Wheaton Drama History About
WDI
According to a Club history written in 1941 by Mrs. Harry
Beardsley, a charter member, there was a Wheaton Drama Club
for some years before World War I. Its approximately 100 members
met monthly on the second floor at 121 North Main Street.
The old club, unable to survive the war, suspended operation
permanently in 1918.
Our next link with the past came on a hot July night in 1927,
when some 20 members of the Women’s Department Club
of Wheaton met to form a drama reading circle within the literature
department. The new circle within this department fell heir
to the library of the old Wheaton Drama Club and included
some of its members. The drama reading circle functioned successfully
for three years under the chairmanship of Mrs. Donald Proctor.
The ladies discovered that it is hard to read plays without
men and young people to fill some roles. Male membership increased;
the need to rent a hall was pressing, and a new financial
structure became desirable. In 1930, the group decided to
reorganize on a new basis. They withdrew from the Department
Club, passed a set of by-laws, elected a president, J. Watt
Reber, and in 1931 Wheaton Drama Club (WDC) was born.
Wheaton Drama Club history reflects the history of the country.
In the early 30’s the ticket price for public productions
fell to 40 cents. Club funds were tied up by the “Bank
Holiday” ordered by the government in 1933. Public productions
were suspended during 1935 – 36 “on account of
the Depression”, but monthly readings went on. During
World War II, the only public production presented was a highly
successful benefit for the USO in 1943, “George Washington
Slept Here”, by Kaufman and Hart.
Growth of the western suburbs was reflected in the growth
of WDC membership, which reached 305 in 1951. The following
season, a revised constitution limited membership to 275,
with a waiting list.
In 1957, WDC began presenting Children’s Theatre, often
in conjunction with PTA groups, clubs, and other area organizations.
Our Road Show troupes, first organized on a regular basis
in 1960 by Dick Noble, have been offering fine entertainment
for organizations since then.
In 1965, WDC incorporated as a non-profit organization. By
1972, the board of directors increased its membership to ten
elected offices, and seven years later to twelve. A break
with tradition gave the Club its first woman president, Alice
Burnham.
There has been a warm relationship between the Wheaton Public
Library (WPL) and WDC since 1931, at which time all members
of WPL were also members of WDC. The library housed the Club’s
collection of playbooks until 1972. WDC adds to the WPL theatre
book collection by presenting memorial books in the honor
of WDC members lost through death.
In 1978, constitutional revision changed our name from Wheaton
Drama Club to Wheaton Drama, Inc. (WDI). In 1979, WDI staged
its first dinner theater production in cooperation with Wilton
Manor Restaurant. At the end of the 1987-88 season, WDI was
forced to leave Washington School building because it was
once again needed as a school. Our storage quarters were moved
to Brandon Woods development (formerly Maryknoll Seminary)
at 1S101 Route 53, Glen Ellyn.
In the spring of 1993, and ideal location was discovered
at 111 North Hale Street, formally Toad Hall Bookstore and
Household Bank. On June 29, 1993 papers were officially signed,
making 111 North Hale Wheaton Drama’ s home. The facility
was renamed Playhouse 111 and the bylaws were amended to reflect
new policies and procedures pertinent to the building.
The first production at Playhouse 111, "Follies",
premiered on September 16, 1994.
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