A trio of college friends who considered themselves brothers got the idea to start a theater company 12 years ago.
Within two years, space was leased in the 100 block of North Genesee Street in downtown Waukegan and Three Brothers Theatre was born with a 90-minute production of “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare Abridged.”
Now getting ready to start the second show of its 2023-2024 season of plays and musicals, Three Brothers is operating in a larger space in the 200 block of North Genesee, immediately north of the Genesee Theatre.
Josh Beadle, the executive director and a co-founder of Three Brothers, said the company is in the process of renovating its original building which will be a complement to the larger venue.
“We’re going to have original works, classes and workshops there,” Beadle said of the new use of the original theater. “It will really help our bottom line.”
Three Brothers Theatre plans to reopen the original theater in January while its current season continues, which will put three legitimate theaters in a two-block span of Genesee Street in downtown Waukegan, thus enlarging the city’s performing arts footprint.
Between the soon-to-be-reopened original theatre, the current site of Three Brothers and the Genesee Theater in between, there will be three live performance stages within a little over a block. Each has a separate mission.
Jane Ferry, the chair of Three Brothers’ not-for-profit corporation’s board of directors, said downtown Waukegan is now dotted with galleries and theaters, making it an art center for the area.
“This shows the depth and strength of performing arts in Waukegan,” Ferry said. “They’re getting performers from outside Waukegan. People are coming from Chicago and Milwaukee. A variety of professionals are coming to Waukegan to perform.”
Now a sustainable business for Beadle’s family and employees, he said along with the season of plays and musicals there are film screenings, special events and even a burlesque show coming to town.
It was not always that way.
“We started to feel OK five to six years in,” Beadle said. “We were able to fundraise along with our productions. We have special fundraising events, like the one on New Year’s Eve with an online auction.”
Along with fundraising and ticket sales, he said the theater operates like a small, family business, with people doing a variety of things to make everything come together for each event.
“There’s a lot of blood, sweat and tears, like a mom-and-pop family business,” Beadle said. “Everyone gets involved. One time I might be taking tickets, and another I help at the concession stand.”
While Beadle and his staff are getting things ready, the actors are preparing to perform. They are all paid. He said sometimes, performers are returnees from past productions.
Auditions are also held. Beadle said Chicago has a strong acting community and scores of theaters. When Three Brothers sends a notice of tryouts, there is no shortage of quality performers from which to choose.
When planning the 2023-2024 season, he said with a lot of serious events happening in the world, it was time to help people get away from what might be troubling them. He built the season around such a theme.
“We needed to have fun,” Beadle said. “We wanted to show that feeling to the audience. In any season you might have provocative plays, but not this year.”
Opening with “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” last month, Beadle said there will be a world premier for the next show — “Karaoke Christmas” — written by Caroline Beadle, Josh Beadle’s wife, Michael May and Lindsay Sliwa.
“Karaoke Christmas” runs from Dec. 1 to 16. It is the story of a group of airline passengers stuck in the airport on Christmas Eve. Their only form of entertainment is a karaoke machine.
Other productions in the months ahead include “The Play That Goes Wrong” from Feb. 2 to 24, “Nunsense” from March 15 through April 6, and “39 Steps” from April 19 to May 11. Ticket prices are $25 for adults, and $15 for students and members of the military.
