History of Carrollwood Players Theatre
We are Carrollwood Players, Tampa's oldest community theatre company. Established in 1981, Carrollwood Players, a not-for-profit organization 501(c) (3), has been providing quality entertainment for the Tampa Bay area since its inception. Staging everything from tense drama to bedroom farce to popular musicals, Carrollwood Players offers something for everyone's tastes.
Starting from humble beginnings, the group formed and met at the Carrollwood Recreation Center. The initial production, "Plaza Suite", was performed at Carrollwood Elementary School, "Godspell" was done in the auditorium of the Methodist Church, and "Veronica's Room" was staged in a small golf clubhouse.
The group relocated to the Drew Park Civic Club, renamed The Manhattan Theater, at the intersection of Ohio Street and Manhattan Avenue in December of 1982. During the next five years, the players presented, among others, "Stop the World, I Want to Get Off", "That Championship Season", "Arsenic and Old Lace", "The Bad Seed", "Ten Nights in a Barroom", and "18 Nervous Gumshoes". That building no longer exists.
In May 1987, Carrollwood Players moved to the Village Shopping Center on North Dale Mabry and then, in 1993, to their present location in Plantation Plaza at 4333-5 Gunn Highway. Currently, Carrollwood Players present nine plays each season. In addition, there is the Annual One Act Weekend, where aspiring playwrights can submit their scripts and if chosen, get their work performed on stage. Also, Carrollwood Players Theatre by Young People stages at least one show a year.
Carrollwood Players first appeared on the Web in 1997, in the form of an AOL Hometown page that was diligently maintained for many years by Helene Brennan.
A MySpace page was added in 2006 and currently maintained by Jim Whicker.
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