Saturday, October 3, 2015
The 2014-15 theatre season marks the 83rd year of productions for the Ridgedale Players. The group started during the Great Depression in October 1931. A group of 27 would-be actors were organized by Minna Smith, a teacher at Lincoln High School in Ferndale. The Ridgedale name was the result of a contest combining the city names of Pleasant Ridge and Ferndale.
The first production was a one-act play presented at Lincoln High School with tickets going for 35 cents. The construction of I-696 in the 1980s caused the players to find a new home. Ridgedale Theatre Company moved to Troy in 1983. They presently occupy over five acres of land on Long Lake Road west of Livernois where they perform a full season of plays.
Ridgedale Players are presently the only professional theatre group in Troy. Currently they do four adult shows a year, including one musical and three comedies or dramas. The Junior Actors group does two shows and the Teen Actors do one show. The total group is roughly 150 members.
Sources
Ridgedale Players Program 2014-15
Interview: Sandra Deering, current President, Ridgedale Players
To commemorate the City of Troy’s 60th Anniversary in 2015, we will publish a different story each day that highlights a person, discovery, or event that occurred locally, regionally, nationally, or even globally between 1955 and 2015 and that helped shape our lives and our community. We will try to post stories on important anniversary dates, but we also realize that dates are less critical than content and context. We will include the facts related to controversial stories, allowing our readers to form their own opinions. We invite you to read and comment on the stories. Your suggestions for topics are also welcome and can be posted on our Facebook page, www.facebook.com/TroyHistoricVillage. You can also email stories or ideas to the 365 Story Editor at ed@thvmail.org.
