It's no accident that after almost 60 years and 840 productions, amid tales of shows halted by fireworks or by wildlife wandering into the box office, the Little Lake Theater Company opens its anniversary season with "Laughing Stock," a comedy about a small theater's season gone awry.

"I love this play; it's so familiar," said Sunny Disney Fitchett, Little Lake's artistic director for 16 years.

She and her husband, Rob, the theater's managing director, have maintained the legacy of Mrs. Fitchett's father, Will Disney, who founded the North Strabane theater in 1949 and was its heart and soul through 344 productions as actor and/or director.

"It's so Little Lake ... everything from the jokes about how the Coke machine isn't giving the correct change to lighting problems. They're all familiar to Rob and me, and I hope the audience likes it.

"Anyone who has a smidge of familiarity with the theater will love it,'' she said.

There was a great deal of affection to go around last Sunday, when the company put on "The World's Greatest Cast Party," inviting anyone who'd ever been involved in a Little Lake production.

About 250 former actors, directors, stage hands, apprentices and crew joined the current company for hors d'oeuvres, cakes, drinks and funny stories about the former farmyard theater.

Carol Lauck and Charita Nemec, longtime actors/directors/board members, were co-chairwomen of the event.

The party included a 45-minute entertainment portion -- these are performers, after all -- that was warm, funny and, especially, self-effacing.

"I think I was born alongside a litter of kittens in the barn," joked Mrs. Fitchett, 51, of Mt. Lebanon, who literally grew up playing in the narrow back hallways of the theater.

"My dad did not so much create a place, as a family," she said.

The cast party included songs -- the apprentices sang their version of "It's a Hard Knock Life" from "Annie" -- and citations sent by Gov. Ed Rendell and state Sen. Barry J. Stout, D-Bentleyville.

There was even a "speedy delivery" from Mister Rogers' Neighborhood.

Actor David Newell, known to generations of kids and their parents as Mr. McFeely, served as honorary chairman of the event.

He recalled starting out at "The Lake" in 1959 as prop man, a step up from his previous job as Bimbo the Clown.

"I haven't been back here for at least 25 years, and a lot has changed," Mr. Newell told the audience last Sunday.

"What hasn't changed is the energy of the people here. It was the best time of my life."

One of his early productions was working on "Blithe Spirit," and it was Mr. Newell's job to hide under a large ottoman and pull the cushions off, which were attached by fishing line, on cue.

No one counted on a big Fourth of July celebration taking place nearby. As fireworks boomed in the darkened sky, "Blithe Spirit" was halted due to the thundering din.

Mr. Disney suggested the audience step outside to watch, and when the noise abated, the show would go on.

But not everyone took him up on the suggestion, which meant Mr. Newell had to stay hidden beneath the furniture until the show resumed.

"I was under that sofa for at least an hour and half," he said, laughing.

David Disney, Mr. Disney's son, reminisced about those who have died who were part of the Little Lake scene, quoting actor Jack Lemmon: "Death ends a life, but not a relationship."

The list included Mr. Disney; actor/director Bob Jones; and Mr. Disney's mother, Edith Disney. It was she who found the McDowell family property not far off Route 19 at Donaldson's Crossroads. The barn and silo, sitting next to what was known then as Alcoa Lake, became the first theater and box office.

For its first five seasons, Mrs. Fitchett said, 45 plays were performed in the present rehearsal/storage barn with dressing rooms in the former horse stalls.

The present building still holds a rustic charm, its intimate theater-in-the-round stage area bordered by a low wooden partition. Among the 1,287 actors who have performed in main stage productions is Mrs. Lauck, who made her debut at Little Lake in 1966 after moving from New York.

"The first play I did out there, Sunny was 9 years old and I played her mother," she said. "I've been her pseudo-mother ever since."

Mrs. Lauck, a former Mt. Lebanon resident who now lives in North Strabane, hasn't slowed her pace. This season, she has a role in "Steel Magnolias," she will direct "Lend Me A Tenor" and she'll do the costumes for "The History Boys."

Mrs. Fitchett is directing "Laughing Stock," which runs Thursdays through Sundays until Saturday. Among her actors is Art DeConciliis, who, like so many other Little Lake veterans, also directs productions.

It's all in the family -- sometimes literally. In 1967, Bob Jones directed "Absence of a Cello," casting his daughter, Mary, and David Disney.

The two began dating, and they'll celebrate their 38th wedding anniversary this summer.

At 16, Ben Fitchett, Mr. and Mrs. Fitchett's son, has had his share of Little Lake stage work.

"When he was about 7 years old, he said, 'Mom, when you and Dad decide not to run Little Lake anymore, do you want me to run it?' " Mrs. Fitchett recalled.

She said she was touched ... until her son added, "Well, I've decided I want to run Little Lake, but I want to turn it into batting cages."

The Fitchetts are happy to keep Little Lake going. Noting that she's about a third of the way toward her father's total number of productions, Mrs. Fitchett gave a little stage gasp and said "Oh my god, I'm going to have to work until I'm 90."

For more information, visit www.littlelake.org.