Our Next Season - 2025

Mainstage

   My Fair Lady - January/February

   Oklahoma! - June

   Jesus Christ Superstar - August

   The Outsiders - October

   The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - December

SaukSeconds

   Small Mouth Sounds - March

   Sauk Shorts - April 

   Girls' Weekend - September

Summer Family Fun Production 

   Winnie The Pooh - July

Special Events 

   Michigan AACTFest: Mockingbird - February/March

   The 24-Hour Theatre Project - May

   Plays-in-Development - July

   Pigeon Creek Shakespeare: Show TBA - November


Our Current Season - 2024

Mainstage 

   Criminal Mischief (AACT NewPlayFest) - February 

   The Last Lifeboat - May

   Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - July/August

   Anastasia: The Musical - October

   A Christmas Carol - December

SaukSeconds

   Sauk Shorts - March

   Icarus/Pandora and the Sickle Moon - June

   The Lifespan of a Fact - August

Summer Family Fun Production

   Tinker Bell - June/July

Special Events

   Teen Theatre Project: Mockingbird - April    

   The 24-Hour Theatre Project - April

   Plays-in-Development: Nothing Gold - September

   Plays-in-Development: Holiday & Sweet Life - September

​   Pigeon Creek Shakespeare: Much Ado About Nothing - November


Our 2023 Season

Mainstage

   The Play That Goes Wrong - February

   Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express - May

   Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat - July/August

   The Sound of Music - October

   Prancer - December

SaukSeconds

   Sauk Shorts - March

   Gathering Blue - June

   Rounding Third - August

Summer Family Fun Production

   Pinocchio - July

Special Events

   AACTFest: Desert Song - March

   Plays-in-Development: The House & The Lost Recording - April
   Plays-in-Development: The Lion in the Snow Globe & With Regards to Marty McFly - April

   The 24-Hour Theatre Project - September

   Pigeon Creek Shakespeare: Measure for Measure - November

​   Staged Reading: Criminal Mischief - November

   A Night of Improv Comedy - November


Our 2022 Season

Mainstage

   Cheaper By The Dozen - February

   The Secret Garden - June

   Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella - August

   Steel Magnolias - October (rescheduled from February 2021)

   The Nutcracker - December

SaukSeconds

   Tony N' Tina's Wedding - March/April (rescheduled from March 2020)

   Sauk Shorts - April

   Desert Song (world premiere) - September

Summer Family Fun Production

   How to Eat Fried Worms - July

Special Events

   The 24-Hour Theatre Project - May

   A Night of Improv Comedy - May

   Plays-in-Development: Living & The Challenge/A Shore of Abundance - July

​   Pigeon Creek Shakespeare: The Merry Wives of Windsor - November

Special Projects

   Teen Theatre Project


​​Our 2021 Season

Mainstage

   The Giver - March

   Peter and the Starcatcher - August

   Clue: The Musical - October

   Anne of Green Gables - December

SaukSeconds

   Approaching Zanzibar - April

   Sauk Shorts - April/May

   The Cemetery Club - September

Summer Family Fun Production

   Stuart Little - July

Special Events

   A Night of Improv Comedy - May

   24-Hour Theatre Project - June

   Plays-in-Development: Their Great Magic - June

   Plays-in-Development: Dessert Song & Pre-Existing Condition - June

   The Cure (at Hillsdale County Fairgrounds) - September

   Pigeon Creek Shakespeare: Shakespeare 101 - November

Special Projects

   Teen Theatre Project


Our 2020 Season

Mainstage

   On Pine Knoll Street (world premiere) - February

   Charlotte's Web - September (at Hillsdale County Fairgrounds)

   Love, Loss and What I Wore - October (at Woman's Congress Building)

   Yes Virginia, There is a Santa Claus: A Radio Play - December (online production)

SaukSeconds

   Belles - June (online production)

   Sauk Shorts - July (at Slayton Arboretum)/November (online production)

   Weekend Comedy - August (at Slayton Arboretum)

Special Events

   Living Room Monologues - March/April (online monologues)

