The Dunes Turned 75 This Year. Why Does Its Stage Still Go Dark Every Winter?

Between FY2022 and FY2025, the Dunes Arts Foundation took in nearly twice as much money and sold almost four times as many dollars' worth of tickets. Even so, the theater on Shady Oak Drive will close for the winter after this month, as it does every year. The Foundation says so directly: "We close our theatre for the winter months, but have events all through the year at various venues nearby."

Audiences and revenue have grown, and the 1941 building still sets the limits of the season. Half of the Foundation's 75th-anniversary fundraising goal is set aside for making that building usable year-round. The anniversary gala, meanwhile, is in Westville, following the same pattern as the Dunes' other off-season events at venues outside Michiana Shores.

The Audience Problem Got Solved First

The Foundation's FY2025 annual report includes a four-year income chart. Comparing the first and last columns shows how the money changed:

In FY2022, tickets, concessions, playbills and education brought in about $37,557, roughly 30% of income. By FY2025 those same lines brought in about $140,447, or roughly 58%. Over the same period, foundation grants dropped from $41,200 to $5,400. The theater now earns most of its budget from people buying seats and drinks, not from grant cycles.

According to the report, the 2025 season drew twice as many patrons as 2024, and season ticket sales rose substantially. The Foundation also expected to finish the year in the black, as it had for the three seasons before. Its Musical Theatre Intensive enrolled 30 students that summer, the most so far.

The 2026 anniversary season built on that. It ran Ira Levin's Deathtrap, Terrence McNally's Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune, and Avenue Q. A concert version of Jesus Christ Superstar, which Artistic Director Steve Scott called the most popular show the Dunes has ever presented, played three performances in August. September brought the Fourth Annual New Plays Festival. In August the Dunes also started a new series called Hidden Gems, staged readings of lesser-known contemporary plays followed by audience discussion. One of them, John Logan's Never The Sinner, was read on September 14. Spotlight on Lake reported that Avenue Q closed the landmark mainstage season with performances through August 9.

A Building From 1941 Sets the Calendar

The theater is older than the Foundation. According to the Dunes Arts history page, it was built in 1941 to bring "a taste of Hollywood to Michigan City," and in its early years it was a summer home for faculty from Chicago's Goodman School of Drama. In 1951, local teacher, playwright and Goodman-trained artist Nora Tully MacAlvay founded the Dunes Arts Foundation, pairing youth education with community theater. She served as artistic director for more than 30 years. The company became fully professional in the late 2010s.

Today the campus has a 200-seat auditorium, an outdoor performance area, a patio with bar service, parking, and cabins for visiting artists and interns. The 2026 season there ran from Deathtrap in late May through the New Plays Festival in late September.

The Next 75 Years campaign is a $3 million effort running from March 2026 through March 2029. It's split into three parts:

• Education and scholarships, $500,000: youth scholarships, expanded youth and adult classes, and community programs
• Operations, $1,000,000: living wages for artists and theater professionals, plus staffing and production support
• Capital building improvements, $1,500,000: safety, accessibility and code upgrades, patron comfort, and "infrastructure enhancements for long-term, year-round use"

Half the goal is for the building. The campaign page says it aims to "stabilize and improve our historic 80-year-old theatre for safe, accessible, year-round use." The Foundation's campaign brochure describes the need in general terms: ongoing maintenance, audience amenities, and improvements to production areas. No published list of specific projects has turned up, and neither has a public total of money raised. For now, the campaign is a set of goals the Foundation has announced, not work already underway.

Where the Dunes Goes in the Off-Season

Because the theater closes for the cold months, much of the Dunes' off-season work already happens at other venues. In November and December 2025, the Foundation partnered with Michigan City's Holdcraft Center on two off-season events. The December one was a holiday program, A Season of Spirits: Christmas Ghost Tales Old and New, featuring Dunes actors from the Michiana area. In March 2026, local writer Zachary Mark's Second Glance, first read at the Dunes' 2023 New Plays Festival, got a full production at the Holdcraft Center.

The anniversary gala follows the same pattern. As the LaPorte County Herald-Dispatch reported, Stardust 2101: The Next 75 Years is a fundraiser set for The Great Hall at Purdue University Northwest in Westville. The playbill bills it as a night of "cosmic elegance" with a 1970s glam rock theme.

October on Shady Oak Drive

October is the theater's last stretch of the year. Here's what's on, with times in Central time as the organizers list them:

1. Saturday, October 3: The 75th Anniversary Alumni Revue played at 288 Shady Oak Drive. It's already past.
2. Saturday, October 17, 7 to 11 p.m.: Drag at the Dunes: Halloween Spooktacular at the theater. Drag at the Dunes started in 2025 with shows in October and April featuring local drag artists and guests from the Dunes staff and board. As of today, it's the last public performance at the theater on the Dunes' calendar.
3. Saturday, October 24, 1 to 4 p.m.: The Park Boosters' 2nd Annual Chili Cookoff at the Michiana Shores Volunteer Fire Department, 911 El Portal Drive.
4. Saturday, October 24, 6 to 10 p.m.: Stardust 2101 at The Great Hall, Purdue University Northwest, 1401 US 421, Westville.

The cookoff ends two hours before the gala starts, so you could go to both on the same Saturday.

After the Gala, No Public Dates Yet

As of October 11, the Dunes' public events page shows no classes, readings or holiday performances after October 24. Its only November listing is an Education Committee meeting. No 2027 mainstage season has been announced. In the annual report, the Foundation said the 2025 Holdcraft evenings went well enough that it plans more off-season programming in 2026 and 2027, but it hasn't announced any dates. The Foundation suggests joining its mailing list to hear about events as they're scheduled.

Until then, the closest scheduled holiday event is in Michigan City. Its Festival of Lights runs December 5, 2026, through January 10, 2027, with a parade on December 5 at 5 p.m. For news on winter events at the Dunes, the people to watch are Producing Artistic Director Steve Scott and Managing Director Elise Kermani, who lead the Foundation's staff.

We'll keep following the Next 75 Years campaign as the Foundation announces building projects. If you'd like to talk about life near the Dunes, or about a cottage within walking distance of Shady Oak Drive, the Chad Gradowski team would be glad to hear from you. Let's Connect.