On February 1, 1936, the new Shorewood Auditorium was opened in Shorewood, Wisconsin. The building design was based on the RKO Theater in New York City and was considered one of the finest school auditoriums in the nation. Shortly after the auditorium's opening, a Shorewood theater troupe called The Play Shop, which debuted in 1930, made the new auditorium its home. This group evolved into The Shorewood Players in the early 1940s.
From 1930 to 1938, Virginia C. Bell directed the productions of The Play Shop. When she moved to Tennessee, Curt Haensel became the director of the plays performed within the framework of the Dramatic Department of the Shorewood Opportunity School; this included directing The Shorewood Players. A native of Germany, Haensel traveled to Milwaukee in 1929 and joined the German repertory company at the Pabst Theater. Before his American visit he had been trained in the Hamburg Arts theater and in the Leipzig Civic theater. After a few years at the Pabst, Haensel returned to Germany where he became involved in German cinema. When World War II became imminent, Haensel and his family immigrated to the United States, coming to Milwaukee in 1939. He remained the director of the Shorewood Players Theater for 33 years, directing 147 productions.
In 1976, The Players reorganized under the Adult Recreation Department of the Shorewood School District. In its recent history, the Players have focused largely on producing musical theater although this is not documented in the collection.
