Schaumburg On Stage founder to retire

Nearly 20 years and exactly 31 productions after she founded Schaumburg On Stage, producer Carol Lynch and her daughter Kerrie Noah are preparing to turn the wildly successful youth theater company over to others.

Their swan song will be a production of "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat," which debuts at 7 p.m. Friday, at the Prairie Center for the Arts, 201 Schaumburg Court in Schaumburg.

"I do see a future for Schaumburg On Stage, which I'm very happy about," Lynch said. "So many people are interested in taking it over. I don't think there'll be an interruption."

She and her daughter are stepping down this year because Lynch wants to spend more time with her retired husband and Noah now has three children of her own, in addition to being a full-time teacher.

The idea for Schaumburg on Stage started after Lynch had already been teaching at Dorothy's Dancing Unlimited for 15 years. Her older daughter drove her younger to a theater audition in Lombard, and both got cast. When Lynch went to see the show she was dazzled by its quality and inspired to do something just as good.

While there were several adult theater troupes in the area, none catered to teens and young adults.

Their first production, "Annie," was named Best Musical in the Northwest Suburbs by the Daily Herald that year, Lynch said.

While the first show set a high bar when it came to the size of its cast, sets and dancing numbers, it was a precedent Lynch was happy to live with. She said it kept Schaumburg On Stage in a different category than even what local schools were doing.

"We did everything to a little higher level," she said. "I never even cared about someone doing the same show two weeks before me."

Lynch believes both actors and audiences will continue to be drawn to Schaumburg On Stage productions as long as that standard of quality is maintained. She said she's even willing to serve as a consultant for the next few shows.