Ragtime Closes at South Bend Civic Theatre, 3/27

Ragtime the Musical will close at South Bend Civic Theatre March 27, 2011. Directed by Ted Manier, this show tells the story of three families dealing with the issues of prejudice, poverty and wealth, and freedom in this classic tale of turn-of-the-century American life.

Tickets are $16 and can be purchased online.

South Bend Civic Theatre is the oldest continuously-operating community theatre company in the South Bend/Mishawaka area. Founded in 1957, it staged most of its productions after 1968 at The Firehouse, a local historic landmark located at 701 Portage Ave., in the city's historic Park Avenue neighborhood. Beginning in the year 2000, SBCT began staging selected productions each year at Century Center's Bendix Theatre, at the Morris Performing Arts Center, and for the first time in 2005, at the DeBartolo Center for the Performing Arts on the campus of Notre Dame.

Under the leadership of an incredible Board of Directors and then-Executive Director Jim Coppens, SBCT began exploring solutions for the need for more space. In January 2007, the beginning of SBCT's 50th Anniversary year, Civic celebrated the opening of its new theatre home at 403 N. Main St. in downtown South Bend, in what was formerly the Scottish Rite Building. Through generous individual support as well as community and corporate underwriting, SBCT was able to complete construction on a new 3,500 square foot scene shop, renovation of a 209 seat Mainstage Auditorium and a 70 seat versatile "black-box" Studio Theatre in a span of time of little more than a year. In November of 2009, a special gift to SBCT eliminated the mortgage on the facility, the final chapter on the capital campaign that has allowed the