HOLYOKE – The National Players, America’s longest–running touring company, is coming to Holyoke to perform “Around the World in 80 Days,” a 2013 play written by Laura Eason, based on the novel by Jules Verne, and directed by Jared Mezzocchi.            

This is not the first time that National Players, a company with a 70–year history exhibiting early-career theatre artists and bringing theater to areas with limited access, has visited Holyoke. In 2017, the company performed the “Grapes of Wrath,” in Holyoke and last Spring they brought, “The Great Gatsby,” to the area.                 

Michael Moriarty, president of One Holyoke CDC, an affordable housing development non-profit, first suggested the idea to the Massachusetts Festival of the Arts’ (MIFA) Victory Theatre in Holyoke of bringing the National Players to the city. This project fit MIFA’s goal of bringing the arts to Holyoke.

The previous two shows, like the upcoming “Around the World in 80 Days,” were presented by OneHolyoke CDC, MIFA Victory Theatre. This time it is with the added support of Holyoke High School Theater and Media Literacy, and a grant from the Holyoke Cultural Council.

Proceeds from the performance will benefit  Holyoke Public School Theater Department.

MIFA is working to restore the Victory Theatre, a 1,600–seat theater built in 1920. It was one of seven Broadway-style theaters that had been built in Holyoke, and the last one standing. A product of the period in which it was built, the theater is detailed in art deco design, marble staircases, Tiffany glass, and murals by New Deal–era artist, Vincent Maragliotti.

“It’s the last theater of that kind left in the Connecticut River Valley,” said MIFA’s CEO Donald Sanders.

The theater was closed in 1979 and remained derelict until it was purchased by MIFA in 2009. Through a combination of public and private funds, including a recent $13 million bond issued by the state, Sanders said they are is working to restore the theater.

MIFA’s goal is to have The Victory Theatre reopen in time for its 100th birthday in December 2020, a goal Sanders said they are on track to accomplish.

“We have been steadfast in persevering,” Sanders said. MIFA has accumulated 64 percent of the funding needed to renovate and open, he said.

The performance will be on May 3, at 7 p.m., at William R. Peck School in Holyoke. Sanders said the venue is important, as is the moderate ticket price of $20 for general admission and $10 for students.

“High school students in Holyoke don’t necessarily have an outlet to see these productions,” said Sanders. Having access to a production by the Nationals Players fosters, “a connection between high school-age students and people getting into that field,” he said.

Sanders said that when the Victory Theatre is open, part of its mission will be to help train high school and college-age actors. In addition to bringing economic vitality to the city, Sanders said MIFA wants to, “make sure culture and the arts take root in Holyoke.”