A (Sea)son Like Never Before

If you have been a fan of Lake Tales since Entry Numero One, the title of this blog post should be of no surprise to you - I told ya this adventure would include a lot of puns!

Hi! We miss you! Let's jump right in and catch you up to what we've been up to the last few months.

1. The Step Right Up Gala has been moved to October

2. Little Lake is getting a makeover

3. We Started a Club

4. Compassion over everything else

5. Spoofs galore!

6. Summer Camps gone virtual

7. We hosted our very first online Cabaret

8. Master Classes with Pittsburgh Artist

9. We hosted a Drive-By

1.Covid-19 can't keep a true Yinzer from a cookie table, That's right, folks - nothing to worry about here. Our staff, board members, and gala committee are busy making adjustments to bring our annual Gala from a colorful spring event to a fancy fall one. We hope you will join us. Updates will be posted to Facebook and through email so keep an eye out when the weather starts gets chilly.

2.Same love-able Little Lake - but now we have classy new cabaret tables for the theater. No more squeezing through the corners - we are living in a pandemic after all. Shout out to Liberty Mart in Canonsburg for helping us dream up our new look for the space - we can't wait to get back to it so you can try them out for yourself!

3.We are so fortunate here at Little Lake where the love of live theatre is a way of life. Little Lake has hundreds of loyal patron’s subscribers, donors, performers, students. We believe that if we stand together we can weather this storm and open our doors very soon. In order to raise funds to sustain the Theatre, we are part of a campaign called THEATRE STRONG™. We have designed a unique siliconwristband as a way to show your support for Little Lake. Not only will your participation help Little Lake, but this will also serve as a means to keep us physically connected while our stage is dark. https://www.littlelake.org/copy-of-support-us

4.In this quiet time, we want our fans, patrons, staff and artists to know that this is a time of listening and learning for us all. We are dedicated to using our voice to spread positivity and compassion to everyone who walks through our door. In June, we wrote a statement of compassion to all of our friends, artist, patrons, technicians as well as celebrated P.R.I.D.E to show our support for those who need it a little more than usual. Read the official statement below.

5.We might not be putting up shows like we have planned, but we have been keeping busy! This May, we collaborated with surrounding theater companies in the Pittsburgh and D.C. area to create a musical spoof about a very popular, very famous almost but not quite President. You can check out that spoof as well as the Covid-19 Tango (A Chicago Paraody) on our Facebook page and Youtube channel. Check them out if you need a pick me up! Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/feed/my_videos

6.We are just a few weeks into summer and our campers are LOVING virtual classes. Each individual course is created with its own content so campers can stay busy and entertained all summer long. AND there is still time to sign your little artist up! More information can be found on our website if you'd like to register a camper.

7.For the first time ever, we hosted an online cabaret. From original work, to classic monologues, to favorite songs and everything in between, we had entertainment for everyone. We want to thank the couple hundred audience members that tuned in for the event and also want to encourage you to reach out to us at info@littlelake.org to let us know what you'd like to see. Keep an eye out for more summer cabaret announcements on our Facebook page.

8. We think this down time is an excellent opportunity to sharpen skills. Back in May, we announced our first Master Class with Pittsburgh favorite, Amy Landis. Amy got together with students to dive into traditional British dialect. Everyone enjoyed it so much, we have added another segment. Master both poor flower girl AND heiress or even get your best Henry Higgins impression on. Email jena@littlelake.org to sign up.

9. This summer brought another first for Little Lake in the form of a Drive-By. After Allegheny County announced that we would be moving into a green zone, we wanted to give our patrons and friends an opportunity to come and drive-by the theater to say hello. It was a beautiful day, everyone took proper safety precautions, the Dalesio family brought popsicles for the masses, and it felt great to get the staff together and see some of our favorite faces.

That's all for now. Summer has just started and we already have more cabarets, classes and entertainment on the way. Stay tuned!