Susan and Dean Susan and Dean Domeyer recently purchased the Boothbay Playhouse. In addition to revamping the theater, Dean Domeyer plans on relocating the Boothbay Animal Hospital to the Route 27 property. (Photo Kristoffer Roveillo)

That the Boothbay Playhouse now belongs to Susan and Dean Domeyer should thrill the Y-Arts group, who will soon be calling the theater their permanent home.

"It’s going to be so fantastic," said Director Ginny Bishop. "To have it turned back to what it began as is just dynamite. I’m giddy."

But pet owners should be equally excited, with Dean Domeyer’s decision to relocate the Boothbay Animal Hospital to the Route 27 property sometime next fall.

"It’s the perfect piece of property [and it] was very amenable to me relocating," said Dean Domeyer. "We have modified [the present hospital] down there as much as we can. It was time to build a new facility."

The new hospital, to be built to the south of the playhouse, will provide better access and increased parking.

As for the playhouse itself, the Domeyers’ purchase ensures the continuation of a long-standing theatrical tradition.

"There was that fear that it would be lost as a theater," said Susan Domeyer.

Not only will theater continue at the playhouse, it’s likely to blossom.

The space’s basement, currently occupied by unused horse stalls, will be converted into dressing rooms, space for a scene shop, storage room, and a green room providing actors with access to both sides of the stage.

Up above, removable tiered seating platforms will be brought in for performances, improving the audience’s sight lines.

"It’ll just make it so much more enjoyable for anyone that gets here and doesn’t get the first five rows," said Susan Domeyer.

"It will be much more theater-friendly," added her husband.

Longer-term projects include insulating the space enough to ensure that performances can last into December, when an annual holiday production is in the works, starting in 2006 with a musical version of Charles Dickens’ "A Christmas Carol."

And aside from the physical work, there are the plans.

Susan Domeyer envisions a kick-off party this spring, complete with a concert and dinner theater event.

Next summer she hopes to begin a two-to-three week theater day camp for kids, culminating in another dinner theater performance.

Eventually, she’d like to see the camp include a residential aspect, perhaps in a partnership with Camp Knickerbocker.

"I think it would be a really great combination of both resources," she said. "The whole Y-Arts program is integral to my enthusiasm for this place. They’re such a great group of people."

The Domeyers themselves are admittedly ecstatic about their new acquisition.

"Can I sleep at night? Do I think about it all the time?" Susan Domeyer asked rhetorically. "It’s hard not to be enthusiastic." Indeed, and the applause may already be well on their way.