Our History
As Mexico’s oldest English-speaking theatre, Lakeside Little Theatre has operated continuously since 1965. However, the seeds of the performing arts were planted here many years before. As early as the 1920's, artists, writers, singers, dancers and actors have been drawn to Lake Chapala, bringing with them their considerable talents along with a desire to share those talents.  And thus began the history of Lakeside Little Theatre.
Act One - Beginnings - 1965-1985
For the first half of the twentieth century, Lakeside homes often became a venue for art exhibits, readings, and spirited, if impromptu, theatrical performances.   Following one such evening in early 1964, at the home of Betty and Dudley Kuzell, a plan was hatched to form a Little Theatre Group with all interested persons invited to an organizational meeting on April 10 at the Chapala Country Club (located at that time in the Chapala Train Station, now the Centro Cultural Center). The enthusiasm expressed by that meeting’s attendees gave the hopeful thespians the courage, on June 20th, to present a ten-minute play, If Men Played Cards as Women Do, by George S. Kaufman, and the house was packed.

The success of that endeavor led, in February, 1965, to Lakeside Little Theatre (LLT) becoming a registered, independent entity with Betty Kuzell elected as founding director. The new group set a goal of 150 members with an annual membership fee set at 25 pesos (approximately $2 US). Sponsoring memberships, which included four tickets to future productions, also were available for a whopping 100 pesos. Less than five months later, the membership goals were met and in June, the newly formed theatre performed The Saddle Bag Saloon to a sold-out audience at the Chapala Country Club. With a cast of 40, this original play was written and directed by LLT President, Betty Kuzell, who also arranged the music. A second play, Mary Mary, directed by Clifford Bowen, completed the roster for that first LLT season.

By mid-summer, 1967, flooding from the Lake rendered the Chapala Country Club inaccessible, so the theatre made a quick move to Balneario, a hot springs resort in San Juan Cosala. However, performances held amid unpredictable, hot geysers proved to be too challenging for even the most motivated theatre supporters. Consequently, only two plays, offered seven months apart, were presented during LLT’s third season and by June 1968, the theatre had relocated to the second floor of the Chula Vista Country Club, where it would remain for the next seventeen years. 

While the Country Club was more hospitable for audiences than the Balneario, it was not without its challenges, especially for those onstage or behind the scenes. As Kate Karns, a dedicated LLT performer, later recounted, “It was a meeting hall with a platform stage, no lights, no curtains – more like a place for a PTA meeting. There was no running water backstage, so, for the desperate, a fragile curtain was tacked up around a bucket! Of course, after a couple of years, footlights were installed and a couple of tin-can spotlights were rigged with coat hangers and extension cords.”

Act Two - Growth - 1986-2018

In early 1986, at the request of the Chula Vista Country Club board of directors, LLT was again on the move, with provisional staging venues graciously provided by several Lakeside hotels.  However, after 21 years and more than 100 plays produced in temporary, albeit long-term locations, the LLT membership agreed that it was time for the theatre to have a permanent home.


 While it literally took a village to make the project a success, some of the key players in the planning, fundraising and building of the new theatre were retired Hollywood professionals including  Joyce & Richard Vath, Tod Jonson, Ektor Carranza, B.J. Byrne, and Rocky Karns . Other invaluable supporters included  Richard O’Rourke , of Lloyd Investments, who donated the land on which the theatre was built and  Jack Bateman , a well-known NYC architect who volunteered his time to design the new facility. 


Through their efforts and the work of others, $90,000 US was raised more quickly than expected.  Major donors were dubbed “Angels” and their names were displayed on plaques attached to the walls of the new theatre terrace.  By the end of 1987, construction was mostly complete and the grand opening of Lakeside’s new 112-seat theatre took place in January 1988 with the comedy, Don’t Drink The Water, directed by Rocky Karns .   


The community’s pride in this new facility is reflected in the words of Richard Vath , who wrote in his memoir, What and Quit Show Biz?, “Lakeside Little Theatre turned out better than we could have hoped – velvet grand drapes and all!  And the performances became more and more professional in every subsequent year!” 


Over the next 30 years, LLT entertained Lakeside audiences with more than 200 dramas, comedies, farces, mimes, reviews and musicals, and the theatre increasingly became the social gathering place for workshops, art shows, projection events, member nights and even cocktails and dancing on the Angel Terrace. Along the way, generous donors provided funds for a separate rehearsal hall (the "Haloes" and the "Stars"), as well as major and minor upgrades to various aspects of the theatre.  As was true in the earliest days, Lakeside also continued to draw actors, directors, artists and musicians who, alongside committed amateurs, enhanced and deepened the theatre’s talent pool. 


For its 40th Anniversary season in 2005, the theatre received dozens of certificates of appreciation from Lakeside organizations and businesses.  And in 2015, the theatre marked its 50th year of continuous operation with a membership that had more than quadrupled from its original 150 supporters.


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Act Three - Renaissance - 2019 ->

While Lakeside Little Theatre had received numerous cosmetic changes and enhancements over the years, including the addition of a rehearsal hall and improvements to technology, the last significant upgrade occurred in 1997. Consequently, by 2016 the theatre was in need of substantial renovation and the LLT Board, led by then President Peter Luciano, was pleased to accept an offer made by renowned Canadian theatre architect, Thom Weeks, to volunteer his time to develop a facility plan that could provide an optimal environment for LLT’s next 50 years. 


Thom interviewed key members of the local theatre community and evaluated the structural integrity of the existing facility, and based on his assessment, he developed a plan for substantial renovation to the theatre’s audience chamber, stage, technology booth, and other support facilities. Thom’s proposal addressed multiple design issues, including handicap accessibility, audience comfort as well as space and production efficiency, and was enthusiastically received by the LLT Board of Directors at their Summer 2017 Retreat. Over the following six months, a small advocacy group, including Peter, Garry Peerless and Dave McIntosh, worked out an execution plan, commissioned estimates for the work, and put together the final proposal, fittingly named "THE THIRD ACT".  At the April 2018 Annual General Meeting, the LLT membership unanimously voted to raise the estimated $6.5 million pesos needed to complete the proposed theatre remodel.


Within a year, thanks to the significant fund-raising work of Dennis McCary, most of the funds had been secured and work on the facility began in May 2019. While there were – and continue to be – many contributors to the project, the largest single donation was made by Win & Dave McIntosh, whose one million peso contribution appropriately earned them the naming rights to the newly refurbished auditorium. Details of the renovation, including plans and photos, are here.


Update: The project was complete November 2019 when the theatre reopened for business with an abbreviated Season 55. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic upended that season, with the final show, The Actress, being cancelled. In January, 2021, LLT opened for Ajijic Readers Theatre (ART) on the Angel Terrace only - this new Playhouse (Season 56 Playhouse) offering was welcomed enthusiastically. In the fall of 2021, LLT resumed a regular MainStage season (Season 57), along with a varied Playhouse season (Season 57 Playhouse) with limited seating in the McIntosh Auditorium.  Again, attendance was enthusiastic, and patronage gradually increased throughout the season as the pandemic restrictions continued to ease.  Starting with Season 58, we returned to our usual high quality MainStage season, complemented by a number of different on-stage and on-screen offerings and special events.


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