The Collegian

Issue date: 9/10/09 Section: Arts

Media Credit: William Clayton The Sauk features musicals and plays year-round. The theatre offers history and entertainment to the Hillsdale County community.

Media Credit: William Clayton

Media Credit: William Clayton Preparations are underway for "Dial M for Murder" at the Sauk Theatre in Jonesville. The Show opens Oct. 15.

Media Credit: William Clayton

Having recently finished their summer productions, "The Sound of Music" and "The Fantasticks," the local volunteer theater company Hillsdale Community Theater will wrap up its 2009 season with "Dial M for Murder," at the Sauk Theatre from Oct. 15 to 18, and 22 through 25.

The Sauk Theatre, at 240 E. Chicago Road in Jonesville, is a performance institution and a registered historic site. HCT organizes a yearly season of four plays and musicals at the venue. Generally, the shows require seven weeks of rehearsal before performance, junior and Hillsdale resident Nick Nestorak said. The cast and crew of the productions, from actors to directors and producers, are culled from community volunteers. Summer, their peak season, is usually stocked with crowd-pleasing musicals, but they perform plays too.

"We have nights when we perform to 20 people and nights with full houses," HCT President Mary Jean Dulmage said.

Many students, including Nestorak and junior Isaac Johnson, also a Hillsdale resident, have graced the theatre's stage. Music professor Eden Simmons has acted in and directed productions, and professors of religion and biology Don Westblade and Bob Miller, respectively, have played in the pit. Still, the Sauk Theatre remains a well-kept community secret.

"The grand majority [of participants] are from the Hillsdale community, but there are people from the college who have played often," Johnson said. "There are also a couple of frequent actors from Jackson, Coldwater and Ann Arbor."

Documents from the Hillsdale County Chamber of Commerce show the Sauk Theatre building was originally constructed in 1904 as a venue for traveling troupes. The building's purpose changed over the years, most notably when film grew in popularity in the late 1920s, and the theatre was largely abandoned.

HCT was originally organized in 1961 and held its first production,"Dirty Works at the Crossroads," that same year, using a set made of cardboard boxes and footlights made from painted tin cans. It moved into the Sauk Theatre in January 1972.

Peggy Young, a senior counselor and assistant director of financial aid at Hillsdale College, has been involved with the theatre for 11 years, mostly with behind-the-scenes work stage managing, producing, running crew and serving on the board of trustees.

"[HCT] does shows all year round, though usually musicals and bigger productions take place during the summer," she said, "but we have students and faculty involved all the time."

Nestorak played one of eight roles in "The Fantasticks" at the theatre this summer, his first role with HCT. He said that "Fantasticks" had a special significance to the Sauk Theatre because it was the first show performed in the building when HCT bought the building in the 1970s.

"It's funny because I've lived here for 19 years and never done a show with them before," he said.

HCT will also perform a series of "Old-Time Radio Plays," in reader's theatre style, on Sept. 25 and 26, and Oct. 2 and 3 at 7 p.m.
Students looking for information on how to be involved with the Sauk Theatre can check out their Facebook page or call the theatre at (517) 849-9100.

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