Park Playhouse has been producing free, outdoor summer shows at the Lakehouse in Albany’s Washington Park since it began in 1989. By the early ’90s, the Playhouse was already attracting large audiences, and the City of Albany transformed the hillside opposite the Lakehouse stage into a stepped amphitheatre that allowed comfortable seating for more than 2,000 people.

Recent productions have included Thoroughly Modern Millie, The Producers, and Annie. In 1995, the Park Playhouse II Youth Theatre Training Program was created to help train future generations of theater artists, and in 2006, the Park Playhouse Kids after-school program was initiated to bring theatrical training to young students throughout the Albany area.