   Plays-in-Development - May (presented online)​​

Special Projects

   Teen Theatre Project


2019

Mainstage
   Nana's Naughty Knickers - February
   Disney's Beauty and the Beast - June
   Mamma Mia! - August
   Lord of the Flies - October
   A Christmas Carol - December
Second Stage
   The Laramie Project - March
   Sauk Shorts - April
   The 39 Steps - September
Special Events

   Michigan AACTFest: The Flower Girls (Act One) - March
   A Night of Improv Comedy - May

   Plays-in-Development: On Pine Knoll Street - July

   Pigeon Creek Shakespeare: Twelfth Night - November

2018
Mainstage
   Escanaba in Da Moonlight - February
   Annie - June
   Big River: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - August
   Anatomy of a Murder - October
   A Christmas Story - December
Second Stage
   Marvin's Room - April
   Sauk Shorts - May
   The Flower Girls (world premiere) - September
Special Events
   A Night of Improv Comedy with GoProv - May
   Plays-In-Development - June
   Pigeon Creek Shakespeare Company: As You Like It - November


2017
Mainstage
   The Beverly Hillbillies - February
   Seven Brides for Seven Brothers - June
   The Full Monty - August
   The Sunshine Boys - October
   It's A Wonderful Life - November/December
Second Stage
   Doubt, A Parable - March/April
   Sauk Shorts - May
​   Does This Show Make My Butt Look Fat? - September
Special Events
   A Night of Improv Comedy with GoProv - May 
   Plays-In-Development: On Art, Trees, The Flower Girls & Twelve Wild Swans - July
   Pigeon Creek Shakespare Company: King Lear - November

2016
Mainstage
   M*A*S*H (at Phillips Auditorium)
   Tarzan (at Markel Auditorium)
   Big Fish
   Holes
   The Best Christmas Pageant Ever
Second Stage
   All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten (at Phillips Auditorium)
   A Festival of One-Acts (at Phillips Auditorium)
   The Guys
Special Events
   GoProv (at Phillips Auditorium)
   Plays-in-Development: Ember & Zombie Apocalypse: A Love Story
   The Sauk Gala: An Evening with Bud Vear 

2015
I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change
A Festival of One-Acts
GoProv
Titanic - The Musical
Plays-In-Development: Ephemera & The Inheritance
The Addams Family
The Mousetrap
The Homecoming

2014
Lost in Yonkers
A Festival of One-Acts
GoProv
Les Miserables
Godspell
The War of the Worlds
A Charlie Brown Christmas

2013
Shrek - The Musical (regional premiere)
The Apple Tree
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead
Miracle on 34th Street

2012
Sweet Charity
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
Proof
Fiddler on the Roof
It's A Wonderful Life - A Live Radio Play

2011 - 50th Anniversary Season
The King & I
The Drowsy Chaperone (regional premiere)
Twelve Angry Jurors
Frankenstein
​Scrooge - The Musical

2010
Two By Two (co-produced with Branch County Community Theatre)
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
Bye Bye Birdie
Dracula
Narnia the Musical
The Lion in Winter (co-produced with Homer Community Theatre)

2009
Plays in May
The Fantasticks
The Sound of Music
Dial "M" for Murder

2008
Disney's High School Musical
Oliver!
Escanaba in Da Moonlight
On Golden Pond

2007
You Can't Take It With You
Barefoot in the Park
You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown (revised)

2006
Belles
West Side Story
A Little Princess

2005
Steel Magnolias
The Odd Couple
South Pacific
Cinderella

2004
Greater Tuna
Plays in May 
Pippin
Our Town
The Music Man

2003
Talent Showcase
Plays in May
Footloose
Alice in Wonderland
Fall Funnies

2002
The Diary of Anne Frank
Plays in May 3.0
The Boyfriend
Damn Yankees

2001
The Miracle Worker
More Plays in May
I Do! I Do!
Grease
Fall Follies

2000
Seven Plays in May
Oklahoma!
Web of Murder
Beats Settin' Home (special concert)

1999
Jake's Women
The Sound of Music
Little Shop of Horrors
Beats Settin' Home (special concert)

1998
Noises Off
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
Beats Settin' Home (special concert)

1997
A Thousand Clowns
Nunsense II
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
Harvey
The Homecoming

1996
​Arsenic and Old Lace
Babes in Arms
Nunsense
A Christmas Carol

1995
Patchwork/How to Eat Like a Child
You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown
The Music Man
Wait Until Dark
Christmas Crisis at Mistletoe Mesa

