2012 You're A Good Man Charlie Brown

  • Linus and Blanket
    In this heart-warming musical based on Charles M. Schultz’s “Peanuts” comic strip, you will see Charlie Brown come to life with pals Lucy, Linus, Schroeder, Sally, and Snoopy as they face the challenges of life, kites, and ball games. This is just an average day in the life of Charlie Brown as he tries to win the heart of the Little Red-Haired girl. Will they finally come to terms with what Happiness is?

2010 The Fantasticks

  • TheFantasticks05
    The musical, with book and lyrics by Tom Jones and music by Harvey Schmidt, broke all records with a run of more than 41 years off-Broadway, between 1960 and 2002, and was revived almost immediately for Broadway. A timeless tale of young love, feuding families and the challenges of growing gardens and growing up, the show features a memorable score, from “Soon It’s Gonna Rain” to “Try to Remember.”

2009 Bang Bang You're Dead

  • Bangbang_12bw
    The tool of drama has the power to lance, heal, and cleanse the soul. BANG BANG YOU’RE DEAD might not be the answer to gun violence by teenagers in our schools. But this play may lead to a discussion, an insight, a revelation that may lead to an answer. There is a hope that our awakened senses or heightened consciousness might see the tragedy before it happens. It is a slim hope, but it is all we have at this time.

2009 Arsenic and Old Lace- Photo Album

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    The enduring comedy classic, ARSENIC & OLD LACE is farcical genius. Poor Mortimer Brewster, a theatre-hating drama critic who must deal with his crazy, homicidal family and local police in Brooklyn, New York, while he debates whether to go through with his recent promise to marry the woman he loves. Meanwhile his sweet spinster aunts have taken to murdering lonely old men by poisoning them with a glass of home-made elderberry wine laced with arsenic, strychnine, and "just a pinch" of cyanide. Add a sweet brother who believes he is Teddy Roosevelt and another brother who’s not so nice and is running from the law with his alcoholic accomplice, Dr. Einstein, and you’ve got one unforgettable show!

2008 Forever Plaid- Photo Album

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    FOREVER PLAID centers on four young, eager male singers killed in a car crash in the 1950s on the way to their first big concert, and now miraculously revived for the posthumous chance to fulfill their dreams and perform the show that never was. Singing in the closest of harmony, squabbling boyishly over the smallest intonations and executing their charmingly outlandish choreography with over-zealous precision, the “Plaids” are a guaranteed smash, with a program of beloved songs and delightful patter that keeps audiences rolling in the aisles when they're not humming along to some of the great nostalgic pop hits of the '50s, including Catch a Falling Star, Day-O, Sixteen Tons & Love is a Many Splendored Thing.

About the James Downing Theatre

The John Waldron Arts Center houses The James Downing Theatre, and an Arts Resource Center of plays, music, and scores. We are a grassroots group seeking out opportunities to foster community goodwill through artistic enrichment and by nurturing ties to the Edison Park and surrounding communities.

JohnWaldron

The John Waldron Arts Center is dedicated to the memory of John Waldron, a founding member of the Mt. Prospect Theatre Society. Involved in theatre most of his life, John received the Pioneer Press “Boonie” award for Best Supporting Actor. Also a lifelong educator, John was a teacher at Main South High School by day, and taught a youth acting class at night. John performed his final show in a staged reading of Love Letters in August 2005 with his wife, Linda, less than a month before his death of esophageal cancer.

 

JamesDowning The James Downing Theatre is dedicated to the memory of James Downing. Born in Edison Park in 1925, James began his studies in acting in 1946 after his discharge from the Navy. Jim attended Actors Company in Chicago and, in 1948, was the first non-Chinese director of the theatre in Chinatown. In 1949, Jim partnered with dance teacher Peggy Sommers, and they opened the Peggy Sommers Studio at 6705 N. Oshkosh. For the next 40 years, they team-directed hundreds of productions. Jim taught acting to many successful performers and directed and taught such people as Karen Black, Carrie Snodgrass, Howard Platt, and to a high school aged Hillary Rodham (later Clinton). The first show he directed with Peggy Sommers was in the Edison Park United Methodist Church in the original Fellowship Hall, in 1950. He continued to direct shows for the church through the 1980’s and was a member until his death in 2005.

Donors to the James Downing Theatre

Asia Pacific
Donna Andersen
D. Bauer
Ken & Edith Bourne
Mark Brewer
Ron Cleveland
Reynolds Clifford
Ron Denham
George & Noreen Dlouhy
Joshua Dlouhy
David & Rita Downing
Fellowship of Asian Americans
Bob & Nancy Fetty
Gloria Fields
Mary & Bill Gronke
Theresa Hart
Sue Hopkins
Larry & Maureen Jania
Joseph Kedzierski
Julie Krueger
Gary & Diane Kumpf
Dorothy Lamontagne
Phil & Valerie Lamontagne
Richard & Lois Lamontagne
Floyd A. May
Jerry Miller
Lori Montana
Sue Mrotek
The Mystery Company
National Association of Filipino American United Methodists
Emil & Elsie Osuch
Rosemary Plunkett
Richard Pluth
Dan Plyman
Marie Quinn
Jeffrey & Barbara Radebaugh
Retirement Research Foundation
Carol Sause
Manny & Mary Schenk
Phyllis Smith
Shirley Spear
James & June Sublett
Joe Sullivan
Giau Truong
United Methodist Foundation
Elizabeth Kim Waldron
Linda Waldron & Family

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