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LAMP-LITE THEATRE opens its 36th Season in the East Texas area with six top rate shows, chosen to showcase some of our remarkable
Lamp-Lite talent.
History of Lamp-Lite Theatre
IN 1971 Lamp-Lite Theatre began life in the rented parish
hall of Christ Episcopal Church. Drawing from the dense pool
of local talent, Sarah McMullan put together a troupe of actors who brought first-rate
productions to the tiny stage at Christ Church.
In 1976 the
Lamp-Liters joined with other artists in the area to form the City
Spirit Arts Center out of the old Phelan Warehouse. Mother
Nature brought torrential rains and floods during the seventies
which resulted in the warehouse theatre being declared in a flood
plain. For the next year, the Lamp-Liters went on the road
with dinner theatre productions at the University and at local
restaurants. Meanwhile, the City of Nacogdoches offered a land
lease for the new theatre home, our present location on Loop 224 and
Old Tyler Road.
Actors and friends took down the old warehouse theatre,
board by board and brick by brick, to reassemble, add to, and
finally raise the Lamp-Lite Theatre. The lights went
on May 19, 1979, with The Last of the Red Hot Lovers opening
the new theatre. Built
almost entirely by volunteer labor and a few generous professionals,
the theatre has steadily grown. New wings were added: dressing rooms, storage space, etc. Grants from the Meadows Foundation, Temple-Inland, Southland
Pineywoods, and the Junior Forum came just in time for sorely needed
space. Another grant
from Southland Pineywoods and matched locally, upgraded our sound
equipment.
The
present intimate auditorium comfortably seats 216. Each row is elevated above the one in front so that every seat in the house
is a good seat. Area artists and
photographers exhibit in the lobby for each show, while other
scenic artists, painters, carpenters, etc. create an ever changing panorama as settings for the
plays. In 1995 Lamp-Lite
started a tradition of producing a big summer family musical with a
wildly successful production of Oliver! An equally popular presentation of Annie followed
the next year, only to be topped by The Wizard of Oz in 1997. Both Annie, Oz and Oliver!, and The Sound of
Music were brought back as perennial favorites, and Lamp-Lite
introduced Bye Bye Birdie, Anne of Green Gables, Snow White and
the Seven Dwarfs, Seussical the Musical and Annie Warbucks to East Texas audiences.
Volunteers join the ever-broadening number of participants of the
community theatre, acting on-stage, running lights, building and
painting sets, making music, dancing, parking cars, working the box
office, ushering, putting together publications, mail-outs, grant
applications, benefits. "It’s all part of the show at
Lamp-Lite,” said Lamp-Lite Director, Sarah McMullan.
Each season spotlights off-Broadway and on-Broadway musicals,
comedies, dramas and occasionally a premiere presentation of an
original work by a regional playwright. Children’s classes and plays, Christmas plays, and mystery
dinner theatres are icing on the cake.
List of Plays
Poster Gallery
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