An Open Letter About Community Theater

*this might be a bit of a celebration AND a bit of a rant*

I have been associated with community theaters literally as long as I have been in theater. I was a part of the community theater scene in Albion long before it was officially named, branded, and a thing. We met in the middle school cafetorium and produced fun shows. My first show with the community theater was The Philadelphia Story at Chain-O-Lakes State Park.

Community theater is in my blood.

When I moved to Bloomington and decided not to pursue theater as a degree (which is another blog post), I immediately found the local theater group to find “my people.” Community theater people, in my opinion, are what is right about a lot of communities. And, in Monroe County Civic Theater, I’ve found people I love that work so hard to make good art for our community.

At the same time, I often feel like community theater is dismissed as somehow less than, both by other theater groups, and by the community. There is this perception that community theater is somehow less, when the reality is – it’s so much more. Yes, it might not always have fancy sets (although MCCTs current show has a great set), the costumes might be hodgepodge (but we have excellent costume designers that work actual magic with basically no budget), and the tech might not be quite Broadway-quality (but I will fight anyone for our current tech team as they are phenomenal). The actors are top notch, the shows are carefully selected, and the work is done both behind the scenes and on the stage.

But finding audiences is still hard. Why? I wish I knew. I wish I could force people to give MCCT a chance. Maybe they had a bad experience in the past. Maybe they have a pre-conceived idea what community theater is like. Maybe they think it’s something they have to tolerate instead of celebrate. I don’t know, but I wish I did.

Right now, MCCT is getting ready for the second (and last) weekend of Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike. The cast is one of the best I’ve seen assembled. We are in a real theater using a real set with real costumes and real lights. It is a complete theater experience.

And yet.

We are finding it hard to fill up the house. We are finding it hard to be people in the seats. We are finding it hard to make sure people see this show and the hard work that has happened for the last several weeks is celebrated. And honestly, it breaks my heart a little (or a lot) for this cast and crew. They deserve to be performing to full houses. They deserve to hear the laughter and pull at the heart strings and know that this thing that they do FOR FREE BECAUSE THEY LOVE IT is worth the sacrifice of their time, their energy, and everything else.

So, if you’re a Bloomington-local (or local-ish), what can you do?

• Celebrate your community theater.
• Say thank you to the local actors, artisans, craftspeople and tech lovers who make shows happen.
• Get involved by supporting your theater with donations.
• Share social media posts and emails.

And maybe, most importantly? Get tickets to the show. Show up in the audience. Laugh, have fun, and enjoy yourself. (You can get tickets to Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike at mcct.yapsody.com.)