Sturgis Youth Theatre

01/26/2022

Dear Friend of the Sturgis Youth Theatre:

It is with a heavy heart that I write to inform you that the Sturgis Youth Theatre will cease all operations effective April 1, 2022.

The ongoing challenges of trying to produce SAFE theatre and workshop opportunities in the midst of a pandemic in conjunction with university staffing challenges and my upcoming retirement June 1, has necessitated this hard decision.

I thank you from the bottom of my most dramatic heart for the past 20+ years. You helped me realize a life-long dream.

I will cherish all of the memories stored in my heart from each and every production for years and years to come.

With love,

Gretta Berghammer, Artistic Director
Sturgis Youth Theatre

03/11/2021

07/18/2020

Lions and Tigers and Bears! 🐻 Oh my!!! There’s no place like home, or the theatre!! 👠 Today, we highlight the Wizard Of Oz!! If you have pictures from adventures on the yellow brick road, please share in the comments!

07/17/2020

Tonight we would have had opening night for James and the Giant Peach. We are missing our students, staff, and summer fun so much. Happy Dark Opening, students! Next summer can't get here soon enough!

If you have any pictures with your family/friends from an opening night performance or from after a show, please feel free to put it in the comments below!

07/16/2020

Every summer, Gretta hires a small group of college students to help our performers be the best they can be (assistants, stage managers, etc.). Sometimes those college students are able to return for multiple years, and sometimes our college students move on to even bigger things (typically being hired as professional theater workers in other states!). Whether they stay or go, we always look fondly on our memories with past assistants with the students. Especially if those college assistants had to go on stage last minute to play a sick students part! So today, we are highlighting Gretta's assistants who work closely with the students every single day they are at SYT!

As we all know, this week would have been our tech week with tonight being an invited dress and tomorrow being opening night. While we are all very sad about the lack of SYT happenings this month, remember that the virus is not permanent and we will be able to be together next summer!

If you were one of Gretta's summer assistants and have some photos from your time with SYT, please share them in the comments! Also, if you were lucky enough to be an assistant who had to go on stage for a student, please feel free to share what part you had to play (if you remember). Stay safe, friends, and happy Wednesday!

07/14/2020

Some of the greatest aspects of theatre are the friendships formed in the process, the camaraderie that grows during show week and the sense of pride of making a memorable piece of art together. Theatre shows end but friendships live on in our hearts 💕 If you have any pictures with friends from Sturgis Youth Theatre, please share in the comments!

07/13/2020

For the production of W***y Wonka, actors had an opportunity to tye dye their own Oompa Loompa shirts to be used in the show. If you are an actor/actress in Sturgis, you do a lot more than acting on stage! Everyone gets a chance to help out in costume and set areas! If you have any pictures of W***y Wonka or can think of a skill you learned from being involved in theatre, share in the comments!!

07/10/2020

Today, we highlight the show Cinderella! One cool thing about Sturis youth theatre is the switching out of actors and actresses from scene to scene. In Sturgis, there is a different Cinderella, different fairy godmother, different stepsisters every time the lights come up. This gives young people an opportunity to play multiple roles each show. The costume stays the same but the young person inside the costume is always changing! It also makes us all appreciate our costume crew, who make multiple outfits for 40 plus actors/actresses! Feel free to share any more pictures you might have of Cinderella in the comments! Do you have Sturgis memories you would like featured?? Please send them to [email protected]
Have a great weekend!!!

07/09/2020

When most people think of a theater setting, they think of the actors putting on a production. While the actors are important, everything that happens back stage is just as important. That's why today, we would like to highlight our technical theater students and staff members!

Every summer, our wonderful interns and volunteers help our technical directors build and paint the set, make or acquire props and costumes, and help bring on set pieces, pass off props, and/or keep track of costume pieces for all 40+ students. There is a lot that goes into creating the magic that you see on stage and it wouldn't be possible without all of the help we receive from our staff!

Do you have pictures of your student participating in SYT's back stage technical work? Feel free to post those pictures in the comments!

Stay dry, friends! 😊

07/08/2020

While we are waiting for the previous James and the Giant Peach pictures to roll in, we should highlight the person who made Sturgis Youth Theatre possible 20 years ago:

Gretta Berghammer!

Without her, SYT wouldn't be what it is today. The students, staff, and community are lucky to have Gretta as their fearless Drama Queen and we will never be able to thank her enough!

In honor of Gretta, here are a few pictures we have on file of her over the past few years. Do you have any pictures of/with Gretta from SYT? Share them in the comments below!

We are so excited to look back on some of our SYT memories, but we need your help. If you have other pictures from past productions that you would like to share, please send those to [email protected]. We will try to make sure every photo sent to us is highlighted in some way. Also, please feel free to share your favorite role your student may have played or your favorite show you saw! We would love to hear about it! Thanks so much for any contributions you may give us. Happy Wednesday! 😊

07/06/2020

Sturgis Friends,
We are all thinking about the fun we would be having putting on the production of James and the Giant Peach this summer.🍑 Sturgis thought it would bring smiles if we shared some past show memories! 😃If you have any photos stored away from past shows (production or behind the scene memories) please send them to [email protected]

We will share the photos on this page every day for two weeks. If anyone has photos of the original James and the Giant Peach, we will start with those first! We are excited to see your memories from the last twenty years!!