Lake Charles Little Theatre

History

Annabel Essary Dees convened a meeting at her Ford Street residence on January 7, 1927. The guests at her home that Friday evening included Emma Michie, Mrs. J.W. Gardiner, Mary Gayle Porter and a ironwilled 26-year-old named Rosa Hart, the purpose of the meeting was to flesh out a new community theatre group for Lake Charles.

The "Lake Charles Little Theatre" was its name, and it had been organized-on paper at least-at Mrs. Dees' home the year before, in 1926. The Membership Committee secured 153 memberships and raised a princely $700-plus. Membership dues were $5 for adults and $2.50 for juniors-good for five plays and at least two lectures. Three one-act plays would be presented at the parish house auditorium at the Church of the Good Shepherd. Opening night was Thursday, February 24, 1927.  As the Lake Charles Little Theatre gained momentum, an eight-member Little Theatre Orchestra conducted by Eva Levingston played the "Little Theatre Overture"-an original bit of music before the curtain. The stock market crash in 1929 caused the stage to be dark for six years. In 1938, LCLT found its own home - the Wells Fargo stable on Bilbo Street in central Lake Charles. It was called the "Stable Playhouse."