Adirondack Theatre Gives Peak Performances
Published Apr 15, 2006
Pendragon Theatre offers a mix of plays, including some on tough subjects.
Pendragon Theatre’s first show in Saranac Lake began humbly enough: When nobody showed up to audition for A Streetcar Named Desire, Artistic Director Susan Neal and her husband, Managing Director Bob Pettee, recruited passersby off the street.
Twenty-five years later, the professional repertory theater is an artistic force in the community that puts on well over 100 performances of at least six productions each year. In fact, Pendragon is the only professional, year-round theater company in the Adirondacks.
“We just started to grow,” Neal says. “People started to move from New York, Philadelphia and California to work with us. Our first production cost us about $100. Now our annual budget is $250,000.”
Pendragon’s ambitious schedule includes a mix of new plays and classics along with provocative productions that challenge its audience. The 2005 season included Angels in America: Millennium Approaches, an epic that tackles tough subjects such as AIDS, religion, politics, power, love and corruption.
Shows take place in a 132-seat theater and are presented in true repertory style, allowing the audience to see several different shows throughout the week.
The company also puts on shows for children, including classic stories such as Wind in the Willows and Charlotte’s Web, which run during the summer and tour to local schools.
“The population grows substantially in the summer,” Neal says. “These shows are great, especially for people with children or grandchildren. They can come to the usually hour-long performance and still have plenty of time to go out and enjoy the rest of the day in the Adirondacks.”
Pendragon continues to move forward with support from a loyal following of residents and visitors along with corporate sponsors, private donors and funds from the New York State Council on the Arts.
“We have a huge return rate,” Neal says. “This community has embraced us.”
Story by Rebecca Denton
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