About This Site

LANSING COMMUNITY THEATER DATABASE
The nitty-gritty about what's going on here.

Mostly, this is a database. If you're trying to remember who was in an old show, if you just saw somebody on stage and want to know what else you've seen her in, or if you just want to look yourself up (that's usually what people do first), this site is here to help you. If the links start taking you other places, and start bringing back some memories or maybe even educating you, then that's a bonus. Capturing the history is an important part of what we're doing here. As this site expands, we want to add more general information about the theater companies, venues, awards, shows and individuals, past and present, that have all combined to make Lansing, Michigan such a rich and vibrant community for local theater.

The primary source for all database information is the original theater programs. When there are known omissions, individuals we've added to the database who weren't listed in the program are identified as "uncredited". On any show page, individual names appear exactly as they did in the program, even when we know them to be misspelled. The links, however, should always accurately take you to that person's credit list. Between misspellings, nicknames, changed names, maiden names and middle initials, we've tried to keep everyone sorted out correctly.

Likewise, backstage production credits are listed exactly as they appear in the programs. Some companies list roles that other companies might not list, and some have different names for various roles. We don't worry about that, we just put down what's in the programs. On an individual's page, shared 'Director' credits are noted, but any other shared credit is not. In other words, an individual credited with 'Set Construction' on a show might have been one of several to share the credit, and the only way to see them all is to go to the show page.

Individual credits are based on show credits. What that means is that we only list an individual's work on shows that are covered in this database. Many people have extensive credits outside the Lansing area, or with professional, college, studio and children's companies that we don't yet include in the database. Therefore, individual pages should never be considered completely inclusive. In compiling this record, we've discovered that some individuals have online resumes which often list far more credits than we have. We will happily link to such offsite resumes upon request.

Many people have provided information and/or support to help this site grow. At the risk of leaving some of them out, that list includes Jane Zussman, Mike Syracuse, Chad Badgero, Jane Falion, Joe Dickson, Gordon Clark and two people who deserve special thanks. Althea Phillips, the historian for the Lansing Civic Players, organized cabinets full of information about the company's shows long before I took on this project. Her history book documenting the first 75 years of the company has been particularly invaluable. Similarly, Roger Belen.sorted and organized hundreds of programs for the Community Circle Players, both for their home at Riverwalk Theatre and for their earlier home in the Okemos Barn, long before I became involved. Roger also donated dozens of programs for my own personal collection. Thanks to everybody.