Tom Thumb players

Tom Thumb Players was a young peoples' theatre company based in Chicago, Illinois.

Established in 1946 by Lester Netzky (director/producer), Tom Thumb Players Theatre Company for children ages 4-12 and its teenage division, Front Row Center Theatre Company, was the first of its kind to offer theatre training for young people in the Chicago, Illinois area. Located on the second floor of a non-descript corner office building on Chicago's far north side, 2323 W. Devon Avenue, to be exact, it was the theatre home to thousands of young people desiring an outlet for creative expression. This innovative school for acting taught the Stanislavski Method Acting technique to its young students, a method previously only used with adult actors. Discovering the character's background and then becoming the character before going onstage was the key to the method of training provided here. Students were also given the opportunity to learn and experiment with behind the scenes aspects of the theatre, such as scenic design, lighting and sound design, as well as costuming, make up and properties. Children’s' plays such as "Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp," "Cinderella," "Peter Pan," and "Heidi" were mainstays of the theatre school During the 1960s and 70's musicals of the golden era were often produced. Rodgers & Hammerstein’s' "The Sound of Music," "Carousel," "The King and I," and "Oklahoma!" were favorites of the director during the 1960s and 1970's and were deemed appropriate for the wide age range the school served. One particular musical, from across the Atlantic, held a special place for all who performed it; "OLIVER!" by Lionel Bart in 1968 was deemed magical by local drama critics as well as local theatre teachers in the area.

Lester Netzky
Lester Netzky trained in New York City with Maria Ouspenskaya, a student of Konstantin Stanislavski. Netzky also worked professionally with other local Chicago area professional theatre companies, acting as director/producer. He supplied many local talent agencies with his students who were active in commercials, professional stage plays, and film. Shirley Netzky, his wife and partner, ran the office meticulously, as secretary, bookkeeper, seamstress, and oft times substitute mother to a hard working group of young people.

Mr. Netzky was well aware that making a life in the theatre was a difficult if not impossible one; and so advertised his school as one that would train young people in all walks of life, whether it was in the arts or another profession. Netzky truly believed that the discipline of theatre schooling at this young age was good training for life in terms of getting along with others and working together toward a common goal.

The Chicago studio
Facilities in the Chicago studio included a 150 seat custom built proscenium theatre built on the 2nd floor of the Devon Avenue building, fully equipped with the current theatrical lighting and sound equipment of the day. The small stage, though only 20 feet in width and 14 feet in depth, appeared enormous to its young actors and actresses. A Wurlitzer piano and its player, Dorothy Rawson (the director's older cousin and former concert pianist) was its only accompaniment, located below the stage to the audience's right. Accompanied by only a piano, the emphasis was placed on the young performer and not on a fully orchestrated production. A ballet division was also begun in the 1950s first headed by Melba Cordes, and later by Royal Ballet artist, Bridget Waltmann. During her tenure with Tom Thumb Players, Ms. Waltmann presented full ballet productions of Tchaikovsky's "Cinderella" and "The Nutcracker Suite Ballet."

Summer Theatre workshops, unusual for its time began in 1967 with a production of "The Sound of Music," continuing in 1968 with the afore mentioned "OLIVER!," 1970 - "Once Upon a Mattress," 1971-"Carousel," 1972-"Fiddler on the Roof" and 1973-"Oklahoma!"

The move to Arizona

In 1975, Netzky relocated to Tucson, Arizona, forever taking his Tom Thumb Players with him and leaving many young Chicago area actors with a terrible loss. Encouraged to resurrect his school, he did so in Tucson and was active until 1985, finally selling his interest and copyright of name to a local theatre teacher.

Lester Netzky died at the age of 76 in April, 1996 in Scottsdale, Arizona.

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