MARSHALL – The Great Escape Stage Company is putting the finishing touches on its new theatrical space downtown, in anticipation of a grand-opening event in July to launch its 2017 season. The classic American drama The Miracle Worker will be the theater company’s inaugural production in its new, larger space at 110 E. Michigan Ave., according to Randy Lake, the group’s artistic director.

Great Escape purchased the former Keystone Architecture & Antiques building in late 2016 and since then has been reshaping the interior as a black-box theater with seating for approximately 80 audience members – a substantial increase from Great Escape’s former 42-seat facility about a block away.

The building’s interior will house this new block-box theater and has been entirely updated, with new electrical and plumbing lines as well as heating and air conditioning units. For the first time since the building was constructed in 1905, it will be fully accessible by stairs and ramps for the convenience of all audience members.

Lake, a Marshall native, founded the organization that became Great Escape nearly a decade ago. One of its productions in 2014 received a Wilde Award from EncoreMichigan, which reviews productions produced and presented by professional theater companies statewide.

“We’re looking forward to a great year, even as we renovate the building and assemble our new black-box theater,” Lake said. “We’ve also put together a cast and crew for this great play as our first show of our sixth season in Marshall.”  The Tony- and Academy award-winning drama by William Gibson is a true story about the early life of Helen Keller, the widely known blind-deaf author and activist, and her visually impaired teacher, Annie Sullivan.

The show’s director, Kim Forde, held auditions earlier this year and the show is in rehearsal. Robin Kingsbury is serving as costumer. The cast includes Sarah Stiner as Annie, Rachel Doane as Helen, Max Hardy and Alix Curnow as Helen’s parents and Asher Wertheimer as Helen’s older brother. Other roles are being taken by Kat Whaley, Donna Daines, Kelley Zuck, Mike Robinson, Ken MacNevin, Emily Lemon, Adam Bielby and Juliana Gilger.

“It’s such a wonderful play, and it’s really the perfect show to be our first production in our new location,” Lake said. “After all, it’s a story about miracles – particularly expanding possibilities and new beginnings. Great Escape has seen a few miracles in the past year, so this play expresses very well how we feel about continuing our mission in Marshall. Our goal is to put on a show that is particularly special, to showcase the theatrical potential of this exciting new environment.

Performances of “The Miracle Worker” will be July 20-24 and 27-30, with the curtain at 7:00 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays, and at 2:00 p.m. Sundays.

More information about the theater company is available at greatescapestagecompany.com or by calling (269) 781-2700.

Photo: Keegan Elliott of Marshall paints in the basement of Great Escape State Company’s new space, as the theatrical company prepares the building for its latest production.