Shawnee Theatre
I spent what seems like almost all my free time in high school in this place. I actually hung that sign which covered over the more "rustic" old wooden sign. I think that was the summer of '95?
Glad that they're still going strong. Shawnee is such a weird yet awesome asset in a town of 2,500. Bloomfield is hardly a complete cultural wasteland, but summer stock ˈthē-ˌā-tər in Bloomfield? Who would've thunk?
John Belushi was here for the summer season in 1967, straight out of high school.
The popular story around town is that Belushi took his first toke in Bloomfield, "it was the beginning of the end," we always joked. "He was pretty square until he spent a summer in the sticks." After his time served in Greene County, he was off to other things, and then Second City in Chicago, and then that late night show he did in New York, but "if we hadn't introduced him to the marijuana in the first place, he might still be with us today..."
1 comment:
Nice to see some word from the other side of the country about our humble theatre.
Things are still going strong. I've heard the same legends regarding Belushi. Rumor has it he tried a lot of things while he was at Shawnee. It also says that he was deciding between acting and a football scholarship when he did his summer stint with this little theatre in Indiana. The staff didn't have enough money to cover Mr. Belushi, so his high school football coach "Sponsored" him by giving him $50 a week to live off of. After that he had caught the 'bug' and the rest, as they say, is history.
Thanks for the mention!
Matthew Graber
Producing Artistic Director
Shawnee Summer Theatre
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