Footlight club8/25/2023 ![]() ![]() Over the years, the club’s stage has been graced by a slew of noteworthy performers. “Sheer obstinacy has kept me here,’’ Campbell joked. He saw his first Footlight Club performance in 1981 - “The Royal Family’’ - and, in 1982, he took the stage for the first time, playing Juror #4 in a production of “12 Angry Men.’’ He spent 16 years on the board of directors, served four years as president, edited the newsletter for 14 years, and directed shows for 14 consecutive years. 9, 1877), when the club began doing curtain calls (the 1950s), and why female performers once had to be cautious not to set their Edwardian dresses ablaze (Eliot Hall used gas stage lights during the 1900s).Īlthough it can be tedious work, Campbell doesn’t tire easily. He can tell you, for instance, what the theater’s first ever performance was (Victorien Sardou’s “A Scrap of Paper,’’ on Feb. Today, Campbell, who could speak for hours about history if no one interrupted him, packs an arsenal of knowledge on even the most obscure theater facts. He even took a few trips to Houghton Library at Harvard University, where a collection for the Footlight Club was set up after its 100th anniversary. Later, he found books of board meeting minutes dating back to the 1920s. ![]() Spurred by a love of history, Campbell began collecting old programs and documents that the club still had scattered around - his home is filled with piles of documents, books, and artifacts, some of which he keeps stuffed in Tupperware containers. Since his arrival, Campbell has worked diligently to ensure that the theater’s rich history is preserved. “There were photographs in the front hallway of people now long gone, nobody knew who they were.’’ ![]() “Everybody knew that the Footlight Club was America’s oldest community theater, and nobody knew anything else about its origins,’’ said Campbell, 68, the club’s self-appointed historian. This isn’t exactly surprising - until Paul Campbell arrived at the theater in 1982, the history of the space had gone largely unknown, even by the various members that had come through. “The Footlight Club is situated in a neighborhood, so my mom walked by and never knew what it was,’’ said Gallagher. The McIntyres grew up four blocks away on Orchard Street, and Katherine, a stay-at-home mom, walked past Eliot Hall frequently - though it wasn’t until a friend told her about the Footlight Club, and encouraged her to audition for a show, that Katherine realized the little building was, in fact, a theater. It was their mother, Katherine, however, who introduced them to performing, and more importantly, the Footlight Club. Her family has dedicated their lives to the arts, including her younger brother, Joey, best known as a member of New Kids on the Block. The no-frills operation, which on Saturday will open a seven-show performance of “Clybourne Park,’’ has served as a proving ground for countless local performers, from Harvard students to a future pop star.įor the hundreds of actors who have found their way onto its small, second-floor stage over the years, the Footlight Club stands as a local institution - if not always an obvious one.Ĭarol Gallagher, 56, might be more identifiable by her maiden name - McIntyre. Founded in 1877 by a small group of wealthy socialites, it is the oldest continuously running community theater in the nation. Just a few miles southwest of Boston’s bustling Theatre District, the Footlight Club in Jamaica Plain is a hidden gem. Inside the building’s nondescript front doors, however, lies 143 years of history. If not for the vinyl banner hanging in the entryway of the two-story structure, you’d probably miss it entirely. The green, Greek Revival-style building with red trim looks much like the other homes that line the quiet, residential street. Eliot Hall is not immediately recognizable.
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