ROCHELLE — Vince Carney Community Theatre President Amy Frank feels like she hasn’t seen her husband, Steve, on a weekend in two years. 

Steve has taken on the role of “project manager” in turning Old Lincoln School into the Lincoln Arts Center, which will be VCCT’s new home. 

"We should've been keeping track of volunteer hours that went into this,” Amy said. “It has been enormous. A ton of hours, about $250,000, the majority of which was donated or grants. We have taken the focus of making it so people walk in and say, 'Holy crap.' We did very well with what we had.”

The Lincoln Arts Center will host VCCT’s first show, “Four Old Broads,” this month. The show opens Aug. 20 at 7 p.m. and will run at the same time on Aug. 21, 26, 27 and 28 and at 2 p.m. on Aug. 22 and 29. The show is directed by Amy Frank and Terry Camplain. 

The process of getting shows started at the Lincoln Arts Center began almost three years ago. It was supposed to open last year before COVID-19 threw things off track. 

The cast of “Four Old Broads” includes Carol Weidmann, Sally Sawicki, Jane Prunty, Dianne Jenner, Terry Dickow, Michele McClane and Jeanette V. Mingus. 

“When we were getting close to opening we started looking for a script and found this one and figured we'd have our founding members be the ones on the new stage,” Amy said. “It was a perfect fit that the people who started it all would be on stage first.”

"Four Old Broads" is a comedy about residents of Magnolia Place Assisted Living Center where retired burlesque dancer, Beatrice, and her devoutly religious friend, Eaddy Mae, team up with Maude, a woman obsessed with soap operas and planning her own funeral, and Sam, a retired Elvis impersonator, to figure out why the newest resident, Immogene, is suddenly losing her memory.

VCCT board members will be on hand before the opening show to give tours of the new space. The ticket booth and a concession stand will be up and running. VCCT will be offering five shows a year now instead of three. “Frankenstein” is planned for October and the annual gala in December will feature a radio show version of “A Christmas Carol.”

Next year’s shows are planned but not yet official. Additional entertainment outside of the VCCT umbrella will also be featured at the space going forward. 

"This can be a huge asset for the community,” Amy said. “And that was our plan. We want it to be a community arts center, not just the home of VCCT. We have plans to be able to rent out the space for wedding receptions and quinceaneras and church organizations and things like that. It will be more than just the community theatre's productions."

Amy said the opening will be “a little bittersweet” after all of the work has been put in to make the Lincoln Arts Center what it is today. Since the VCCT started, having its own venue was always talked about as a goal. 

“It's going to be a dream realized,” Amy said. “Now it's a whole different business model that gives us room to grow. We're going to need the continuing community support. It's also a huge deal repurposing a historical building. That has been a big part of the people who volunteer to help us on the weekends. It's people who went to school here, people who taught here. They're not necessarily part of the theatre group. That was the majority, but it's been a community project, not just a VCCT project."

Tickets are available for “Four Old Broads” at www.tktassistant.com/Tix/?u=VCCT. Volunteers are needed and those interested can visit vcctrochelle.org/volunteer-form.html online. 

For more information on VCCT, visit http://www.vcctrochelle.org/.