ARENA PLAYERS"Long Island's oldest and finest resident professional theatre."
          Anyone familiar with theatre on Long Island knows the name Arena Players. Almost
  single-handedly, they brought theatre to the island at a time when the suburbs were just
  beginning to develop an idea of their own.  The idea of the Arena Theatre stretches back
  over more than fifty two years, but the company was actually first formed in 1950 in the
  little town of Clairton, outside Pittsburgh, where Artistic Director Frederic DeFeis headed
  the drama department at Duquesene University.

          After being sponsored by the Young Republicans Party and the Italian-American
  Instructive Club, Frederic DeFeis sought an institution that would provide a home for
  Arena Players.  He walked into a YWCA in downtown Brooklyn, saw a large meeting hall
  surrounded by folding chairs on four sides, and immediately approached the managing
  director with a plan to bring live theatre to the women in residence and to the downtown
  Brooklyn community.  Thus the Arena Players found their first home on Long Island.

          From 1959 to 1963, Arena Players took up residence in its second location, Idlewild
  Airport.  "Theatre-in-the-Skies" it was called. What better name is there for a theatre
  company that performs on the fifth floor of an airport control tower?  The years at Idlewild
  Airport (now JFK) in Queens brought Arena closer to a whole new audience, privileged to
  attend shows in the most unique theatre in New York.  The company was endorsed by
  Governor Rockefeller and frequently drew an international audience of travelers in waiting.  

          The years 1964 through 1968 saw a first for Long Island:  Arena Players offered their
  first taste of dinner theatre.  The troupe performed in numerous restaurants such as
  Jordan's Town Café in Deer Park, Brightwaters Beach and Cabana Club in Brightwaters,
  and Mimi's of Awixa Pond in Islip.  Summers in the Sixties were also spent performing
  under tents in Greenport, Bay Shore, Southold and Deer Park.

          Theatre in the Library became Arena's next venture.  Deer Park, South Huntington,
  Syosset, Northport, Hewlett-Woodmere - name the town and chances are Arena played
  that library.  Starting in 1968 and for the next four years, Arena toured the Island with
  numerous productions.  Nassau Repertory Theatre (later Long Island Stage) was origin-
  ally founded at this time by Arena while performing in the early 70's at the Island Concert
  Hall in Mineola.  It was to be the popularity of these library and touring shows and the
  crowds they drew which helped lay the foundation for a permanent home.

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