This is a short history of The Arctic Playhouse. If you love live community theater, please share with others as we help to build an arts community in West Warwick.

1. THE ARCTIC PLAYHOUSE
A Short History
2014-2015

2. IT STARTED WITH AN IDEA
When Daydream Theatre
Company was looking for
a new location after 13
years in Providence, the
idea surfaced to revive a
once thriving arts
community that had
abundant store front
space available.

3. FINALLY A DECISION!
After months of
collaborating with local
West Warwick town officials
and landlords,
117 Washington Street was
secured and became home to
The Arctic Playhouse.

4. NOW WHAT DO WE DO?
With a team of
dedicated leaders, a
few markers and a
bunch of pizza, ideas
began to flow and a
plan formed as to how
we would organize
and what were our
next steps.

5. THE BEGINNING
There were many ideas on
how to layout the playhouse.
Where would the stage go?
Where would we put a
handicapped bathroom? So
many decisions to make!

6. LET THE FUN BEGIN!
A group of family and
friends rallied and
volunteered to renovate
a vacant dog salon and
within 12 weeks the
curtain opened on our
first performance to
sold out crowds (despite
a blizzard with
hazardous driving
conditions).

7. AN AMAZING TEAM
This group of enthusiastic
family and friends spent
endless hours, working
tirelessly through the
Thanksgiving and
Christmas holidays of
2014 to create what is now
The Arctic Playhouse.

8. FAMILY AND FRIENDS

9. SO MUCH DEDICATION!

10. WINDOW DRESSING
While we worked through
the holidays, we wanted the
community to become
curious about what might be
coming to their
neighborhood.

11. PEAKING AN INTEREST
People were eager to stop
by and ask questions
when they saw our
windows dressed for the
holidays. Some would
come in for a peak and
looked forward to our
new little theater.

12. THE WORD IS OUT!
Newspapers became
curious too and began
writing articles. The
excitement was building as
our volunteers put on the
finishing touches.

13. ALMOST READY

14. OPENING NIGHT
In January, 2015 our Board of
Directors, Jim Belanger, Lenny
Schwartz, Lloyd Felix and David
Vieira were ready for our first
show Daydream Theatre
Company’s “A Man Called
Snoopy” (the story of Charles
Schulz).

15. “A MAN CALLED SNOOPY”
With a capacity
of 90 seats, we
ran three shows
of A Man Called
Snoopy with
nearly sold out
crowds.

16. NEXT SHOW
With the proceeds from Snoopy, we
were able to finish renovations to
the stage and apply final touches
to the new accessible bathroom.
Daydream Theatre Company’s
presentation of “Co-Creator –
The Man Behind the Bat”
became our next offering with
nine shows and rave reviews.

17. CO-CREATOR IS A HIT!
Co-Creator brought
crowds locally and from
around the state especially
from those with an interest
in the real story behind the
creator of Batman.

18. LIVE THEATER
The Arctic Playhouse, in collaboration local directors and playwrights,
has provided the following live entertainment in its new location in
West Warwick:
 Mind Mysteries (Lon Cerel) – June, 2015
 Crystal Romance (Daydream Theatre Company) – June, 2015
 The Boys in the Band (LoisAnnie Productions) – June, 2015
 Social Avenger (Daydream Theatre Company) – August, 2015

19. COMMUNITY SUPPORT
In addition, we have collaborated with the following individuals/organizations in providing
other art activities:
 West Warwick School Department Arts Program – May, 2015
(Month long art exhibit of district wide West Warwick students)
 Wine Tasting Event to benefit local charities (West Warwick Lions Club) –
May, 2015
 Tuesday Night Film Series of RI independent films (Scorpio Film Releasing) –
July, 2015

20. SPONSORS
We are grateful for the support we have received so far from the following sponsors:
 Cardi’s Furniture
 Arpin Worldwide
 Arpin Van Lines
 John Clarke Insurance
 Centerville Bank
 Shimmer Technologies
 Commodity Haulers Express Inc.

21.  Joe Belanger
 Jillian Belanger
 Gus Belanger
 Aimee Belanger
 Greg Lowe
 Matt Belanger
 Joe Rogers
 Deb Belanger
VOLUNTEER APPRECIATION
 Lisa Vieira
 Michael Vieira
 Angela Vieira
 Filomena Felix
 Lauren Felix
 Bryan Sawyer
 Gabe Sousa
 Dave Wilbur
We could never have accomplished so much in such a short period of time
without the following amazing family and friends:

22. WHAT’S NEXT?
 9/16/15 @ 7:00 pm – Human Nature (an independent film written
and directed by Christopher Ferreira). This is the first in our Wednesday
night film series (more to come).
 10/8, 10/9, 10/10, 1015, 10/16, 10/17, 10/22, 10/23 @ 8:00 pm –
Daydream Theatre Company presents Our Distance Between Stars (a
play written and directed by Lenny Schwartz)
 10/24 @ 3:00 pm – Daydream Theatre Company presents Our
Distance Between Stars

23. WHAT’S NEXT?
 11/7 (TBD) – Book Signing by Barry Prizant, Ph.D. (Barry will be here
to sign books, take pictures and discuss his new book UNIQUELY
HUMAN: A Different Way of Seeing Autism published by Simon &
Schuster on August 4, 2015) This is a fundraiser for Community Autism
Resources annual retreat for parents of children with autism. Wine and light
hors d'oeuvres will be available.
 11/14, 11/19, 11/20, 11/21 @ 8:00 pm - Late, A Cowboy Song (a play
written by Sarah Ruhl and directed by Kelli Noonan)

24. We’re just getting started and
looking forward to carrying out
our mission of bringing
affordable arts and culture to
the wider Rhode Island
audience. Our work connects
artists with the public to build
stronger, vibrant communities.
MORE TO COME!

25. HOPES AND DREAMS
The Arctic Playhouse hopes to become an open venue for artists and
focal point in the West Warwick community, bringing people from around
the state together to enjoy a wonderful night of entertainment and have
fun. With the heart and passion of all those invested in the success of
The Arctic Playhouse, and the wide diversity of artists available in
Rhode Island, the sky is the limit!
“I believe that in a great city, or even in a small city or a village, a great theater is the outward and
visible sign of an inward and probable culture.” — Laurence Olivier

26. FOR MORE INFORMATION
 Visit our website at:
www.thearcticplayhouse.com
 Or our Facebook page at
:https://www.facebook.com/the
arcticplayhouse?ref=aymt_home
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