Lynbrook's Plaza Theatrical Productions Brings Broadway’s Best to L.I.

The scene inside Plaza Theatrical Productions in Lynbrook is far from what the typical person would consider a normal Saturday morning routine.

While most people are asleep, relaxing in their homes, or enjoying the weather on their habitual day off, the staff at Plaza is busy getting ready for a long day of call backs and auditions for the company's upcoming production of Rent, which opens in February, and is just one of the many shows that this prolific theater company will present in the coming months.

Plaza Theatrical Productions has been at its current facility at 34 Forest Avenue for two years, according to Thea Sieban, who works public relations for the organization. Though in the process of massive renovations (the building was an open warehouse when they moved in), the company's headquarters is organized and subdivided into workable sections that flow from one area to the next. There are offices, rehearsals rooms (large and small), work areas for set construction, a loading bay for set storage, and that's just the first floor. The second floor houses the massive prop collection, which Sieban calls an "organized mess." Also on this floor is additional room for storing sets for shows that are frequently performed throughout the year.

This sprawling warehouse-cum-theater workshop is an appropriate size for a company that boasts Plaza's output and presence on stages across Long Island. Currently there are five shows that will open in the coming weeks – Madeline's Christmas, Beauty and the Beast, A Christmas Carol, Blue's Clues, and Jack Frost.

Most of the company's shows are performed at the Bellmore Theater in Bellmore. "[It] is pretty much our home theater," Sieban said.

Some productions, though, mostly children's musicals, are more likely to go on tour. Aside from other theaters on Long Island, these popular musicals will travel to such places as New Jersey, Westchester, Staten Island, and, in the future, Maryland. Sieban said The Wizard of Oz, for example, could be performed four to five times per year. Therefore, its set is always ready to leave the facility and it has a permanent storage place near the loading dock.

Ninety percent of the plays are musicals, according to Sieban. "We'll do one or two straight plays a year," she said. "Usually we try to do The Diary of Anne Frank or The Miracle Worker for the kids because [they're] educational. We try to do that when we're aiming towards school groups." For the younger participants, she said they will adapt classic story books into plays.

For Kevin and Phyllis Harrington of East Rockaway, producers of Plaza Theatrical Productions on Forest Ave., running their successful business is a part-time job in addition to their full time jobs as school administrators. According to Sieban, the Harrington's have over 25 years of theater experience that they bring to the company. Kevin Harrington also directs plays for Massapequa High School and St. Raymond's.

 "We don't have a large staff," Sieban said. She said there are approximately six people who work full time and they rely heavily on volunteers. "He [Kevin Harrington] has a great support staff. It couldn't be done without the staff that we have here. He's a great boss, too. If you have an idea he lets you run with it, he's great that way."

For a full calendar of productions and more information on Plaza Theatrical Productions, please go to www.plazatheatrical.com.