Of culture, carousels and a cruise
Photo courtesy of COEUR d’ALENE SUMMER THEATRE Coeur d’Alene Summer Theatre performs “Singin’ in the Rain.”
“Mary Poppins” performance by Coeur d’Alene Summer Theatre.
“Big River” hits the Coeur d’Alene Summer Theatre stage.
From the Coeur d’Alene Summer Theatre archives, one of the company’s first musicals, “South Pacific.”
Photos courtesy of COEUR d’ALENE SUMMER THEATRE Carousel Players pose in front of the Playland Pier Carousel back in the early days of Coeur d’Alene Summer Theatre, now in its 50th year.
The cultural revolution of the 1960s gave us mini-skirts, the Beatles, “The Graduate,” and more. In North Idaho, it led to the creation of Coeur d’Alene Summer Theatre.
CST is marking its 50th year by celebrating its history, and on May 25 it will host a 50th Anniversary Lake Cruise.
The celebration cruise sails at 6 p.m. May 25 with boarding beginning at 5:30 p.m. at the Boardwalk Marina at The Coeur d’Alene Resort, 115 S. Second St. Tickets are $25 and can be purchased by visiting www.cdasummertheatre.com or calling (208) 660-2958.
Jadd Davis, CST’s artistic director, said the theater company’s 50th anniversary also marks 15 years since he made his debut with CST.
“A colleague of mine recently referred to CST as a ‘legacy theater,’ and I think that’s pretty appropriate and awesome,” Davis said. “We’ve been a legacy in my own life, in the community of Coeur d’Alene, and to the professional theater world in general for so long now. I’m proud and excited to continue bringing great theater to Coeur d’Alene for another 50 years.”
Now, back to that history.
Local theater artists partnered in 1967 with an overflow of actors from the Bigfork Summer Playhouse in Montana, and the Carousel Players of Coeur d’Alene Summer Theatre soon emerged as a leading source of culture and entertainment in the region.
The troupe fondly harkened to the Playland Pier carousel when it chose a name for itself, and many archival photos in the early years show the theater company posed in front of that community icon.
The first season opened with that namesake show: Carousel, followed by the now-classic standards “South Pacific” and “Stop the World, I Wanna Get Off.”
The company started out with performances at the little church on 14th and Garden, now housing the Lake City Playhouse. Coeur d’Alene Summer Theatre stayed in that location for the next 20 years, gathering talent from all over the region, entertaining audiences via classic musical theater productions. The actors were housed locally, and at times even stayed in the basement of the theater.
In 1990, the organization took stock and restructured, landing in Schuler Auditorium at North Idaho College. There the company stayed until 2013. Audiences expanded with the ever-increasing levels of talent and show-stopping selections. Talent came from around the nation, and the theater became a known amongst theater afficianados coast-to-coast.
The company restructured once again in 2014 due to the long-lasting fallout from the recession that affected so many nonprofits.
The new home for the organization is the Salvation Army Kroc Center Theater, where Coeur d’Alene Summer Theatre performs musicals, readings, and other events during the summer months.
The company has a lineup this year that includes “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang,” “South Pacific” and “Million Dollar Quartet.”