My City November 2022

MYARTS

Home at Last The NewMcCree Theatre BY PETER HINTERMAN u PHOTOGRPAHY BY KATY KILDEE

Since 1976, Charles Winfrey has been passionate about the McCree e atre. “I got addicted to the creativity and the artform,” he admits. “You have to experience it to truly appre ciate it.” Founded in 1970, the “old” McCree eatre was born from the Genesee County Model Cities Program and named after Flint ’s rst African Ameri can Mayor, Floyd McCree. e original concept ran in Flint until 1989. In 2004, the “New” McCree eatre opened with the same commitment to excellence and with the new mission “to tell the African American Story in the African American Voice.” “ ere are so many stories to tell about our history that many people haven’t heard,” adds Winfrey, “and we have so much talent in Flint.” e theatre has ex celled at showing musicals, dramas, comedies, concerts and more. “Our musicals always pack the house,” says

actress and Marketing Director, Pat Scott-Hill. Since its rebirth, there was just one constant, nagging prob lem – the theatre never really had a home. Instead, shows were opened in a multitude of places such as New Standard Academy, Northwestern High, local churches and others. “We were at the mercy of the space we were in,” explains Winfrey. “It made it very hard to plan a season and when the pandemic started, we were homeless.” Backed by the Genesee County Arts Education and Cultural Enrichment Millage, the theatre still had a chance to continue, but it needed a stage. Even then, Winfrey had his doubts. “Of course, I thought about possibly shutting it down,” he says, “but we were still supported by the millage. It kept us going.” e theatre was able to raise and retain funding and when a church located on Clio Road went on the market,

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