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The Oak Street Playhouse

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Upcoming Shows

Since the late 1970s, The Oak Street Playhouse has been providing family entertainment and cultural enrichment. Located on the second floor of First-Centenary at the corner of Oak and Lindsay Streets, The Playhouse has become what June Hatcher, former Entertainment Editor of the Chattanooga Free Press, wrote, "A gem of a theater in downtown Chattanooga," which includes a spring play and a popular December Dinner-Theatre that draws audiences from across Tennessee.
our history

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Upcoming Shows

Sarah, Plain and Tall

September 19th at  7:30 p.m.
September 20th at 7:30 p.m.
September 21st at 2:00 p.m.
September 25th at 7:30 p.m.
September 26th at 7:30 p.m. (Family Night)
September 27th at 7:30 p.m.
 September 28th at 2:00 p.m.
in the Flo Summitt Theater

Set in the early 1900s, this play brings to life the charming, heartwarming story of a Kansas farmer, Jacob Witting, a widower with two children—Anna and Caleb, who places an ad in the newspapers seeking a wife. He receives a letter from a Sarah Wheaton of Maine who says she will visit the family for a month to see how things work out: "I will come by train. I will wear a yellow bonnet. I am plain and tall." Narrated by Anna reminiscing on the eve of her wedding, the story unfolds in a fascinating flashback on that often exciting, sometimes tumultuous month when Sarah and the Wittings came to know one another and learned a few things about themselves as well. 
FCUMC Family Night – September 26th
We’re doing something special for this production! Join us for Family Night on Friday, September 26th. This evening’s performance will not only be a time to enjoy the show together but also an opportunity to give back—all proceeds from this night will benefit Camp Lookout, our chosen non-profit partner.

Starring:
Sarah Pearce as Adult Anna
Tim Walker as Jacob Witting
Caitlyn Eimers as Anna Witting
Vivian Wyatt as Rose Nordstrom
Micah Wyatt as Caleb Witting
Julienne Walker as Violet Nordstrom
Dylan Vasquez as Ephraim Nordstrom
Daniel Eimers as Matthew Nordstrom
Mae Mitchum as Maggie Nordstrom
Jonathan Cook as William Wheaton, Justin Moffet
Megan Allen as Meg Wheaton
Dana Cole as Sarah Wheaton
Denise Camille Fry as Eben, Miss Titus, Hettie, Levi, Chester

Producer: Jerry M. Draper
Director: Sandy Whetmore
Stage Manager: Emma Veys
Assistant Stage Manager: Alyssa Eimers
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The Oak Street Playhouse Puppets

Fred Arnold, creator and producer of the puppet theater at First-Centenary, decided in 2010 it was time to retire his puppets and his shows after a nearly 30-year run. He had retired several years earlier as director of the shows himself. Many of his puppets were sold and the profits given to the church.
His show "The Blue Bird" is now owned by onetime puppeteer Colleen Laliberte, who has produced the show. He has continued to work with Colleen and has produced a new show for the stage on Signal Mountain.

Our History

In the 1970's, when people in Chattanooga were flocking to the suburbs, First-Centenary United Methodist Church took a giant leap forward with a decision to expand their facilities to become a more viable force in downtown Chattanooga. In the plans were blueprints for a theater, suggested by Flo Summitt, a church member. Senior Minister Dr. Ralph Mohney envisioned a drama ministry and in 1978, with the completion of the new wing, the theater was a reality. Located on the second floor, the theater was really only a large room: a stage with just one entrance and no curtain, a long wall banked with stationary picture windows that extended up to the stage, and a limited number of stage lights. But it was a theater!

The first play presented in 1980 in the newly named Oak Street Playhouse was The Trial of Pontius Pilate, an interesting choice in which a jury, selected from the audience each night, decided the fate of Pilate. The director was Nancy Lane Wright, a member of First-Centenary and artistic director of the Dance Theatre Workshop in Chattanooga. Flo Summitt became the producer and Robert Smartt designed the lighting and sound. The play ran two nights and there was no admission charge. The following year, Fred Arnold came on board as set designer and as creator/director of the Oak Street Playhouse Puppet Theatre.

Now, years since it's beginning, like an acorn, Oak Street Playhouse continues to grow with its mission of providing outstanding family-style entertainment and cultural enrichment.

Throughout ensuing years, helped by generous donations and efforts of the Playhouse volunteers, carpeted risers were built, windows were closed in, a stage curtain hung and new lights and light board installed. Suzanne Smartt became the Artistic Director in 1992. The Playhouse produces a variety of productions: dramas such as Ibsen's A Doll's House, classic comedies like Harvey, musicals such as My Fair Lady and 1998's season's run-away favorite, The Moving of Lilla Barton, winner of the Alabama Shakespeare Festival Southern Writer's Competition.

The Playhouse today has become what June Hatcher, former Entertainment Editor of the Chattanooga Free Press, wrote, "A gem of a theater in downtown Chattanooga," which includes a spring play and a popular December Dinner-Theatre that draws audiences from across Tennessee.

The Playhouse holds open auditions with casts of actors from both Tennessee and North Georgia. By invitation they performed Camelot before thousands at the 1989 International Methodist Men's Conference held on the Purdue University campus and their production of The Rainmaker competed at the Southeastern Theatre Conference in 1991.