Youngstown Playhouse’s plans for its centennial season are so big, they turned it into a show.

The 2024-25 season will be announced during an event April 13 at the community theater that will include excerpts from the musicals and plays that will be presented on the main stage and its Moyer Room.

John Cox, president of the Playhouse’s board, and Brandy Johanntges will serve as hosts for the evening.

The idea, in part at least, was borne of necessity. The Playhouse had to cancel its April production, “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time,” when the director had to drop out.

“We had a gap (in the schedule). We were looking for a fundraiser, maybe have someone special come in,” Cox said. “I was talking with the exec board — we haven’t done a preview show ever. Back in the day the Oakland (Center for the Arts) used to do a preview of the season for a couple years. Instead of just releasing it, let everyone see what’s going to come. For the 100th, maybe it would be a good way to kick us off and make it a big deal.”

Cox doesn’t want to spoil the April 13 surprise, but he did say, “We’re working with a Broadway producer for a special event,” and that one of the shows planned for the centennial season will be a regional premiere.

“It hasn’t been done in Pittsburgh, Cleveland, anywhere yet,” he added.

The upcoming season will include an older show the Playhouse had staged before, although it’s one that was recently modernized for a Broadway revival, Cox said. Productions that celebrate the magic of theater also will be included. The Playhouse will continue to do more avant garde plays in its smaller Moyer Room performance space, and details on the Playhouse Youth Theatre season, some special events and a 100th anniversary gala also will be revealed.

“We want to show the progression of where theater has been and where it can still continue to go,” Cox said.

Turning that announcement into a night of entertainment will involve more than 90 people. The first step was securing the directors for the season and letting them reach out to local talent for the songs and scenes that will be staged. Tyler Stouffer was brought in as music director.

Performers will include: Finlay Andrei, Joanna Andrei, Nate Beagle, Wayne Bonner III, Brendan Boyle, Katara Brown, Jenna Cintavey, Carolyn Colley, Craig Conrad, Liz Conrad, Rachael Conrad, Candace DiLullo, Connor Fitzpatrick, Pat Foltz, Molly Galano, Sammie Gurd, Elizabeth Huff, Jaietta Jackson, Keri Jennings, Robert Dennick Joki, Izzy Krekus, Eden Lesnansky, Jessica Ludovici, Darcie Luikhart, George Maillis, James Mattig, Joe Mayls, Nick Mulichak, Maggie Mitchell, Aubree Neuhaus, Arcale Peace, Heather Powell, Jeanine Rees, Caitlyn Santiago, Denise Sculli, Terry Shears, Emelia Sherin, Kathryn Stanton, Tyler Stouffer, Lundeana Thomas, Alec Toporcer, Savanna Wade, Charlotte Ward, Allyson Wenger, Thomas Wilson and Ashlyn Young.

Plans for the 100th anniversary aren’t limited to show choices. A new sign with a digital screen should be installed this month. The Playhouse received a state grant in February for $238,000 to help pay for a new roof. It will cover about two-thirds of the cost, and Cox said one of their goals is to raise the remaining funds for the project.

“We need to get the bones fixed up so we can start to do the tedious stuff on the inside,” Cox said.

New lighting will be installed in the auditorium, stairwell and first floor. The theater also is replacing its main stage curtain, which Cox referred to as “big red.” The playhouse hosted a memorial earlier this year for Nick Cordova, who was killed last year in a hit-and-run accident in Denver. Cordova was active in the theater community when he lived here, and the memorial doubled as a fundraiser for the Playhouse.

“They raised enough to pay for the whole new curtain,” Cox said “We’ll get a new big red and name it the Cordova.”

The improvements will ensure that the Playhouse will be in good shape as it starts its next century, both for its own productions and to serve as the “mothership” that other arts organizations can use, Cox said. In recent years, Millennial Theatre Company and Rust Belt Theater Company have staged shows at the Playhouse and those partnerships will continue.

“I want to bring all the theater community together under one roof and give them the opportunity to do bigger shows if they desire.”

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