Interlakes Summer Theatre goes nonprofit, previews 4-show run

MEREDITH — When Nancy Barry started Interlakes Summer Theatre in 2008, she was fresh from a negative experience with a nonprofit board which had taken over her previous theater, so had no appetite for organizing as a charitable arts organization.

About a year ago, though, the weight of her business was starting to get to her, and she started to lay the groundwork for a transition. And then, on March 6, 2024, a dear friend of hers who was also running a theater company died without making preparations for succession — he went to the grave with all of his plans and arrangements only in his head. That underscored Barry’s determination to create an institution which could continue without her leadership.

This year, the 18th season for Interlakes Summer Theatre, will be the first for the organization as a nonprofit. However, Barry said, the difference will be invisible to audience members: unless, of course, they’d like to make a donation, in which case it will now be tax-deductible.

She said the change is designed to be better for the theater as well as for her, and could result in her being able to provide her leadership for more seasons than if she was also still the principle owner of the company.

“The situation for me is that I have been holding the responsibility of the organization financially on my shoulders the whole time. We don’t always balance at the end of the year, so it’s very stressful for me,” Barry said. “The other thing is that I’m trying to transition it to other people. I’m turning 65 this year,” she said. “I just feel like I need other people to be in charge.”

As a nonprofit, Interlakes can access revenue streams previously out of reach. Donors and sponsors can give more generously, since they can use that gift to offset tax liabilities. There are also grants which could help make it easier to finish a season on solid financial footing.

That extra help will be needed, as Barry said costs associated with operating a summer theater are sometimes multiple of what they were when she first started.

Perhaps that fundraising could be so successful it would permit the Lakes Region’s newest arts nonprofit to venture into areas, such as off-season shows, Barry wouldn’t have dared before.

“There are some things I’d like to do that I can’t do because of the financial risk,” Barry said.

A season for women

For the 18th Interlakes Summer Theatre season, Barry has put together a string of musicals focusing on women.

The first show is a title that might be new to casual theater fans, but will likely be a familiar storyline. “She Loves Me” is what Barry called “a Valentine of a show.” It tells the story of a small shop where the workers join a penpal club to write to anonymous strangers. As chance had it, two co-workers match with each other, and fell for each other’s writing even though they didn’t get that same spark in the workplace.

“It’s so romantic, it’s so sweet. Falling in love, writing letters,” Barry said, and with some equally lovely musical numbers as well.

Next up is the better-known “Tootsie,” based on the 1982 feature film starring Dustin Hoffman.

“I think it’s an uplifting happy show, but it also has a point to it,” Barry said about “Tootsie.” “It’s well told, it’s humorous and sweet and it’s got all the good stuff for a musical.”

Another time-tested favorite is third on the list, “My Fair Lady.” The 1956 original Broadway production, starring Rex Harrison and Julie Andrews, set a record for the longest run of a musical, and inspired a film version in 1964.

“It’s not what we’ve been doing, it’s something different,” Barry said, noting this show will be a must for fans of “gorgeous singing.”

For the final show on the season, Barry said Interlakes will do something it’s never done before, and host another show for a stop on its own tour.

“We’re bringing in a show, the tour of ‘Menopause the Musical.’

"That’s a crazy, silly, funny show,” she said.

Selecting the titles for each season is a balance of artistic ambition, prudence and social psychology, Barry said. If she filled the season only with shows which interested her, the theater would fail, she said. But if she booked only the shows certain to sell, her inner artist would suffocate.

Meanwhile, she also has to commune with the zeitgeist to discern what kind of art her audiences would seek come summer. During times of social unrest, familiar and comforting shows act as a safe harbor for troubled hearts. But when there’s financial uncertainty, her ticket-buyers seem to reserve their resources for shows they haven’t yet seen.

“The real world really does affect how people recreate and how people spend their money,” she said.

The forecast for this year is foggy, so Barry hedged her bets.

“Right now I don’t know where we are,” she said. “I’ve got a little of both.”