Two Years and Counting

BY VALERIE HARDY | Photos by CM Stage Photography

Drive through Downers Grove and surrounding suburbs and you will see the hallmark yellow, black, and white logo of the Ghostlight Educational Theatre Collective (ETC) on yard signs and window decals. Celebrating its second anniversary this month, Ghostlight may be one of the newest performing arts programs in the area, but it is quickly proving to be one of the best. Here are just some of the ways Ghostlight is making its mark.

Providing Theatre Experience to Numerous Students
Each fall, spring, and summer session, Ghostlight typically puts on shows broken down by age group: elementary, junior high, and high school/college.

All of Ghostlight’s shows are “fully produced musicals with professional lighting, sound, and stage management,” explained Carolina Menapace, Ghostlight’s producer. In the recent spring productions alone, over 215 students were involved.

These young performers hailed from 45 different public and private schools and included homeschooled students.

New Theatre Space in Downers Grove

Initially, classes and rehearsals ran out of a space at Artistic Pursuit dance studio in Westmont, and Ghostlight rented auditoriums at local schools for its productions. However, the ETC’s five founding partners soon set their sights on creating a permanent home, with a stage of its own, for their programming. Menapace explained that they were “at the right place at the right time.” Two days after inquiring at Downtown Downers Grove Management Corporation’s office about properties that might fit the bill, a realtor reached out about an available space at the Masonic Lodge at the intersection of Curtiss and Washington Streets.

“It was an absolutely perfect location,” Menapace said. It already had a stage, and the necessary renovations were mostly cosmetic, so the team at Ghostlight did most of the changes themselves. “Some of my favorite Ghostlight memories were made in the late nights spent renovating this historic building,” said Alex Bahaveolos, Ghostlight’s music director. “When I say each and every partner has put their blood, sweat, and tears into this building, I really mean it.”

See related story: Ghostlight’s New Home

Nonprofit Status

While it started as a limited liability company, Ghostlight recently added a nonprofit arm to provide scholarships for its programming. A generous $10,000 donation from the George and Cindy Rusu Family Foundation offset some of Ghostlight’s operational costs and provided scholarships for a student from each school in Downers Grove Districts 58 and 99 to participate in the ETC’s programs and productions.

Ghostlight also plans to host annual fundraisers. Menapace, who serves as president of the Ghostlight nonprofit, has valued the mentorship from and collaboration with other nonprofit theatre groups like Naperville-based BrightSide Theatre and Schaumburg On Stage. “I could not have done any of this without their advice and experience,” she said.

New Programming

In addition to the various theatre classes and mainstage productions Ghostlight has offered since its inception, this spring, Ghostlight started a glee club for students in 5th-9th grade to “give them a place to experience musical theatre and a space to be themselves,” Menapace said. “It’s been such a hit that we may expand it for other ages.”

Also new is the Theatre for Young Audiences program. This is intended to provide low-cost performing arts exposure to the youngest community members. Ghostlight recently staged a “Wizard of Oz” production for just $10 per ticket.

In addition to onstage opportunities, William Hunter Evans, Ghostlight’s technical director, said they are rolling out a “sort of apprenticeship program” this fall for students who want to learn about the backstage side of theatre, such as lighting, sound, and set design.

“There are so many parts that go into the creation of a production that people don’t always see,” Evans said, “but there is a small army working behind the scenes to make it all come together.” Ghostlight’s production manager, Colleen Gibbons, added,

“As someone who has always loved theatre but has no interest in or talent for performing, I struggled to find opportunities to get training and experience working in my areas of interest backstage,” so she is “thrilled” students will have access to Ghostlight’s new technical theatre curriculum.

Summer Shows

Check out what the Ghostlight students have been working on this summer!
• “Finding Nemo” (elementary
production) – Weekend of July 1st
• “Grease” (junior high production) – Weekend of July 15th
• “Jesus Christ Superstar”
(high school/college production) – Weekend of July 29th

Tickets sell out quickly and can be purchased by visiting ghostlightetc.com. Donations may also be made via the Ghostlight ETC website.

Student & Family Testimonials

Ghostlight has received rave reviews from its students and their families! Here’s what a few had to say.

There is no pressure to be a great performer; you are accepted and appreciated just as you are.
– Morgan Ripper, parent of Ghostlight students Spencer Ripper, 9; Bennett Ripper, 9; and Finn Ripper, 6

I love the way it has boosted my confidence. It is a very warm environment with friendly people. – Sullivan Shea, 13

It is really fun, and they are always fair with the rules. – Rooney Shea, 9

I love the experiences Ghostlight has given me, because now I want to be on Broadway! The team is unbelievable and so sweet and kind and would do anything for me, and I would do anything for them.
– Paige McNaughton, 12

Being part of Ghostlight is like being part of a large family that helps you grow and celebrates your successes. – Raina Gazder, 14