Involved with People’s Light since its 1974 inception, Tom Teti lovingly refers to the organization as his “50-year-old child.” And like parents with their offspring, he’s looking on with both pride and trepidation as the Malvern theater celebrates its golden anniversary this season. “I can be there for them, totally support them and sometimes be worried for them,” says the longtime company member. “But I’m always with them and available to them.”
Teti has certainly made himself available, acting in almost 200 productions since that first season. At the time of our interview, he’d just finished making a TikTok video to promote Peter Panto: A Musical Panto. Add that to the long list of things that have changed in the past 50 years. “The core mission of People’s Light remains constant, but how it’s expressed continues to evolve,” says producing artistic director Zak Berkman.
“GM Erin Sheffield first came to the theater in 2004 as an Equity actor. ‘Not only was I afforded an acting job, but it was within a nationally esteemed company who was investing in a female playwright with a multiracial cast,’ she recalls. ‘Those circumstances alone impressed me.’”
Berkman points to a significant increase in the staging of new productions over the past several years, recalling a 2017 production that was born over a plate of french fries he shared with actor Colman Domingo. The two got into a discussion about their mutual love of legendary singer Nat King Cole, which led to the development and premiere of Lights Out: Nat “King” Cole. The sold-out run at People’s Light was followed by a similarly successful stint at the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles. The show will have its New York premiere this spring in a production “that has its eyes on Broadway,” Berkman shares.
World premieres aside, Berkman takes pride in the theater’s dedication to nurturing long-term relationships. Like Teti, many members of the company have been with People’s Light from the beginning. And speaking of Teti, he’ll star as Philadelphia Eagles Hall of Famer Tommy McDonald in Ray Didinger’s Tommy and Me Jan. 7-26. So plan on seeing plenty of Eagles jerseys among theatergoers this month. “That’s when I get the most charge out of what I do—when the public really takes to it,” Teti says.
General manager Erin Sheffield has also found herself in an enduring relationship with People’s Light. She first came to the theater in 2004 as an equity actor fresh out of graduate school. “Not only was I afforded an acting job, but it was within a nationally esteemed company who was investing in a female playwright with a multiracial cast,” she recalls. “Those circumstances alone impressed me.”
Twelve years later, Sheffield signed on as the theater’s executive associate in 2016, before assuming her current role in 2018. Today, she refers to People’s Light as a “gathering place.” Beyond the stage, the theater boasts an award-winning education program—one Berkman says has shifted and evolved over time “to better suit the interests and needs of the families around us and our numerous school partners.”
As one of the state’s largest professional nonprofit theaters, People’s Light is blessed with a prime location that gives it a leg up in the industry. “There are few theaters that exist at the crossroads of suburban, urban and rural communities like we do,” says Berkman.
The interests, viewpoints and history of the surrounding community are all carefully considered when planning each season. It’s a process Berkman likens to piecing together a puzzle. In recent years, People’s Light has committed to staging a popular musical each summer. The 2024-25 anniversary season will be no different, bringing Little Shop of Horrors to the stage June 25-Aug. 3.
Both Berkman and Sheffield have already set their sights on the next 50 years at People’s Light. Referring to a recent SWOT strategic planning analysis, Berkman identifies streaming and AI as viable threats to live arts organizations like People’s Light. Nonetheless, he’s choosing to take a more optimistic approach. “The more society becomes automated and artificial, the more humans will yearn for authentic experiences, for opportunities to be in community with one another, and to be entertained by non-digitally altered storytellers,” he says. “When I envision People’s Light five decades from now, I see a 21st-century campfire and all the possibilities that concept possesses— ancient rituals, shared stories, comfort and danger, warmth and wonder.”
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