The History of
Heartland Theatre Company
Heartland Productions, now known as Heartland Theatre Company, was founded in 1986 by Philip Shaw, Carol Reitan and Rita Kohn for the purpose of presenting staged readings of unpublished plays. After a couple of years of vagabonding around different spaces with original scripts, Phil Shaw, the founding Artistic Director, wanted to move to classic contemporary plays and offer full productions. Guest performances continued anywhere Heartland could find suitable, from the McLean County Arts Center to Illinois Wesleyan University…to coffee houses and churches.
In 1990 the theatre moved into an empty building at 1100 North Beech Street (Lincoln and Beech Streets) in the abandoned Illinois Solders and Sailors Children's Campus School. The space was converted from a garage into a 68-seat black box theater with no storage and little space for dressing and no box office. Over the years, we have slowly upgraded the theatre space, adding improved lighting, dressing rooms, an expanded box office and reception area, and storage for costumes, props, etc. In 1999, the building was purchased and remodeled by the Town of Normal for the Community Activities Center at One Normal Plaza, as well as remaining the home of Heartland Theatre Company, where full productions of both contemporary published plays and original scripts take place today.
In addition, Heartland has frequently put at least one production a year offsite in another venue, often partnering with other non-profit organizations. Most recently we staged “I Love You, You’re Perfect, now Change” in the Community Room at the Normal Activities Center (partnering with Prairie Fire Theatre, an operetta-oriented organization), “The Andersonville Trial” and “Clarence Darrow” at the McLean County Museum of History (partnering with the museum) and “Sylvia” at the Normal Movie Theatre. “Art” and the “Gin Game” were performed at the Prairie Sky Room in the Prairie Building in downtown Peoria.
Heartland Theatre Company continues their tradition of staged readings of unpublished plays and has partnered with groups such as the Tale Spinners (a local storytelling group) and cooperates with Heartland Community College (not affiliated with Heartland Theatre Company) by providing space for acting classes and showcases.
Heartland’s Annual National Ten-Minute Play Festival, in its sixth year, continues to be very successful, attracting entries from nearly every state and around the globe and including eight new directors and twenty-some actors selected from open auditions. This year Heartland embarks on a new playwriting competition especially for Illinois playwrights called “Emerging Illinois Playwrights.” The winning short original plays will be work-shopped with Richard Kalinoski, a New York published playwright who wrote “Beast on the Moon” which was premiered at Heartland before its debut on Broadway.
Heartland’s Young-at-Heart-land senior theatre troupe for those 55+ remains a training ground for senior actors and offers opportunities to stage their craft to other seniors in the region.
In the last six years, Heartland has experienced tremendous growth for a theatre its size. Attendance, season ticket sales and donations nearly tripled due to new business and marketing efforts initiated by a hands-on board of directors. Two-week performance runs were extended to three weeks and then four to get patrons in who wanted to see the plays. After considerable qualitative and quantitative research, strategic and business planning, Heartland Theatre Company initiated its first-ever fund development campaign to rejuvenate its theatre space. This reconstruction, taking place in July/August of 2007, will afford the theatre’s audiences a safer, more comfortable experience and enhance the artistic talent and production values with better sightlines and lighting. Still facing continuous sold-out weekends, the addition of 20% more seats in the theatre will not only help Heartland with its financial feasibility, but will allow more patrons to see its quality productions.
Chicago Theatre Caliber…Newcomers tell us, "Heartland Theatre
Company is this area's best-kept arts secret". We've been producing plays at
One Normal Plaza for eleven years. Come find out for yourself why people say
Heartland is "as good as anything in Chicago theater."
Thought-provoking and professional…Our theatre is dedicated to
presenting thought-provoking works with professional level talent.
Mike Dobbins,
our artistic director, has directed over 250 plays and musicals, taught theater,
and is even caught acting in a play once in a while! Most of our actors and technical
talent have professional theater degrees and/or extensive experience, which is why
we are able to offer professional-level quality productions right here in Central Illinois.
Please review our past seasons!
Annual Reports
We invite you to review our past annual reports. Adobe Acrobat reader is required to view them. You can download a free version at Adobe.
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Ann was active in high school and college theatre and put that interest on hold to teach elementary school for over 27 years and to raise two children. In retirement she returned to the stage with Community Players and Heartland Theatre. She has written and performed monologues featuring Biblical women, Galileo's daughter, and Jane Addams for schools, churches and civic groups. Her one-act play, "Finding Grace" was used as part of a Lenten series at a local church. She is past president of the Normal Public Library board and historian for the Vladimir/Canterbury Sister City Association. Ann is director of Young-at-Heartland, our senior acting troupe, and is responsible for its successful growth and development.
In the mid-90s, Todd Wineburner was cast in a production of Uncle Vanya at Heartland and it marked the beginning of a relationship that continues to this day. Todd has appeared on stage at Heartland in How I Learned to Drive, The Drawer Boy, A Streetcar Named Desire, The Elephant Man, The Dining Room, and other productions. He was also fortunate enough to write a play that was accepted for the "One Shoe" incarnation of Heartland's Ten-Minute Play Festival. Todd is currently the Vice-President of the Heartland Board. He works for WJBC radio in Bloomington.
Gayle has lived in Bloomington-Normal for over twenty years now, arriving shortly after earning her undergraduate degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia. She works at State Farm as a Systems Analyst in the Life Company and is happy to also serve on State Farm’s Community Volunteer Council.
She has also had the privilege of working on- and off-stage at both Community Players and Heartland Theatre, and served as Community Players’ Membership chair years ago, before becoming Heartland's secretary. Her favorite quote (attributed alternately to Muhammad Ali and Shirley Chisholm) is “Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth.” Husband Andrew is always supportive of her efforts and never complains about her long hours during rehearsals.
Sherrin Fitzer, an alumni from ISU with a Masters in English, taught literature and drama at community colleges and continues to teach at prisons. Sherrin is the administrator of Woman and Family Services at Lincoln Correctional Center and runs a theatre troupe there called the "Acting Out Theatre Troupe."
