Playhouse Schedule

The Historic Howmet Playhouse has been in almost constant operation since its opening in 1916. Built by the renown Chicago director Frank R. Adams and local business owner James Nufer, its design was copied from Chicago’s LaSalle Theater and was built for professional live theatrical presentations and the new “flickers” or as we know them today, motion pictures. The playhouse has been greeting White Lake area audiences ever since.

In 1973 the playhouse was purchased by the Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp with the help of a local fund drive and the participation of Whitehall’s largest employer, the Howmet Corporation. The fine arts camp continued to operate the playhouse until August 2006, when the camp built a new modern theater on its campgrounds.

The City of Whitehall, realizing the playhouse’s importance to Whitehall and all of the White Lake area, stepped up, accepted the donated ownership from the fine arts camp and committed to continue playhouse operations and its annual Summer Theatre Festival.

The Playhouse fills a vital need in this city of 2,900; located two blocks off the main street of a traditional downtown and surrounded by quaint Bed & Breakfasts, restaurants, motels, marinas, and a quiet residential neighborhood, the Playhouse is the center for the area’s arts events and houses one of Michigan’s most well-known professional summer theatre companies.

The City now owns the property with plans to make the Howmet Playhouse a year-around operation. To realize that goal they have hired professional management and mounted a fund-raising campaign to build operational and endowment funds held by the Community Foundation for Muskegon County.

You can help and add your name or business to the great tradition of the historic playhouse. Your donation may be tax deductible and may qualify for a 50% match. Checks or donations may be made payable to:

The Blomdahl Howmet Playhouse Fund (endowment w/ match)
Or
The Howmet Playhouse Capital Fund

Help keep the lively arts alive in White Lake and the curtain going up in the historic Howmet Playhouse; still your West Coast center of great professional summer theatre!