Good Company Players

Good Company Players (GCP) is an amateur theatre company in Fresno, California. They perform at two venues; Roger Rocka's Dinner Theater, which primarily stages musicals, and the 2nd Space Theatre, which primarily produces straight plays. Between the two theaters, GCP mounts 12 shows a year; it has produced over 450 productions since it was founded. Notable alumni include Audra McDonald, Heidi Blickenstaff and Chris Colfer.

History

GCP organized as a company and dinner theatre in 1973. Its charter executive board consisted of Dan Pessano, Chris Moad, Cathy Glenn, Ron Harlan and Steven Pilibos.^:322 The company's first production was Stephen Sondheim's ''A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum,'' which opened on June 26, 1973 at Fresno's Hilton Hotel. In 1976 they moved to the Veterans Memorial Auditorium, where they staged ''Carousel''. This was followed by productions at the Del Webb Towne House from 1977–1978.

Roger Rocka's Dinner Theater

In 1978 the company moved into a permanent location in a vacant Sprouse-Reitz store in Fresno's Tower District on the corner of Olive Ave. and Wishon Ave. There they opened what was known as "Roger Rocka's Good Company Music Hall, Eating Establishment and Drinking Emporium" with a production of ''Gypsy''. The name was eventually shortened to "Roger Rocka's Dinner Theater, the home of Good Company Players."

Junior Company

In 1978 Good Company Players established the Junior Company, a group of up to twenty young people (aged between eight and sixteen) who perform a short musical cabaret before the main performance. Junior Company alumna Audra McDonald recalls:

"... we kids would do cabarets before each how things like Irving Berlin songs. I was singing 'White Cliffs of Dover' at ten. Before I was out of my teens, I'd basically absorbed the Broadway songbook."Cheng, Kipp. "Someone lovely this way comes", in ''American Theatre'', Vol. 15, Iss. 6,  (Jul/Aug 1998): 26-27.

Unlike Good Company Players, which is a for-profit business, the Junior Company is "a separate nonprofit entity that works with the program to train children in the specifics of performing arts, including acting, singing, and dance."^:46

2nd Space Theatre

On July 16, 1982, GCP opened 2nd Space Theatre at 928 E. Olive, a 150-seat black box theater "intended to allow GCP to mount less commercial comedies and dramas in a smaller setting."

Legacy

George Radanovich, the Representative for California's 19th congressional district, paid tribute to GCP In 1997 on the floor of the United States House of Representatives. He referred to the theater as "Fresno's gateway to Broadway", and "the centerpiece in Fresno's Tower District". Additionally, he stated that it has "launched many of Fresno's residents into television, technical, and choreographic careers."^:785 Former alumni of the company have acknowledged the role it played in the personal, professional and artistic formation.

It is best known internationally as the location where multiple Tony Award-winner Audra McDonald first started performing. McDonald has described performing at GCP as "an incredible education":

My entire theatrical foundation was built there. Everything I know about theater, I first learned there. I honed it, maybe, as the years went on, but it was all learned at the Good Company Players.

Other notable alumni include Heidi Blickenstaff, Duane Boutte, Chris Colfer, Todd Decker, Christopher Gorham, Sharon Leal, Katrina Elayne Steward, Sarah Uriarte Berry, Robert Westenberg, and Michael Willett.{{Cite web, title=GCP Alumni, url=https://gcplayers.com/category/gcp-alumni/, access-date=2021-02-11, website=Good Company Players, language=en-US^:785

References

Dinner theatre
Culture of Fresno, California
Fresno, California
Performing arts in California