Page 24 - South Mississippi Living - June, 2016

COASTNOTES SETTINGTHESTAGE
ABOVE: Biloxi Little Theatre is at 220 Lee St., Biloxi. BELOW: A scene from The Willow and I, performed in 1958.
Leonie Johnston
This summer will be the 20th anniversary of BLT offering a teen production which allows youths from 13-18 to perform. Renowned director Judy Madden will oversee ‘Rebel Without a Cause,’ set to run July 8-16.
“Judy is reaching out to alumni of the teen productions to join us this summer,” Johnston said. “I’ve watched them grow up here, learning incredible communication and social skills.”
BLT was organized as The Little Theatre of Biloxi in the 1940s. Productions were sporadic in the early years because the venues were scarce. Eventually, the troupe alternated between the Biloxi Community House and the Biloxi Central High School auditorium. City officials saw a need for the community theater to have a place to store its sets, so they offered the use of the basement rooms
at Meaut Community House on Lee Street. This lead to the city allowing BLT members to produce their plays upstairs on the main floor. The 112-seat theater has been extensively renovated and improved over the years.
“You just don’t come in, buy your ticket and sit down at Biloxi Little Theatre. The performances and theater are an entire experience,” Johnston said.
Biloxi Little Theatre
220 Lee St., Biloxi • 228.432.8543 BLTpublicity@hotmail.com
Biloxi Little Theatre goes platinum
story by Susan Ruddimann photos courtesy of Biloxi Little Theatre
Biloxi Little Theatre (BLT) has been the nucleus of plays, performances and pleasure for the past seven decades.
“We are very, very proud to reach this milestone. Lots of work went into the past 70 years, I can promise you that,” said Leonie Johnston, president of the BLT board of directors.
For the 2015-16 season, which runs August- July, the theater celebrated the theme “Biloxi Little Theatre is Going Platinum.”
“It’s been a wonderful year. We kicked
off the season with our musical, ‘The Wiz,’ and then had our four season shows, plus several fundraisers. Our ‘Gleeful Celebration,’ held in April, has raised to date over $30,000 for pediatric AIDS research at The University of Mississippi Medical Center,” Johnston said.
2016-17 Season at Biloxi Little Theatre
CABARET Sept. 9, 10, 15, 16 and 17
TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD Oct. 21, 22, 27, 28 and 29 RAISIN IN THE SUN Jan. 27, 28, Feb. 2, 3 and 4
A FEW GOOD MEN March 17, 18, 23, 24 and 25 AMADEUS May 5, 6, 11, 12 and 13
24 SOUTH MISSISSIPPI Living • June 2016
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