1994
The Velveteen Rabbit
The Foriegner
Oliver!
Crimes of the Heart
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever

1993
Cheaper By the Dozen
Finian's Rainbow
Faith County
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever

1992
Annie
Jeemie (original musical)
Brigadoon (co-produced with Coldwater Community Theatre)
A Christmas Carol

1991
My Son is Crazy - But Promising
The Lottery (original play)
Camelot
Same Time, Next Year
The Ransom of Red Chief

1990
Hello Dolly
Steel Magnolias
How to Eat Like a Child
1776 (co-produced with Coldwater Community Theatre)
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

1989
The City Manager (original musical)
The Curious Savage
Carousel

1988
Annie Get Your Gun
Arsenic and Old Lace
Leader of the Pack
The Odd Couple (female version)
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever

1987
Godspell
On Golden Pond
Where's Charley?
Some Enchanted Evening
Babes in Toyland

1986
Grease
Anything Goes
The Last of the Red Hot Lovers
​Scrooge's Christmas

1985
Ten Little Indians
California Suite
Bye Bye Birdie
Death on the Nile
The Music Man
​Dinner Theatre Revue: Crème de la Crème 

1984
The Wizard of Oz
The Importance of Being Ernest
You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown
Something's Afoot
Falling Moons (world premiere)
The Sound of Music
Dinner Theatre Revue
Scrooge's Christmas

1983
The Hobbit
Barefoot in the Park
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
Oliver!
Oklahoma!
I Do! I Do!

1982
Butterflies are Free
A Shakespeare Celebration
Kalamazoo Ballet in Concert
Harvey
My Fair Lady
The Velveteen Rabbit
The Sauk Theatre Showcase
Plaza Suite

1981 - Back at The Sauk
Spring Sauk Showcase
Kalamazoo Ballet
Little Mary Sunshine - first production back at The Sauk
The Good Witch of Boston
Brigadoon
Fall Sauk Showcase
The House on the Cliff

1980
Two By Two (at Woman's Congress Building)
Rodgers and Hart: A Musical Celebration (at Woman's Congress Building)
You Can't Take It With You (at Woman's Congress Building)

1979 - Fire closes the Sauk Theatre
Man of La Mancha (co-produced with Hillsdale College)

1978
6 Rms Riv Vu
The Change of Life (world premiere)
Fiddler on the Roof (co-produced with Hillsdale College)
The Mousetrap

1977
The Sunshine Boys
You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown
Sauk Theatre Review
Guys and Dolls
The Prime of Miss Jean Brody
Peter Pan
Ten Little Indians

1976
The Moon is Blue
1776
America the Musical (world premiere)
Don Juan in Hell


1975

Come Blow Your Horn

Belles on Their Toes

Sleuth

South Pacific

Godspell

The King and I

Alice in Wonderland

Four In One

Fall Sauk Review


1974

The Odd Couple

Oliver!

The Wizard of Oz

Oklahoma!

The Fantasticks

Never Too Late

The Pajama Game


1973

Cactus Flower

A Thousand Clown

The Music Man

The Man Who Came to Dinner


1972 - First year at The Sauk in Jonesville!

The Fantasticks

110 in The Shade

Carousel

The Owl and The Pussycat


1971 - Final year at the Fairgrounds. 

The Fantasticks

Once Upon a Mattress


1970

No productions.


1969

No productions.


1968

The Odd Couple

Barefoot in the Park


1967

Blithe Spirit

Never Too Late

Goodbye Charlie


1966

Bell, Book and Candle

Guest Cottage

Send Me No Flowers


1965

Come Blow Your Horn

The Sound of Murder

Ring Around Elizabeth

A Christmas Carol


1964

The Man in the Dog Suit

The Night of January 16th

Everybody Loves Opal


1963

The Curious Savage

Four Faces of Comedy

See How They Run


1962

Joan of Lorraine

The Moon is Blue

The Girls of 509


1961 - Our First Season!

