Marketing & Community Relations Team

We are excited to introduce a new way to get involved with Summer Place Theatre: Friends of Summer Place Theatre.

This new program is designed for people who want to support SPT in ways that match their interests, skills, and availability. Whether you want to volunteer your time, make a financial contribution, or do both, Friends of Summer Place Theatre offers meaningful ways to help strengthen our organization and support our future.

The program was created to help us:

• Strengthen community involvement
• Increase volunteer engagement
• Expand fundraising capacity
• Create sustainable operational support
• Build long-term relationships with patrons and families

Community Outreach & Partnerships

The Community Outreach & Partnerships Team helps Summer Place Theatre build meaningful relationships throughout the community, increase visibility, and connect more people with our productions, programs, and mission. This is a strong fit for volunteers who enjoy communication, networking, relationship-building, and representing local arts organizations in the community.

Volunteers in this area might help with:

Press Releases

Assist with drafting and sharing press releases to help promote productions, special events, organizational news, and major announcements. This may include helping craft clear, engaging messaging and identifying local media outlets, calendars, or publications where Summer Place Theatre can gain visibility.

Community Partnerships

Help build and maintain relationships with schools, businesses, nonprofit organizations, and community groups that may be interested in collaborating with Summer Place Theatre. This could include exploring cross-promotional opportunities, sponsorship connections, ticket partnerships, or ways to expand community involvement.

VolunteerMatch Postings

Support volunteer recruitment by creating, updating, and monitoring postings on VolunteerMatch and similar platforms. Volunteers may help write compelling descriptions, keep opportunity listings current, and ensure Summer Place Theatre is reaching people who want to get involved.

School Outreach

Assist with connecting Summer Place Theatre to local schools, students, educators, and families. This may include sharing information about auditions, performances, volunteer opportunities, student involvement, or group attendance opportunities with schools and youth-serving organizations.

Local Business Connections

Help identify and build relationships with local businesses that may be interested in supporting Summer Place Theatre through sponsorships, donations, promotions, program ads, raffle items, or cross-marketing opportunities. This role can help strengthen Summer Place’s presence within the local business community.

Community Event Representation

Represent Summer Place Theatre at local events, festivals, parades, fairs, or other community gatherings. This may involve helping staff an information table, sharing materials, talking with community members about upcoming productions and volunteer opportunities, and serving as a welcoming ambassador for the organization.

Volunteer Commitment Levels

Ensemble Friend

• Volunteer at least 10 hours per season
• Recognition in program (Friends List)
• Two Opening Night tickets for both shows

Spotlight Friend

• 25+ hours per season
• Program recognition
• Invitation to Friends appreciation event
• Early access to tickets (24-hour presale window)
• Four opening night tickets for both shows

Standing Ovation Friend

• 50+ hours per season
• Featured recognition
• Opening night invite (1 show)
• SPT Friends pin or badge
• Six Opening night tickets for both shows

About Us:

The Summer Place, Inc. (or Summer Place Theatre as it has come to be known) got its start back in 1966 as a way to keep students active and their acting skills sharp over the summer months.

It was founded by Donald "Doc" Shanower, then Dean of Theatre at North Central College in 1966. 2016 was our 50th season, and we dedicated our shows to Doc. Sadly, we lost Doc in 2015, just shy of our big 50th anniversary. We miss you, and most of all we thank you for creating this long-lasting Naperville institution.

Our Mission Statement

The Summer Place, Inc., a 501(c)3 non-profit, volunteer-supported community theatre, based in the Naperville area, strives to provide professional quality year-round theatre arts entertainment. We are committed to providing:

• A supportive and collaborative environment for artists;
• High quality, culturally enriching entertainment to the community;
• Educational opportunities for all ages through mentoring and performance based participation.

The Summer Place, Inc. gets funding through ticket sales, advertising sales, concessions proceeds, grants, and the generous donations of our patrons.

The bulk of our expenses go towards royalty fees, set building costs, and, depending on the production, costuming. To a far lesser extent we spend money on honorariums for our directors and musicians. Our actors do not get paid. For that matter, our actors don't pay us for the opportunity to act in our shows, although of late they have paid a script and costume fee to help defray those costs. Our producers, who are pulled from our Board of Directors, are not paid to produce the shows, nor are any of our Board Members or Officers paid for their service.

Summer Place is a Community Theater. It provides a great deal to Naperville: the opportunity to gather and create a work of art and to share that work with its citizens at a very low cost.

One of our largest supporters is Naperville itself. The Naperville Park District provides rooms for us to meet and rehearse, and Naperville School District 203 provides our theatre venue during the summer: Naperville Central High School Auditorium.