For 25 years, Oswego’s Limelight Theatre has been giving people a chance in the spotlight

Twenty-five years after first forming, The Limelight Theatre Company continues to live up to its motto of being a place where everyone plays a part.

Just ask Liz Arney, who has been involved in many roles at the company over the years and now oversees its operations. Arney has been involved with Limelight Theatre since its founding in 2000.

The Limelight Theatre Company is owned and operated by the Oswegoland Park District.

“I started with Limelight Theatre when I was 13 or 14 as a participant,” said Arney, a lifelong Oswego resident.

Her fifth grade teacher, Brian Fauth, was Limelight’s first artistic director. Ginny Bateman, who at the time was the Park District’s director of recreation, was looking for a theatrical opportunity for her child and founded The Limelight Theatre Company in the summer of 2000.

“It started out with a group of middle school kids writing their own show,” Arney said. “That was our very first show. My husband was in it as well. Brian would have us do little skits on stories that we had read.”

Arney, 37, was in the production with her husband. They met in fifth grade.

These days, The Limelight Theatre Company serves all ages, including adults. Arney and her husband last year acted in an original production called “Cover Me.”

“One of the most unique things about Limelight is we still very much strive to write and produce our own shows,” she said.

“It started out with a group of middle school kids writing their own show. That was our very first show.”

—  Liz Arney, Limelight Theatre member

Limelight serves several communities in the Fox Valley area, including Oswego, Montgomery, Yorkville, Plainfield, Aurora and Naperville. Limelight will conclude its 25th summer season this year with “The Wizard of Oz,” its 237th production.

Limelight sees its fair share of parents helping out in the productions, including Nicole Anders. She has been a parent volunteer for about seven years.

“I grew up doing theater and then as my kids got older and they started doing theater, is was kind of natural to just join in with what they were doing since it was something I had always loved doing,” Anders said. “With Limelight, it’s such a community group that it becomes a family really quickly.”

She helps out by building sets and helping with sound. Anders and her children are helping out in the upcoming production of “The Wizard Of Oz.”

“My oldest daughter is the stage manager and my youngest daughter will be part of the backstage crew,” she said. “They’re not in the cast for this one, but they have been in the cast for previous productions.”

Recent high school graduate Allison Allen has been involved with Limelight for four or five years.

“It’s been a lot of fun,” Allen said. “I was homeschooled and I didn’t get the opportunity to meet kids my age. And Limelight has really helped me to socialize and get to know people my age. I’ve made a lot of really good friends through Limelight.”

Allen is in the production of “The Wizard Of Oz.” She is joined by Sophia Rufle, who will be a sophomore this fall at Oswego East High School.

This will be Rufle’s 16th show.

“I find that Limelight is a way to find a place to relax and have fun,” she said. “This is a place where I can actually learn really useful things through theater and also have time to spend with my friends. Acting is a way you can creatively express yourself without anybody judging you.”

As Arney noted, Limelight offers a sense of togetherness.

“We really consider our theater to be a family and to be our home,” she said. “I’ve always considered Limelight to be my family.”

Limelight also offers classes for all ages that focus on learning basic skills in performing and storytelling, while fostering imagination and creativity.

“We’re very big on the educational part of it as well,” Arney said. “We offer classes all year round to people, starting as young as kindergarten. We offer private lessons for adults if they would want to get back into acting but don’t really think they would fit in a younger class. Every single person of every single age has an opportunity with us.”

In addition to its stage productions, Limelight also puts on radio plays.

“We do those in just one day,” Arney said. “We have people show up on Saturday mornings at Little White School Museum at 10 a.m. We give them the script, they rehearse all day and then perform at 7 p.m. that night. It’s just a really fun day. It’s exhausting, but it’s a lot of fun.”

Limelight has a tradition of doing a “It’s A Wonderful Life” radio play. That tradition will continue this December.

‘We’ve done that for probably 15 years," Arney said.

She thinks putting on “The Wizard of Oz” is an appropriate way for Limelight to celebrate its 25th anniversary.

“We think that ‘The Wizard of Oz’ is a perfect ending production to our 25th summer season because like it says in the show, there’s no place like home. We’re really, really excited to continue into the next 25 years.”

“The Wizard of Oz” will be performed at 7 p.m. July 23-26 at Oswego High School. Tickets are available at limelighttheatrecompany.org.