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Little Theatre is very conscious of its legacy. With 101 seasons on the books, it’s among the nation’s oldest continuously operating community theatres. The group began in 1923 during the “little theatre” movement, a reaction to the poor quality of touring shows being sent here. It quickly graduated from play readings in living rooms to full-fledged productions at area schools. By the 1940’s, big Broadway musicals were on the bill, leading to the purchase of a closed movie theatre in the city’s North End. It was converted for live performance in 1956 and remains Little Theatre’s home.
Today, the theatre offers a year-round season featuring four Broadway musicals with live orchestra, dramatic and comedic plays, a one-act festival of original local works, a Christmas production, and a free summer Youth Workshop culminating in the production of a school-age musical. Special events manage to find their way onto the theatre’s busy calendar as well; in 2023, fundraisers for CASA of Luzerne County and the county’s Law Library Association.
Ten-year General Manager David Parmelee notes that Little Theatre has a dual mission. “First, we offer a wide variety of very high-quality live theatre to our neighbors in NEPA, in a historic setting, at a very affordable price. We like to call it, ‘Broadway in your backyard.’ On the other side of the curtain, we give talented local actors, theatre designers and craftspeople, and musicians a welcoming place to do what they love. You can write poetry alone, even sing or play alone, but you can’t do theatre alone. We provide the theatre.”
He credits Little Theatre’s success in the modern era to broad community support that helps offset rising production costs. “The cost of producing live theatre is surprisingly high, even though casts aren’t paid. We’ve been delighted to host record audiences before and after the COVID shutdown, but ticket prices still don’t cover it all. The support of local businesses, generous individuals, and charitable organizations like The Luzerne Foundation makes the magic happen.”
Working together makes our community stronger. If you have a cause near to your heart and want to make a difference here in Northeastern Pennsylvania and beyond, please call us at the Luzerne Foundation or visit www.luzfdn.org for more information.
Do you want to make our community better? So do we. Let’s do it together.
Because of you and for you, we are … Here for good.™