Bringing Theatre With An "Re" Back to Evergreen Park

Caption: Gloria John, who plays “Florence Unger” and Amy Pniewski as “Olive Madison” rehearse for the Evergreen Park Candlelight Theatre’s upcoming production of the female version of Neil Simon’s “The Odd Couple,” playing Oct. 10-12.

Move over Western Springs, Beverly and Oak Lawn -- there’s a new community theater player in the neighborhood that’s taking its place alongside your esteemed companies.

Evergreen Park Candlelight Theatre is bringing performing arts back to the suburb by offering an outlet for local talent all of ages and another live theater experience for audiences.

The name is a nod to the former dinner theaters that drew Hollywood’s biggest stars to the south suburbs, the old Drury Lane Martinique in Evergreen Park, and Summit’s Candlelight Dinner Theatre, credited for inventing the coupling of dinner with Rodgers and Hammerstein.

The theater group meets in the former Christian Reformed Church at 9547 S. Homan Ave., which has since been converted into a senior center. It was Glenn Pniewski, the village’s public information officer and avid community theater participant, who approached Mayor Jim Sexton in early 2013 about starting a similar community acting troupe as an offshoot of the village’s recreation program.

“The mayor told me the building was ready to go and I said, ‘aye, aye,’” Pniewski said.

Shows are staged in the former nave that seats 130, which has been converted into a multi-use room. According to Pniewski, the acoustics are fantastic.

“With other theater groups in the area, they can do big broadway productions like ‘South Pacific’ and ‘Young Frankenstein,’ they have the resources and the stage,” Pniewski said. “In the senior center it’s a smaller stage. You have to go into this knowing what you can do, and what we’re able to do we do very well.”

Audiences are treated to a more intimate theater experience, seated at banquet tables with white table cloths and twinkling battery-powered candles, hence the name “Candlelight Theatre.” (The village fire marshal won’t allow real candles.) Sunday matinees also include a catered-in dinner with the show.

“”Where else can you get dinner and a show for $22 in your own backyard,” Pniewski says. The theater opened in January with a sold-out, one-night performance of “The Big Broadcast,” a recreation of a 1940s radio show featuring skits, solo vocalists and the Evergreen Park High School jazz ensemble providing the Big Band back drop. The show was a huge hit and will be repeated in January 2015.

That success was followed up with the theater group’s first major, multi-run production, an original musical called “Comic Strips,” showcasing the talents of Evergreen Park adults and youth.

The burgeoning company is currently in rehearsals for the female version of Neil Simon’s “The Odd Couple,” opening for three performances Oct. 10-12. There are also plans to stage a holiday show incorporating more youth performers.

For now, Evergreen Park Candlelight Theatre is a work in progress. There will be fine tuning, such as adding online ticketing, changing up dinner service and adding more performing arts programs. Pniewski would like to offer comedy improv on Saturday nights, and classes for untested actors.

“Eventually we’ll get seasons planned a year in advance,” he said. “Right now we’re feeling things out and seeing what works best.”

Tickets for Evergreen Park Candlelight Theatre’s upcoming show, the female version of Neil Simon’s classic comedy “The Odd Couple,” go on sale Sept. 15. Adults are $12, seniors/students $10 and $5 for children. Performances are 8 p.m. Oct. 10; 7 p.m. Oct. 11; and 3 p.m. Oct. 12 ($22 for dinner and the show; seating at 1:30 p.m. Purchase tickets at the door or call the Reservation Hotline at 708-229-3343. Senior Center is located at 9547 S. Homan Ave. in Evergreen Park.