The Ghostlight Theatre Company was founded in 1972 by Father Louis Dolinic as the NT Summer Theatre Workshop. The name was changed to NT Theatre Workshop in 1983 and to the Ghostlight in 1988. The GTC has produced over 100 mainstage productions including musicals, classics, dramas, comedies, children's theatre and world premieres. The GTC has launched 18 new plays that have been published and produced in 42 states, Guam and the British Columbia. The GTC, a ten time winner of arts & humanities awards on the local, regional and national level is currently under the management of the Starry Night Theatre, Inc.
Starry Night Theatre, Inc. was born on March 22, 2001. Starry Night is a non-profit, tax exempt 501 (c) (3) Arts and Education organization. The mission of Starry Night is to protect and preserve the Ghostlight Theatre Company and the Ghostlight Theatre at 170 Schenck Street in North Tonawanda NY. The name Starry Night comes from the Vincent Van Gogh painting of the same title. You can see the extraordinary painting displayed on the wall under the balcony of the Ghostlight Theatre.117 Years Old and Still Standing, the History of the Ghostlight Theatre.
On a rainy Halloween in 1889, the cornerstone was laid for the Evangelical Friedens Church of North Tonawanda at the corner of Schenck and Vandervoort Streets. On September 1, 1890, the Church was completed. Designed by George Fischer of the Gombert & Thompson Company, the church featured an 80 foot steeple and could seat 400. The bell, purchased from the First Presbyterian Church of Buffalo, was cast by the Meenely Foundry in West Troy, New York in 1851. It weighs 2,800 pounds and the diameter at its mouth is 52 inches. In 1918, a Hope Jones organ, built by the Wurlitzer Company, was installed. In June 2000, the Frieden's United Church of Christ Congregation moved into their new home in Amherst.
January, 2001, the church was acquired by the newly formed Starry Night Theatre Incorporation and named the Ghostlight Theatre. Early restoration projects included a new roof, four new forced-air furnaces, glass block windows for the basement, air-conditioning, a fresh coat of paint on the interior and exterior and installing a wheelchair lift. Today, the Ghostlight Theatre seats 214 on the main floor with a second floor costume shop and a set construction shop, storage, lounge and snack bar on the lower level.