Dirty Work at the Crossroads

Pursuit of Happiness

Love, Loss and What I Wore, October 2020

Titanic The Musical, 2015

Desert Song, 2022

Rosencrantz and Guidenstern Are Dead, 2013

The Flower Girls, 2018

The 24-Hour Theatre Project, 2021

Fiddler on the Roof, 1978

Our Production History

Bud Vear Scholarship

The Sunshine Boys, 2017

The Sauk established the Bud Vear Scholarship in 2019 to honor local students who have made theatre a vital part of their lives. The recipients are: 

2024 - Meaghan Bryant

​2024 - Evalyn Gray

2024 - Stephen Peterson

2023 - Emmalynn Ambrose

2023 - Melissa Nichols

2022 - Maria Birzer

2022 - Madison Osbourne

​2022 - Isabella Smith

2021 - Morgan Blonde

2021 - Emily Crews

2020 - McKenna Dietz

​2020 - Kaylee McCoy

​2019 - Gretchen Birzer

​2019 - Lauren Routledge


For information about the Bud Vear Scholarship, please contact the Hillsdale County Community Foundation. 

Big Fish, 2016

The Fantasticks, 2009

Clint Johnson Award Winners

President - Tim Ambrose (2026) 
Vice President - Gianna Green (2027)
Secretary - Mandee Leigh Howard (2027)
Treasurer - Angie Smith (2026)
Trustees:
    Cyndi Baldermann (2026)

    Meaghan Bryant (2025)

    Allison Cleveland (2027)

    Bruce Crews (2027)
    Kristi Gautsche (2025)

    Josh Lightner (2026)

    Aaron Guest (2026)

    Tracy McCullough (2025)

    Tiffany Thatcher (2025)


Executive Director: Trinity Bird

​The Sauk Board of Directors will meet the following dates in 2024 at 7 p.m. at the Sauk Theatre, 240 E. Chicago St. in Jonesville.

  • Wednesday, October 23
  • Wednesday, November 20
  • Wednesday, December 18
  • ​Wednesday, January 15

Each year, The Sauk awards one long-time volunteer with the Clint Johnson Award in recognition of outstanding contribution to the organization. Those awarded are:

2024 - David Trippett

2023 - Janet Dunham, Susan Nawrot

2022 - Travis Blatchley

2021 - Gay Shaw

2020 - Kay Linebrink

2019 - Jody VanderYacht and Ron Jones
2018 - Kristin Hood
2017 - Joan Van Arsdalen
2016 - Kathi Boyle
2015 - Deb Smith
2014 - Peggy Youngs
2013 - Rickie Freeman
2012 - Michele Harmon
2011 - Trinity Bird
2010 - Jan Mackie
2004 - Mary Jean Dulmage
2003 - Luanne Bremer
2002 - Ron Boyle
2001 - Helen Gallup
2000 - Harland Wood
1999 - Walt Schray
1998 - Patrice Hudson
1997 - Beth Rials
1996 - Dave Rickard
1995 - Kristi Gautsche
1994 - Monty Powers
1993 - William Rials
1992 - Robert Webber
1991 - Scott Baker
1990 - Robert D. Fox 
1989 - David Holcomb
1988 - H. Paul Carter
1987 - Fran Tipton
1986 - Russ Holcomb
1985 - Gloria Vear
1984 - David Griffiths
1983 - Dr. Charles "Bud" Vear
1982 - Doug Spike

Escanaba in Da Moonlight, 2018

Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express, 2023

The Giver, 2021

Sweet Charity, 2012

HILLSDALE COUNTY'S COMMUNITY THEATRE

The Secret Garden, 2022

Our Mission

Belles (Performed Live Online), 2020

Many Thanks...

Lord of the Flies, 2019

The Sound of Music, 2023

A Christmas Story, 2018

Les Miserables, 2014

The Sauk's mission is to enrich our community through shared theatrical experiences that inspire, nurture, challenge and educate artists and audiences.

The Sauk would like to acknowledge and thank the following organizations for their support of our organization and our programming:

Board of Directors

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, 2017