Shreveport’s historic community theater, The Shreveport Little Theatre, is gearing up for another season and kicking it off with a summer musical that promises to be monstrous.

Managing and Artistic Director Robert K. Darrow said they had the biggest auditions ever for this summer’s “Shrek.”

“We had close to 100 people audition.

That is a first for this 93-year-old theater. We have cast 64 in the musical,” Darrow said.

Kicking off the main stage season will be “The Addams Family.” Darrow said it has just been recently released for community theater production and he thinks there is a good bit of interest in the community about the show.

Local actor and Chevyland manager, Michael Blake Powell, will make his local directorial debut in the theater’s second show of the season. “The Fox on the Fairway” is another Ken Ludwig comedy, according to Darrow. “[Powell] had wanted to direct for years and I thought this suited him well.”

In January, SLT presents “Two on the Aisle, Three in a Van,” a whimsical look at the trials and tribulations of producing community theater.

“It’s a new property and I read it and laughed all the way through,” Darrow admitted. “It’s somewhat similar to ‘Noises Off’ in that it’s a backstage view of the theater. I saw a lot of correlation with our old building here at SLT.”

Darrow was referring to the prereconstruction version of the local theater. He said the some of the situations in this production reminded him of the old theater and its physical limitations. “When the actors walk off stage, they walk outside.”

The show presents some technical challenges, too, according to SLT Costume Designer Peggy San Pedro who referred to the show as a “costuming nightmare.” In each different scene of the show, the company is producing a different show, such as “Hello Dolly” or “Gypsy.” Darrow said all the shows within the show are recognizable and it should make for an enjoyable evening of theater and an amusing look at typical community theater goings on.

In a more dramatic vein, the next show will be Arthur Miller’s “All My Sons,” directed by local veteran Richard Folmer.

“It’s a really timely drama about coming home from war and the effects of war on the family,” Darrow said.

“But it also has a romantic side, with one of the boys and the girl next door. It’s a beautifully written show.”

Closing out the main stage season will be “The Roar of the Greasepaint, the Smell of the Crowd.”

Darrow said, “I’ve heard of that show all my life and the songs are very recognizable. When I looked at the list of songs in it, I thought, ‘yes,’ let’s do it. It’s never been done here. Let’s bring it to Shreveport.”

The new season is coming off two successful productions this year. Both “To Kill a Mockingbird” and “The Diary of Anne Frank” were sellouts. Darrow credit their success to excellent casts and crews as well as familiarity to audiences through other productions, the novels, and movie versions.

In addition to producing these shows, and its SLT Academy productions, Darrow said the group is working with the Community Foundation to provide services for people in need. “We’re working with four nonprofits, The Rutherford House, The Mercy Center, the VOA’s Lighthouse, and the Providence House. We’re working with their clients on arts projects, including acting, public speaking and building self-confidence.”

Darrow said the theater hopes to continue its collaborations with the Norton Art Gallery, which have proved very successful. Last Christmas, the theater and the museum presented an evening of Broadway Christmas music on a cold and rainy day to a standing room only crowd, he said.

In April, they presented “Night at the Museum,” a take-off on the hit movie in collaboration with The Robinson Film Center. Darrow said evening was highly successful with over 1,300 people coming to the event.

Changes at the theater include a new administrator for the young people’s Academy group. She is Monroe native Nancy Carey who attended Centenary College and got her master’s degree in vocal performance from LSU in Baton Rouge.

“She’s had some work history in Austin with a theatre academy,” Darrow said. “She appears to be a real dynamo. We’re excited about having her on board.”

Darrow is looking forward to another successful year for the theater and sees the role community theater plays as essential to the area.

“I think it’s good for the economy and bringing industry in. All those good things that make a city grow.”