Rochester Community Players (RCP) in Rochester, N.Y. is the oldest, continuously operating community theatre in New York state. Part of the “little theater” movement in America, an organizational luncheon spearheaded by Mrs. T. Raymond (Mary) Finucane was held in October 1923 at the Sagamore Hotel on East Avenue in downtown Rochester. The goal was to build support for starting a theatrical group to present plays using local talent. Rouben Mamoulian, a well-known director of famous Broadway productions, was a guest speaker.
The following year on November 25, 1924, a Certificate of Incorporation was approved for Rochester Community Players, Inc. for the purpose of “…the development and cultivation of theatrical art, the education of the public to an appreciation of the dramatic art, the training of dramatic artists, the stimulation of playwrighting, and the development of high literary and dramatic standards.”
On January 19 & 20, 1925, the newly incorporated Rochester Community Players presented its first season of plays beginning with Wedding Bells by Salisbury Field. Performances were at the Gregory Street Hall (now known as the Historic German House) at 315 Gregory Street in Rochester.
From January 1925 through March 1926, Rochester Community Players continued staging its productions at the Gregory Street Hall until March 1926. The one exception was for Kick In which took place at the Lyceum Theater, 36 South Clinton Avenue, in January 1926.
In January 2025, Rochester Community Players will begin its 100th season as one of very few community theaters in the United States to reach this longevity landmark!
RCP Playhouse
In 1926, Rochester Community Players purchased a building at the corner of So. Clinton Avenue and Meigs Street in Rochester that had been built as a church and later used as a machine shop during the first World War. RCP’s first production at its new “Playhouse” was Captain Applejack by Walter Hackett, which opened its 1926-27 season on November 1, 1926. They would continue to stage hundreds of productions in this theater.
Managing directors
In 1925, RCP hired Robert Stevens from New York City as its full-time professional director and manager for its second season of plays from October 1925 to March 1926. Although he only planned to stay in Rochester for a year, he remained RCP’s artistic and managing director until retiring in 1953—28 years later!
Robert Stevens was succeeded by George and Harriet Warren, who began their tenure with Rochester Community Players for its 1953–54 season after 17 years of leading the Little Theater in Jamestown, N.Y. As they had done with the community theater in Jamestown, Harriet (“Hattie”) served as RCP’s artistic director and George as business manager. After George died in March 1972, Hattie retired the following year.
From 1973-86, RCP was staffed by full- or part-time managing directors serving terms of one-to-three years. In 1987, Michael C. Krickmire became RCP’s full-time producing/artistic director, a position he held until1997.
1920s, ‘30s and ‘40s
After its initial three-play season from January to March of 1925, Rochester Community Players began offering subscription-based seasons of at least six shows beginning with its second season from fall 1925 to spring 1926. It would soon begin adding extra shows as well, including plays for children.
RCP quickly became a major component of Rochester’s cultural scene with hundreds of people becoming members at $10 per season for which they received 2 tickets to each show during that season. (Decades later the term “membership” was replaced by “season subscription.”)
The many newspapers in Rochester during this period carried numerous articles, photos, and occasionally full-page spreads about the activities and people connected with Rochester Community Players. The public was inundated with news about auditions, upcoming productions, people acting in its shows and behind the scenes on sets and costumes as well as membership drives, fund-raising events and sometimes lists of the people serving as ushers!
1950s and ‘60s
With the arrival in 1953 of George and Harriet Warren as RCP’s managing and artistic directors, Rochester Community Players continued to grow with strong productions ranging from comedies and dramas to mysteries and classical works. For its 1958–59 season, RCP offered Guys and Dolls by Loesser, Swerling & Burrows; Inherit the Wind by Jerome Lawrence & Robert E. Lee; Visit to a Small Planet by Gore Vidal; Blithe Spirit by Noel Coward and featuring Foster Brooks; As You Like It by William Shakespeare; and The Happiest Millionaire by Kyle Crichton.
In December of 1960, 12-year-old Mimi Kennedy, whose mother Nancy Kennedy often played leading roles in RCP productions, was cast in Agatha Christie’s mystery, The Spider’s Web. It was Mimi’s first time on stage, which she would later write about in her book Taken to the Stage, a tell-it-like-it-was memoir of her journey to becoming a professional actress. Sixty years later, Mimi talked about the importance of community theaters as the keynote speaker for the Theatre Association of New York State (TANYS).
Robert Forster, another professional actor who got a start on the RCP stage, wrote in a 2007 letter to TANYS about “getting my first laugh in Community Theater—an intoxicating event” while playing a role in Come Blow Your Horn in 1963. “Hattie and George Warren of Rochester Community Players gave me an opportunity to test myself; to learn the rules, fight the fears and thrill to the satisfactions.”
1970s and ‘80s
By the early 1970s, there were many community theater organizations producing plays in Rochester as well as a professional regional theater founded in 1972 by William Selden and Cynthia Mason Seldon as the Genesee Valley Arts Foundation, now known as Geva Theatre Center.
Rochester Community Players continued its regular seasons of plays under the direction of Harriet Warren through 1973 with RCP’s YoUTHeater program of plays for teenage actors during the summer directed by others. Beginning with the 1973-74 season, RCP shows were directed by a variety of people until the 1976-77 season when Arnold Johnson became RCP’s full-time managing/artistic director through July 1979.
During the 1980s, RCP once again had many different people rather than primarily one person directing its shows.
1990s to Today
From 1987 through 1997, Michael Krickmire was the producing/artistic director for Rochester Community Players. In this role, he both directed shows and hired others to direct shows that were part of each RCP season. Beginning with its 1997-98 season, RCP has been an all-volunteer organization providing opportunities for many local professionals to direct its productions.
Shakespeare Program
In 1994, Rochester Community Players started a Shakespeare Program at the New Life Presbyterian Church on Monroe Avenue with a production of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night as part of its regular season of plays. (Twelfth Night was also the first play by Shakespeare produced by RCP in 1936.) Since July 1997, RCP has presented a free Shakespeare in the Park summer production co-sponsored by the Monroe County Parks Department at the Highland Park Bowl. Plays by Shakespeare have also been performed as part of the Rochester Community Players seasons at the Multi-use Community Cultural Center (MuCCC) on Atlantic Avenue in Rochester, N.Y., since 2010.
Irish Program
While Rochester Community Players had produced plays by Irish playwrights for many years, its Irish Program began in 1998 to regularly present plays from the Irish classical and contemporary repertories. The first Irish Program play was Playboy of the Western World by John Millington Synge. In 2000, RCP’s Irish Program was invited to participate in the Montreal Irish Theatre Festival and represented the United States with three performances of Da by Hugh Leonard. It also performed each year at the Acting Irish International Theatre Festival (AIITF) in Dublin from 2003 to 2019. Rochester Community Players hosted the AIITF in Rochester in 2008 and 2018. The festival has not taken place again since the 2020 Covid pandemic.