Mountain Playhouse departs Jennerstown gristmill for upcoming season
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The good news for fans of Mountain Playhouse is that the two-year pandemic intermission will end with a new season starting May 25.
News that patrons may find disconcerting is that actors won’t tread the historic boards at the company’s longtime home in the converted gristmill theater in Jennerstown, Somerset County.
A shortened season of four productions will be staged at the Pasquerilla Performing Arts Center at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown.
During the pandemic, the nonprofit company’s board of directors negotiated with owners of the gristmill theater, the nearby Green Gables restaurant, to buy rather than lease the property.
“We were optimistic that an agreement could be reached with the owners, but things just didn’t work out,” said Patricia Carnevali, Mountain Playhouse executive director. “The board of directors has made the decision not to renew the lease.”
The board wanted to purchase the property, she said, “so that we would be able to make much-needed improvements and address long-deferred maintenance issues to enhance audience experience and improve backstage conditions.”
Green Gables proprietors Mary Louise Stoughton and Teresa Stoughton Marafino declined comment. Stoughton said they would proved a press release at a later time.
Mountain Playhouse was founded in 1939 by James Stoughton and operated over the years in conjunction with the family’s restaurant, Green Gables. It is Pennsylvania’s oldest professional stock theater and one of only 12 professional summer stock theaters remaining in the United States.
The restored and renovated gristmill dates to 1805.
In 1998, Mountain Playhouse became a nonprofit governed by a board of directors and, since that time, has leased the gristmill theater.
“It’s a beautiful spot and we will miss it, but we have to do what we’re charged with doing,” Carnevali said. “We can’t be dark for another year.”
Carnevali stressed that the move to Pitt-Greensburg is temporary. Mountain Playhouse is working with a development consultant to find a new, permanent home, ideally in Somerset County. Board members are seeking a venue that will allow year-round performances and expanded educational and community programs.
Comedies and musicals
The shortened season was necessary to fit into the performance center’s busy schedule, Carnevali said, but its larger stage and seating capacity provide new opportunities for Mountain Playhouse productions — including overhead fly space that will allow for a skydiving scene in one of the plays.
The schedule includes:
• “Always … Patsy Cline,” May 25-29 —The Ted Swindley musical is based on the true story of the legendary country singers’s friendship with a devoted fan. It includes hits such as “Crazy,” “I Fall to Pieces,” “Sweet Dreams” and “Walking After Midnight.” Popular with Mountain Playhouse patrons, it previously was staged in 2001, 2002, 2005 and 2010.
• “Popcorn Falls,” June 1-5 — The James Hindman comedy finds residents of a bankrupt small town scrambling to produce a play in one week to obtain grant money to keep them going — the problem is that they have neither a play nor a playhouse. Two actors portray the 20 townsfolk trying to rise to the challenge
• “Ripcord,” June 15-19 — David Lindsay-Abaire’s comedy is set in the Bristol Place Senior Living Facility, where the cantankerous Abby is forced to share quarters with a chipper new arrival, Marilyn. A seemingly harmless bet between the two escalates into a game of comic one-upsmanship, revealing the characters’ tenacity and deeper truths they’d rather keep hidden.
• “Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story,” June 22-26 — The Alan James musical features more than 20 of Holly’s greatest hits, including “That’ll Be the Day,” “Peggy Sue” and “Everyday,” plus Ritchie Valens’ “La Bamba” and the Big Bopper’s “Chantilly Lace,” performed live by the cast. The play ends with the 1959 plane crash that took the lives of all three.
Performances will be at 7 p.m. Wednesdays, 2 p.m. Thursdays, 2 and 8 p.m. Fridays, 8 p.m. Saturdays and 3 p.m. Sundays.
Tickets are $26-$41 for evening performances and $21-$38 for matinees. Student tickets are $11. A $2 service fee applies to all adult tickets.
For information and reservations, call 814-629-9220 or visit mountainplayhouse.org.