2 minute read
GASLIGHT THEATRE BRINGS CULTURE, ENTERTAINMENT TO RURAL TOWN
BY SAMANTHA DOUTY Victoria Advocate
SHINER — The Shiner Gaslight Theatre gave Wyatt Kaiser the outlet he needed to be creative as a kid.
“It gave me a sense of community in theater,” the 21-year-old said.
The Gaslight Theatre has been a part of the Shiner community as a dinner theater since 1975, but the building dates to the 1800s. It is there that locals participate and experience theater in a rural town.
Kaiser, of Yoakum, said the theater helped him realize his passion for the stage and understand the technical aspects behind a show.
The University of Texas student began acting at the dinner theater seven years ago and directed the summer production of “Alice in Wonderland” this year.
“It’s an amazing theater that gave me my start,” he said.
The Gaslight Theatre has three shows a year in the spring, summer and fall. All of the shows come with a meal and entertainment.
Theater board member Patti Morales has been a member since the 1980s and enjoys that it is more than just the shows.
“I love that it’s a dinner theater,” she said.
She said she first got involved as a costumer when a friend suggested it. She later did almost every aspect of a show such as working backstage, acting and directing.
Morales said she was a shy child growing up and theater helped her open up.
“It’s been very rewarding,” she said.
Like Morales, theater board chairperson Josh Kaspar got her start in the theater after someone suggested it to her.
Kaspar married her college sweetheart and moved to Shiner. It was then that her mother-in-law suggested she direct a play.
“She finally conned me into directing a play,” she said.
After directing and working for the theater for a few years, Kaspar became the chairperson of the board in 1989, she said.
In that time, she has directed 20 plays and been a part of about 40.
She said it offers a great creative outlet in a small rural community.
“They are so much fun,” Kaspar said.
The theater’s season opens in January every year. It is by that time that the board and its individual committees announce the next season of shows, almost a year in advance, she said.
The board works to keep almost every show famly-friendly while bringing the arts and culture to the small town.
“They’ll have a ball,” she said about anyone who comes to the Gaslight Theatre.
TICKETS
Season tickets go on sale in mid-December.
SEASON TICKETS // $75 a ticket and include three shows and priority reservation:
SHOW TICKETS // $30 a person
Kayla Renie/krenie@vicad.com Abe Ascencio plays the Mad Hatter in the Shiner Gaslight Theatre’s summer production of “Alice in Wonderland.”
407 Fairwinds, Hallettsville, TX | 361-798-4352
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