Spotlight

SPOTLIGHT

DON GINGOLD

Your “Ghost Host” again takes the outdoor stage as emcee for a Summer Place Theatre autumn tradition

Interview by Mark Loehrke

CONJURING SCARES IN AN ALREADY SCARY WORLD We like to focus on things that are very escapist—ghosts and monsters and things like that—as opposed to some kind of apocalyptic or viral story. We don’t need to use reality to scare people right now— it’s scary enough.

READING THE ROOM Even though some of our shows are G-rated while others are PG-13 for older kids, we still get some smaller kids at the later shows. But the nice thing about even some of the more intense stories is that at the end, our storyteller always gives a sly little smile so the audience knows that the tale has concluded, the twist has been sprung, and everything is fine.

A THEATRICAL LIFELINE The rest of the Summer Place world has been upended and canceled entirely for the time being. But storytelling really lends itself well to spacing people out and being outside and keeping everything really safe. So we’re looking forward to providing people with a little bit of relief and a creative outlet for getting away from their day-to-day pandemic concerns.

Ghost Stories in the Park … In the Dark October 2–4 | Tickets: $7

Riverwalk Grand Pavilion, Naperville

summerplacetheatre.org

napervilleparks.org