Stage Left Players find home in remodeled Trinity church

By D.A. Wilkinson

A benefactor gave the troupe $11,000 to buy the building.

LISBON — Kandace Cleland was entering the Trinity Playhouse recently when she heard a voice say, “Little girl, you got your wish.”

Cleland, president of Stage Left Players, had once been lured by the bright lights of Broadway, but wound up in Salem.

She discovered that her love for theater could literally be played out locally.

And with some heavenly help, Stage Left now has a permanent home.

The former Trinity Presbyterian Church, 234 E. Lincoln Way, has become the official home — and property — of the players.

The theater group had been using the church for many years.

Cleland said that the congregation at Trinity had merged with First Presbyterian Church to form New Lisbon Presbyterian Church.

Trinity was organized in 1857 and the building originally cost $4,000. An addition was added in the 1920s.

The result was a beautiful church with curved pews, wooden ceilings and stained-glass windows.

A benefactor provided $11,000 so Stage Left could buy the structure. Cleland said the benefactor will be named once the players are settled in.

In the meantime, Sarah Drake of Pittsburgh, an award-winning architect and assistant professor at Carnegie Mellon University, is working on long-range plan for the building.

“We’re excited about it,” Cleland said.

Now playing at Trinity Playhouse is “Thoroughly Modern Millie” with a cast of about 40 people. The theater draws performers, professional musicians, helpers and patrons from Lisbon, Salem and Canfield, Cleland said.

The church has dividers that separated the sanctuaries in the old and newer portions of the building. That gives the theater the option of a small stage, a large stage, or, in the case of the “Millie” production, a combined and very large stage.

The present production has a mock-up of the New York skyline, complete with computer-operated lights.

Perhaps best of all, Cleland said, the theater recently added air conditioning.

The basement has been turned into a storage area for costumes, dressing rooms, and an area where Cleland makes or alters clothing.

Cast members recently went to the Lisbon schools to perform parts of “Millie.”

Deb Pilmer is the theater treasurer who recently retired after working 30 years as a second-grade teacher. Her sister, Jodine Pilmer, is the musical director for “Millie” and most of the shows.

At the theater, Deb Pilmer said, no one gets paid.

She added that Stage Left’s home “was my church, born and raised.”

If needed, she will play banjo or other instruments in the orchestra pit, which is where the pipes for the church organ used to be.

The theater work, she said, replaced her job, but, “It’s an act of love.”

wilkinson@vindy.com