The Chamber of Commerce for Greater Milford raised $3,000 this year at their Annual Holiday Auction/Tastes of Milford event for the Second Street Players theatre group in downtown Milford. Second Street Players was started in 1980 by several community members who wanted to bring live theatre to Milford. They did not have a building or location so the first shows were performed wherever they could find room. The first production, I DO, I DO, was performed at Avenue Methodist Church and starred John Ranney and Dawn Renstrom. From there, the organization moved on to borrowing space in the Grange Building, across from City Hall on Second Street, where the name Second Street Players was born. In the late 1980’s Second Street Players purchased the 2 S Walnut Street Property, that had been a hardware store, as they renovated it into a theatre. The building was again renovated in 2001, raising the roof and adding loft storage to the rear of the building.
Second Street Players is a volunteer driven group where directors, actors, set designers and the board of directors are all unpaid volunteers that share a love of growing the theatrical arts in Milford. Included in their yearly productions, Second Street Players perform musicals, dramas, comedies, original works, the Children’s Dessert Theatre and cooperative productions with other cultural groups and schools. For over 34 years the theatre has relied on ticket sales, community donations and grants from the Delaware Division of the Arts and National Endowment for the Arts for funding. To support the theatre and the Second Street Players organization, individuals can donate online at http://www.secondstreetplayers.com/Join-Us-.html or call Tracy Dissinger, Vice President of Second Street Players, at 302-228-9613.