Review: PM&L Theatre to celebrate sparkling 60th season

Like so many of us prior to the pandemic, Antioch’s PM&L Theatre had grand plans. It was time for their Season 60.

The theater company was founded in 1960 by 12 enthusiasts who donated $10 apiece – so with $120 “burning a hole in their pockets,” the group set out to bring “culture” to Antioch. The name is representative of the three areas of theater: artist, actor and musician. The P stands for Palette, M for Masque, and L for Lyre. In 1963, the group was offered the opportunity to rent the Lakes Theatre on Main Street (formerly the 1914-constructed Crystal Theatre). The building where the theater currently is housed was purchased in 1982, and the rest, as they say, is history – a history of promoting fine arts by producing plays, art exhibits, musical concerts and instructional classes.

Because of the COVID situation, PM&L, one of the few fortunate community theaters in the country to own its own facility, was able to augment several safety measures, such as new air filtration systems, professional cleaning services, online programs and a contactless box office. Those actions allowed them to launch Season 59 1/2, also known as the “Curtain Up, Mask Up” season. Successful productions of “Ripcord,” “Old Ringers,” “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change,” “The Glass Menagerie” and “A Christmas Carol” made it onstage to reduced-capacity audiences.

And now, PM&L has announced its 60th diamond season, which includes thrillers, beloved classics and Broadway hit musicals. It’s quite the ambitious season.

Last weekend, Ira Levin’s intricately plotted thriller “Deathtrap” launched the season, playing through Sept. 18, and will be followed in October by Todd Kreidler’s “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner,” probably best recognized as the controversial-at-the-time 1967 film that featured Spencer Tracy in his final role, along with Sidney Poitier and Katharine Hepburn.

For the holidays, PM&L offers “A Christmas Story,” humorist Jean Shepherd’s memoir of growing up in the 1940s Midwest; 2023 rings in with “Forbidden Broadway’s Greatest Hits,” a revue that promises an entertaining and satirical tribute to some of the theater’s greatest stars and songwriters. February begins a four-weekend run of the musical comedy “Sister Act,” based on the 1992 Whoopi Goldberg film; Oscar Wilde’s classic “The Importance of Being Earnest” (called by W.H. Auden “the only pure verbal opera in English”) has a perfect-for-spring slot of April to May.

PM&L’s summer opens with “Love, Loss and What I Wore,” a play of very relatable monologues by Nora and Delia Ephron, and continues with the Tony Award-winning musical “Monty Python’s Spamalot,” “lovingly ripped off” from the hit film comedy “Monty Python and the Holy Grail.”

You just cannot go wrong with an appealing lineup of live theater productions like that. Congratulations to PM&L on their 60th – sure to be a jewel of a season to entertain and enrich audiences of all ages.

• Regina Belt-Daniels loves the theater, and gave her first performance via tabletop at her own birthday party at the age of 4. Currently serving on the boards of RCLPC and It’s Showtime, she also is directing the Elgin Theatre Company’s production of “I Hate Hamlet.” When not writing theater reviews, she can be found in an audience somewhere or traveling with her husband.

IF YOU GO

WHAT: 60th season by PM&L Theatre

WHERE: 877 Main St., Antioch

COST: $57 to $122 subscriptions with pick three, five, six or super seven

INFORMATION: pmltheatre.com, 847-395-3055