

TRANSFORM

EDUCATE

MISSION STATEMENT

Gretna Theatre’s mission is to grow community by producing and presenting live, professional theatre
that engages, transforms, entertains and educates.

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History

OUR HISTORY

One of south-central Pennsylvania’s few professional theatres, and one of the oldest summer theatres in America, Gretna Theatre is located in the arts/resort community of Mt. Gretna, PA where theatre has been produced at this same location since 1927!  The original Playhouse dates back to 1892 when it was built as the centerpiece of the newly-created Pennsylvania Chautauqua.
 


The Playhouse, known originally as the Chautauqua Auditorium, was designed by John Cilley, a civil engineer from Lebanon, and completed in July, 1892. With fewer events being held in the Auditorium, the Chautauqua Board of Managers contacted A. E. Scott, an actor and director from the Fulton Theatre in Lancaster, and suggested that Scott start a summer theater in Gretna.  In the spring of 1927, the necessary alterations were made to the Chautauqua Auditorium to provide stage and dressing rooms and the first season of theater at Mt. Gretna opened in mid-June. Over the years, The Playhouse survived many natural disasters, including several major hurricanes, but the winter of 1994 proved to be too much for the 102-year-old structure. On February 12, its roof buried under an estimated 150 tons of snow, collapsed.

 

By the summer of 1995, a new Playhouse was complete. Gretna Theatre, which produces the seasons of summer stock theatrical shows, is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization which rents the Mt. Gretna Playhouse for its productions and works in conjunction with the professional unions of Actors' Equity Association and Stage Directors and Choreographers. Many Broadway stars have performed at Gretna Theatre - including Bernadette Peters, Charlton Heston, Faith Prince, Laurie Beechman, and Sally Struthers.

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Staff & Board

OUR PEOPLE

Staff

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Michael Philip O'Brien

Producing Artistic Director

michael@gretnatheatre.org

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Megan Riggs

Managing Director

megan@gretnatheatre.org

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Lionella Darling

Development Associate

lionella@gretnatheatre.org

For questions regarding DEVELOPMENT, please contact lionella@gretnatheatre.org
For questions regarding ADVERTISING, please contact michael@gretnatheatre.org
For questions regarding CASTING, please contact casting@gretnatheatre.org

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BOARD OF DIRECTORS

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James G. Cassel, President

Chief Financial Officer, Sauder’s Eggs

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Bob Funk, Vice President

Past President, Arthur Funk & Sons Inc.

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Lois Brommer Duquette, Treasurer

Member, McNees Wallace & Nurick, LLC

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Marcia Ostfeld Shivoder, Secretary

IT Executive and Management Consultant

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Mark A. Bonsall, F.S.A.

Partner, Consulting Actuary - Conrad Siegel Actuaries

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David Bronstein, D.O.

Retired Physician - Bronstein & Jeffries

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Harold (Chic) Rhoades

Founder & Past President - Central Penn Transportation

 

Patrick Castagna

Retired President - Carlos R. Leffler, Inc.

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Wendie DiMatteo Holsinger

President & CEO - A.S.K. Foods, Inc.

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Brian Falck

Vice President of Institutional Advancement - Elizabethtown College

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Jerry Flury

Retired President - Flury Foundry Co.

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Sen. Christopher Gebhard

President & CEO - Hoaster Gebhard & Co.

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Douglass C. Henry

President & CEO - Henry Molded Products

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Frank Tomecek, Jr.

Broker - Re/Max Cornerstone and Penn Realty

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