65 Years of Entertainment

Thibodaux Playhouse, Inc. (TPI) has become a community staple since its founding in 1960 as a non-profit community theater. By July of 2013, Mayor Tommy Eschete declared it the official Thibodaux community theater and solidified its staying power. 

Since its beginning, the Playhouse has produced over 280 shows which have been put on in various local venues such as Nicholls State University, Jean Lafitte National Historical Park, and Preserve Wetlands Acadian Cultural Center Theatre. Although the Playhouse has not yet procured its very own venue, that is a goal they keep striving for. 

According to Mason Clark, the Managing Artistic Director of Thibodaux Playhouse, Inc., plans were launched for their own space about ten years ago in 2014. “Recognizing that the construction of a new theatre is a long-term project, the success of TPI’s vision depends on generous donations from community members, local businesses, corporate sponsorships, and grants awarded for the purpose of outfitting the new facility. Though we love our partnership with the National Park Service, it would be a dream for us to own our own theatre.” 

Mason is a Thibodaux native, born and raised, and began at the Playhouse in 2012 when he was just eleven or twelve years old. Starting off as a young actor in their children’s summer theatre program—The Children’s Summer Workshop Production—proved to be the key for Mason when it came to finding out where he belonged. Now, this children’s production program is still around but more referred to as “TPI Junior”. Mason has been with the Playhouse ever since and essentially worked his way up to the position he now holds as managing artistic director. 

“Theatre was something I started when I was six or seven years old […] it was the only hobby, for me personally, that sort of stuck. I tried sports, I tried clubs, and this was the only thing that ever kept me interested. And still to this day, it’s really the only thing I do!” Mason shared. 

As for TPI Junior, this is a summer production program that allows kids from ages 7 to 17 to get involved in community theatre. It happens every June and runs like a summer camp. The Playhouse commits to putting on a well-known, family friendly production every year “for kids by kids”. They have another youth program called ‘TPI Teen’ which is specifically geared toward teens ages 13 to 18. This group gets to participate in productions that are more age-appropriate for a growing cast and audience, allowing local teenagers to grow in their acting skills. Because of these new programs the Playhouse has implemented, their regular season (September to August) consists of three musicals and two plays. 

As for their third and final outreach program as of now, TPI also hosts an annual field trip production for tri-parish area students which was started in February of 2017. Spearheaded by former board member Daphne Hernandez, this program takes children’s books written by local Louisiana authors and adapts them into a live stage play. Students from Lafourche, Terrebonne, Assumption, and now St. Mary’s Parish are invited—preschool to fifth grade from private or public schools—to experience daily performances of this adapted show for a week or two. 

“For a lot of these kids, this is their first theatre experience, y’know? […] They think ‘movie theater’, but you sit them down in front of this curtain and it’s real people, and you can hear the gasps and the audible chatter, and it’s one of my favorite events that we do,” Mason said. 

In January, the show they are putting on will be based on the storybook “Petite Rouge”, the story of a Cajun Little Red Riding Hood. Because the Playhouse is currently located at the Jean Lafitte National Historical Park, once the kids watch the play, they get to have a breakout session with the park rangers and conduct a scientific, cultural learning lesson of sorts, overall increasing the field trip’s educational value. Each grade level also gets sent home with a copy of the book that was performed. 

Most recently, the Thibodaux Playhouse has proudly produced shows such as “Grease” which proved to be a groundbreaking show for the theatre, selling out nine shows, three of which were added on. Typically, each show has six performances but “Grease” sold out before rehearsals even began. Mason said, “I’m positive we could’ve kept adding [shows] and they would’ve kept selling, but at the end of the day, all of these actors are volunteers so you gotta give them a break sometime!” 

Currently, TPI is in rehearsal for their upcoming production of “Beauty and the Beast” for which they had a record-breaking audition turnout of 80 people. Mason considers this alone to be a testament to the work the Playhouse is doing within the community. 

“When people see something good, they want to be a part of something good. You can see the passion that goes in it, you can see the joy in these people, and I think that is what really draws people,” Mason shared. 

The Playhouse just opened its current season with their production of “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”, a drama-comedy that pairs playfulness with a dark undertone. The first true drama that the Playhouse ever performed was “The Crucible” just around two years ago which proved to be a huge hit. 

“I think it’s one of the best productions we’ve ever put on that stage!” Mason said of “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”. 

Later this season, productions such as TPI’s run of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show”, notorious for its audience interaction and film fan base, and “The Play that Goes Wrong”, a slap-silly show where everything is cartoonish and farcical, will be performed as well. The season will close out with the famous Sondheim show “Sweeney Todd”. Mason stressed the importance of offering something for everyone when it comes to planning out a season of theatre productions, especially post-pandemic. 

“There was a lot for the arts to prove in general. People needed to see why the arts were still important in this post-Covid world. When we weren’t able to put on shows, we looked a lot internally at our operations. We are just in the market of trying to do shows that are appealing to people of all ages, all backgrounds. We don’t want to do shows that only appeal to one sort of audience. We want to pick a season of shows where everyone can at least find something that they can relate to or want to see,’ Mason shared. 

Thibodaux Playhouse, Inc. has proven itself to be a “labor of love” in Mason’s words, and a resilient one at that. While they are grateful to have such a wonderful working relationship with the staff of the Jean Lafitte National Historical Park, when it comes to not having its own home, the Playhouse has had some major challenges to overcome. From being at the mercy of the federal government during the pandemic to closing for another season so soon after due to Hurricane Ida, and then again due to air conditioner issues during a summer with record high temperatures, the members of Thibodaux Playhouse continued to persevere and bring back this local theatre even when it seemed like such a simple solution to just shut down. 

“It was the labor of our volunteers, the financial support of our patrons that refused to let that happen,” Mason said. “They kept believing in the mission and what we do and the experience we provide for people, and it is through them—our patrons, our volunteers, our actors, our board members—this whole community piled together. I’ve never seen this many people so passionate about something.” 

Over the years, many members of the community have continued to come together to make the Thibodaux Playhouse happen. Mel Baudoin was the president for the Playhouse for a time and contributed a lot to the Playhouse’s success according to Mason. Sheela Plater, who is still on the board today, was one of the earliest members of the playhouse. Angela Hammerli was also a longstanding board member. Tom Simons did some work in the theatre community as well. Joel Champagne was another longtime member of the organization and has an award named after him now. Also a longtime stage manager for the Playhouse was Sherry Thibodeaux. These are all names that Mason considers to be pillars of the organization, though he said there are many more. 

With the most recent president shift from Melinda Adams to Matthew Pellegrin, Mason has lots of hopes for the future of the Playhouse, and while there are no grand plans for the 65th anniversary, they will be holding out to create a bigger celebration for the 70th or 75th anniversary. Mason hopes the Thibodaux Playhouse name earns a reputation that precedes it, and the community shows that may be the case already.