Staff at American Players Theatre ‘elated’ to receive Regional Theatre Tony Award

Sam Swartz, WMTV15

SPRING GREEN, Wis. (WMTV) - The American Players Theatre (APT) announced Tuesday it had received a regional Tony Award, the most prestigious recognition in theater. Managing Director Sara Young said her team was thrilled, surprised, elated and a little overwhelmed by the news.

The theater sits in Spring Green, a town with just over 1,500 people, but has been launched onto the national stage.

“It’s completely and utterly amazing,” said Brenda DeVita, artistic director at APT. “It’s 47 years of hundreds and hundreds and thousands of people who have worked here.”

Young said the Tony Awards focus mostly on Broadway theater in New York, but each year, one special Tony Award goes to a regional theater that has contributed over time to the growth of the business.

“It’s a special little place here in these hills,” Young said.

The professional theater features an outdoor amphitheater on 110 acres of woods and puts on nine plays from June to November. APT fills its seats with nearly 100,000 people every year.

“People that come to work here or people that come to see plays here are intentionally coming here because they like it here,” DeVita said.