Morris Theatre Guild celebrates 50 years of entertainment

The Morris Theatre Guild has been a staple in the community since it began in 1973, and it’ll be celebrating its 50th anniversary come this September.

It already held a celebration of sorts earlier this year, perhaps by coincidence when its members performed “The Big 5-Oh” but now it’s official after state Sen. Sue Rezin, R-Morris, and state Rep. Jed Davis, R-Yorkville, have presented the members with a proclamation commemorating the anniversary.

“I was just thinking back on it and you know, this community is so incredibly lucky to have the Theatre Guild here,” Rezin said. “You have the ability to entertain everyone and also educate everyone at the same time.”

Rezin read from an official State of Illinois Senate resolution from the 103rd General Assembly congratulating the Morris Theatre Guild for its 50th anniversary.

Judy Miller, a founding member, said she remembers the day the Theatre Guild moved into its current location at the Canalport Community Center well. It was New Year’s Eve, and the members spent the entire day there painting and preparing to host its first show in 2010.

The guild performed in various locations around Morris before 1989, when it bought a former church at 507 Liberty St. That building burned in 2006.

Jim Welch, who has been a member since 1987, said having their own location for so long spoiled them and having this permanent home has been a godsend. It means the actors and actresses are practicing where they perform, which means the paces remain the same.

“That doesn’t always mean things are where they were when you rehearsed, though,” Welch said. “If it’s eight-and-a-half steps away in rehearsals, it’s nine-and-a-half steps away during the performance because somebody moved it.”

Jim can live with the little fluctuations, though, as they mean the guild no longer has to go through schools to find locations to rehearse, and work around school events for show dates.

Miller said the late Jim Baum was instrumental in getting the guild this space, who purchased the old Coleman Hardware building in 2008 to house local non-profit organizations. Many of the pillars and lumber from the original building were kept in the new stage design, and the supports along the ceiling used to hide the lights are original to the building.

It’s all about performing for the actors, and sometimes it’s about getting co-stars to break character a little bit: Brian Pross said there will be times little things on stage they know are put there to get them to smile when they shouldn’t.

Welch said it happens to the men more than the women, though.

“The women never break,” Welch said.

Welch said Board President Matt Pasternak directed the last show, and would provide a different pocket-photo every time on-stage for a scene where Welch would have to share what, to his character, were photos of his family.

He ended up with characters from “Gilligan’s Island,” among other popular TV stars from the past.

More information on the Morris Theatre Guild is available at www.morristheatreguild.org, and the guild’s next performance is “Misery,” which opens on Oct. 13.