re-introduction

It would seem a little strange, maybe, but here in winter, when the pace is a little slower than... well... other times, I suppose...  a simple hello to those perhaps just joining us!

So, hello, I am Dawnella. I grew up in the late 1970's just up the hill from Lakewood Theater. Being indeed very very entertained by enchanting stories about the theater by my neighbor Libby, one of Herbert Swett's daughters whose husband was in charge of things along with her brother-in-law for a while, I always felt that the place was magical. 

Years later I first introduced my son Jakob to Lakewood through their Young Performers Camp. He then hit the main stage in 2012, and he's been at Lakewood every summer since!* 

Together with a little help from others, we began restoring camps & cottages on Olive Street in 2019 with the goal to make spaces availble to actors, techies, and those who love the old theater as much as they do. 

keep the light on

You may be familar with the ghost light in the theater -  a single bulb left burning whenever the theater is dark* - but I have been enjoying a ghost light of another sort this off season as well, as the large light in the Lakewood Theater parking lot has remained lit nightly, a clear and steady beacon visable from the Sugar Tree cottage. It brings me comfort. 

Like my personal lighthouse in the winter fog.

*A theater being "dark" means that the theater is currently not open, not just the state of physical lighting. No shows, no rehersals, no sets being built. In general, some say the light is on to keep away ghosts, some say it is to light the way for the ghosts that already inhabit the theater (which is more the case for Lakewood)... and some even say it is on to keep the stage manager from tripping when he first comes in to work