Question: John Kenley, was an American theatrical producer who pioneered the use of television stars in summer stock productions, his Kenley Players company was described by Variety as "the largest network of theaters on the straw-hat circuit.", it was an Equity summer stock theatre company which presented hundreds of productions featuring Broadway, film, and television stars in Midwestern cities between 1940 and which year?
Context: California Musical Theatre is the largest nonprofit arts organization (primarily producing musical theatre) in the state of California and the city of Sacramento's oldest professional performing arts organization.  Its summer stock theatre, Music Circus, has been producing Broadway-style musicals since 1951. The Southern Appalachian Repertory Theatre (SART) is a not-for-profit summer stock theatre company that performs in the Owen Theatre at Mars Hill College in Mars Hill, North Carolina.  It also hosts an annual playwright's conference known as ScriptFEST.  It was founded in 1975 by Jim "T" Thomas, Chairman of the Fine Arts Department of Mars Hill College.  The current Artistic Director is Bill Gregg, who also teaches theatre at Mars Hill College.  It combines the performing talents of Equity Actors, local professionals and students from the college. The College Light Opera Company (CLOC) is an educational summer stock theatre company based in Falmouth, Massachusetts on Cape Cod.  It produces and performs 9 operettas and musicals during a 9 week season each summer with performances taking place in Falmouth's historic Highfield Theatre. Mountain Playhouse is Pennsylvania's oldest professional summer stock theatre company and is located in Jennerstown, Pennsylvania.  Housed in a restored 1805 gristmill, the theatre was founded by James Stoughton in 1939.  It produces musicals, farces, and dramas each summer and also hosts productions by Theatreworks USA.  As stated on its website, the theatre employs "actors from Actors' Equity Association, directors from the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, and musicians from the American Federation of Musicians."  Mountain Playhouse has employed many actors from the nearby Pittsburgh theatre scene, New York City, and Washington, D.C. John Kenley (February 20, 1906 – October 23, 2009) was an American theatrical producer who pioneered the use of television stars in summer stock productions.  In 1950, he was the first producer to desegregate live theater in Washington, DC.  In 2004 he was made an Honorary Life Member of Actors' Equity for his contributions to American theater.  His Kenley Players company was described by Variety as "the largest network of theaters on the straw-hat circuit." In 1991, seven years after meeting in a summer stock production of "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" in Shamokin Dam, Pennsylvania, Dan Murphy and Sharon Maroney (married), along with fellow performer Matthew Ryan (a native of Tigard, OR) and his partner Joseph Morkys, decided to move from New York City to start a summer stock theatre in Tigard.  The team pooled their savings of $21,000 and in November 1991, Broadway Rose Theatre Company was incorporated as a 501(c)(3).  In the summer of 1992, the first season of Broadway Rose Theatre Company was performed at the Deb Fennell Auditorium at Tigard High School.  The company produced five mainstage shows and a children's show in eight weeks, with an average audience of 32 people per performance.  The company lost $8,700 in its first season, but the following year the fledgling company received a $3,000 grant from the Metropolitan Arts Commission (a forerunner of the Regional Arts & Culture Council), to help bring the organization out of debt.  In 1993, the company produced "Oklahoma! " with no funds—putting the entire payroll on Dan's personal credit card.  The situation resolved itself as audiences picked up.  In 1994, the company received a $4,000 grant from the Metropolitan Arts Commission.  Audiences averaged 132 people per performance that year—a 313 percent increase from 1992.  In 1995, The Collins Foundation provided the company a $5,000 grant, allowing Sharon Maroney to become the company's first paid employee.  Platt Electric Supply became Broadway Rose's first title sponsor in 1996, providing a new level of stable funding (they would stay on as a title sponsor through 2012 when Harvey Platt sold the company).  In 1997, co-founders Matthew Ryan and Joe Morkys left Broadway Rose and returned to New York.  That year Broadway Rose held its first drama camp for young performers aged 8–11.  Also in 1997, Shoshana Bean, who would later become famous for portraying Elphaba on Broadway in the musical "Wicked""," starred in the Broadway Rose production of "Bye Bye Birdie."  The company's offices moved from Dan and Sharon's home to a Platt Electric Supply branch office in 1999.  Later that year, the Sherwood Arts Council contracted Broadway Rose to produce "Broadway Goes Hollywood", a fundraiser for SAC held at the historic Robin Hood Theater in Sherwood, OR.  Broadway Rose's annual budget rose to around $175,000 with ticket sales accounting for just under half of the total, and Dan's general manager position officially became funded, making him an employee rather than a volunteer. The Kenley Players was an Equity summer stock theatre company which presented hundreds of productions featuring Broadway, film, and television stars in Midwestern cities between 1940 and 1996. " Variety" called it the "largest network of theaters on the straw hat circuit."  Founded by and operated for its entire lifespan by John Kenley, it is credited with laying the groundwork for Broadway touring companies. Paul Gilmore (1873 – 1962) was a popular stage actor of the late 19th and early 20th centuries who also appeared in no fewer than 10 silent films.  Additionally, he owned and managed for many years the Cherry Lane Theatre in New York City – giving work to such future stars as Robert Walker Sr., Jennifer Jones and Carl Reiner.  In his declining years, he and his daughter, Virginia, operated the Gilmore Summer Stock Theatre in Duluth, Minnesota. Summer stock theatre is any theatre that presents stage productions only in the summer.  The name combines the season with the tradition of staging shows by a resident company, reusing stock scenery and costumes. Summer stock theatres frequently take advantage of seasonal weather by having their productions outdoors or under tents set up temporarily for their use. The Stony Creek Puppet House is a theater on the shoreline of the Stony Creek section of Branford, Connecticut, near New Haven, a stone's throw away from the famed Thimble Islands.  Built in 1903 as a movie theater, it became the home for community theater and summer stock productions.  Orson Welles staged his short-lived stage production, "Too Much Johnson", at The Stony Creek Theatre in 1938.  After operating as a parachute factory during World War II, it became a puppet theater.  The building is a Connecticut Historical Landmark that awaits renovation and restoration.
Answer: 1996