Suburban Stadiums: Prairie Lakes Theater

This is the fourth installment of Des Plaines Patch’s newest series: Suburban Stadiums. Each week will feature a different local athletic facility, from fitness centers to neighborhood parks. We’ll dive into its history, current offerings and provide a calendar of major events that it will host.

PRAIRIE LAKES THEATER

Home to a variety of shows put on by numerous organizations, the Prairie Lakes Theater is a bustling performing arts center that may not be known by everyone in Des Plaines.

Facility and History: Opened in 1992 with the rest of the Prairie Lakes Community Center, the Prairie Lakes Theater holds 298 people in stadium-style seating. With a full stage that features a curtain, wings and backdrop, Prairie Lakes plays host to performing arts shows throughout the calendar year.

The theater was initially designed around the Des Plaines Theatre Guild, who were the primary people performing most of the shows in the early 1990s. However, the organization folded and the Park District started to bring in new groups around 2001.

That’s when groups like Big Noise Theatre Company, Christian Youth Theatre (CYT) and Footlighters began to have a larger presence at Prairie Lakes.

“Our theatre is so well-used now that unfortunately a lot of groups that are looking for theatre space cannot find anything,” said Shelli Sarg, facilities manager at Prairie Lakes Community Center. “With us, we’re lucky we have days here or there that are open.”

In the past year, the Park District has made upgrades to its sound system. The theater was initially set up as a projection theatre, but now almost all plays and musicals use microphones.

The Park District also has plans to change the color scheme in the theatre and replace the main curtain.

Programming: The Prairie Lakes Theatre is home to a number of performing arts groups, including Footlighters, which is put on by the Park District.

Nancy Suwalski, the Park District’s cultural arts supervisor, has taken over Footlighters in recent years and turned it into more of a community theatre program.

“[Nancy] upgraded our theatre program to more than just a park district program and in some of her shows she incorporates adults as well as kids,” Sarg said.

Still, the overall philosophy is to get as many kids involved in theatre as possible and the performances showcase their talents.

The theater also houses the Elk Grove Park District for their annual show and hosts the Suburban Park and Recreation Association Showcase. The Des Plaines Park District Community Concert Band performs a series of concerts there throughout the year.

The Des Plaines School of Dance runs Artistry in Motion, currently in its sixth season and Rhythm in Motion Tap Company, both of which perform at the theater. Artistry in Motion was founded in 2004 and focuses on performance and advanced technique. AiM2 is the junior company of Aristry in Motion.

Footlighters will debut next weekend and Big Noise will also be performing shows in October.

“It’s definitely something that the Des Plaines community does not realize that we have,” Sarg said of the theater. “When you pull up to Prairie Lakes, you don’t think they have a performing arts theater in the community center and I definitely think it’s a positive thing and a great thing for our community to get more involved in.”

Calendar of Events:

July 22 – August 7: Seussical The Musical performed by Footlighters