The venue is even rented out for various uses. But that same auditorium — previously known as the performing arts center — hosted a booming drama department 25 years ago.

Shortly after Gladstone’s new high school opened in fall 1999, Dottie Ford, the school’s guidance counselor, asked Ken and Lorna Benson to take over the high school’s drama department. While the old Gladstone High School had a drama department, nobody seemed to have the experience needed at the new location.

Both Ken and Lorna were involved with Players de Noc in the early 1960s; Lorna and Ken appeared in “My Fair Lady” in 1968 and in two productions of “Fiddler on the Roof” in 1972 and 1997. Ken even had the starring role as Kris Kringle in “Miracle on 34th Street” in 2002. While they stopped acting in the 2000s, they continued to be involved in Players de Noc throughout their time at the high school.

The pair even received the Elinor Benedict Arts Achievement Award at the Bonifas Arts Center’s annual meeting in October 1998.

Allie Waselovich as the Fairy Godmother in "Cinderella and the Twelve Princesses," a production during the 2000s at the Gladstone High School's performing arts center. (Photo courtesy of Lorna Benson)

On their first visit to the high school’s auditorium, the Bensons discovered the stage needed re-configuring. The layout was poor, it had no green room for makeup and dressing, and nobody was available to operate the booth’s lights and sound. The auditorium wasn’t built to be a performance hall, but the Bensons saw immense potential.

Before the Bensons arrived, the existing drama department only had about six people who were in the previous year’s play. The program had no costumes, no organization and no funds. Along with re-configuring the actual auditorium, the entire department was in desperate need of structure and guidance.

Luckily for the school, Ken and Lorna were up for the challenge. It took everyone’s effort to pull the program together, but their efforts were extremely successful.

Lorna would become the director of plays, or the drama director — dramas, comedies but no musicals — and designer of costumes.

“She had a marvelous crew of moms who were great seamstresses!” Ken said.

The cast of Gladstone High School's production of "The Inner Willy" in spring 2005: Carrie Andersen as Aunt Louise, Erica Tauzer as Aunt Hester, Jessica Masters as Aunt Olga, Kris Kohtala as Willoughby Adams, Marcus Whitmer as Inner Willy, Ashley Fyhr as Marybelle Turner, Laura Simmonds as Carol Martin, Kristen Bialik as Janet Marshall, Samantha Dahlberg as Trudy Marshall, Matt LaFleur as Mike and Nathan Bennett as Stanley Clark. (Photo courtesy of Lorna Benson)

Ken supervised set construction, the booth and other activities. As a handyman, he designed and built many sets. As a team, they turned the drama program around and set it up for success for many years to come.

Upon the theater’s opening, the Bensons realized the technical booth within the auditorium was among the best among high schools in the area. The couple, who were still members of Players de Noc themselves, were successful in recruiting some “techies” from that group to help students get it up and running.

The Bensons worked with the space they had to remodel the auditorium, but it still had no green room, no storage, no wing space or fly space. It had one elevator built in a corner of the stage to assist handicapped students in accessing the orchestra pit. While there was no orchestra at the school at that time, the Bensons had the forethought to build a removable floor on the stage for a future orchestra.

While others may have viewed it as setbacks, the Bensons saw opportunities to grow.

“We made it work by putting makeup on in the hallway, finding bathrooms to change in and used the pit for many of our flats and props,” Lorna said.

Ken and Lorna Benson get ready for their parts in Player de Noc's 1997 production "Fiddler on the Roof." The couple performed in the 1972 production as well. (Daily Press file photos)

During Ken Benson’s time at the center, he built countless sets for the students.

“We had some pretty awesome sets and did about 14 productions, including for the children, ‘Raggedy Ann,’ ‘Aladdin,’ ‘Beanie and the Bamboozling Book Machine,’ ‘The Twelve Dancing Princesses,’ which was a crazy rewrite of ‘Cinderella,’ and from ‘Wind in the Willows,’ ‘The Mad Adventures of Toad’ and an old melodrama, ‘Mrs. Wiggs and the Cabbage Patch,’ where we sold fresh cabbage and recipes during intermission. My husband built the most awesome sets,” Lorna said.

The full list of productions the couple directed includes 13 shows. The Bensons remember every play and the effect each had on their students.

“Those students were so dedicated and creative and never failed to amaze us,” Lorna said. “We were very proud of all our students, and my mantra was we were a team effort, we were equal and there were no prima donnas allowed.”

In 2006, Lorna could no longer participate in the program due to health complications. Ken stayed on to help with construction and various sets.

Lorna said of her years working in the center, “When we began, we had $500, about 50 (people) in our first audience, and it grew very quickly.”

Seven years after the Bensons took on the challenge, the department was averaging 1,600 ticket sales per season, they had installed a costly projector system, left $6,000 in funds in the bank and had 120 participants in one production, included stage hands, costume designers. They had designed temporary dressing rooms and costume rooms for the kids to utilize even after they were gone, along with 60 flats, professional makeup and costumes plus additional lights.

In short, they turned an auditorium into a full performing arts center.

“It was theater 24/7 for seven years,” Lorna said.

Kenneth Taylor, a Northern Michigan University graduate with a degree in theater and entertainment, took over the department after Lorna retired. He remained the for about three to four years.

The Bensons have kept almost every program from their productions in organized envelopes to go along with countless photographs and cut-out articles about their plays.

The pair’s love for the arts and the many kids they taught is apparent when they talk about that time in their lives.

Amongst other achievements, Lorna was a chair for the 1979 Breath for Life Campaign for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation in Michigan; the Delta County Representative for Youth for Understanding, a program that helped foreign exchange students find homes in Delta County, in 1980; and president of the Delta County Community Concert Association in 1987.

She also served as the program developer for the Bonifas Fine Arts Center in the mid-1990s until she was hired as Gladstone’s drama director.

Ken was a fifth-grade teacher and principal at Jones Elementary in Gladstone, served as the president of Bay de Noc’s Choral Society for several years, was Gladstone Kiwanis Key Club advisor, named president of the Powers-Spalding Lions Club in 1984 and more.

Now in their 80s, they have fond memories on their time at Gladstone High School. “We say that seven years was the most fun, the most creative and one of the most rewarding in our almost 60 years of marriage,” Lorna said.

With the former performing arts center marking 25 years, Gladstone High School has plans to potentially reviving the drama department, Principal Andrew Jacques said in a written statement.

“Since I’ve been back at Gladstone, we’ve been promoting the idea that every student should be involved in something at GHS. Being part of a club or activity makes this place feel like home and gives students a reason to be here. Our goal is to provide opportunities for all students to succeed in whatever interests them,” Jacques said. “For some, that might be the drama club, and I’d love to see it start back up. When students show interest in a particular area, we do our best to create opportunities so they have a place to grow and be the best version of themselves.”

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Sophie Vogelmann can be reached at 906-786-2021 or svogelmann@dailypress.net.