Member Spotlight – McPherson Community Theatre
The McPherson Community Theatre began in the 1970s and was known at that time as the Theatre Guild. Sometime between the 1990s and 2000s it became the McPherson Community Theatre. Typically they do three shows a year – a summer musical, the summer camp, and a fall drama. Their summer production this year is going to be “Chicago,” which will run June 20th-22nd and June 27th-29th.
The kids summer camp the McPherson Community Theatre has occurs in July and is for those ages 10-15. Although the show for the 2025 summer camp has yet to be determined, it will be performed at Brown’s Auditorium on the campus of McPherson College. The summer camp is such a fun week for the kids. Skye Colaw, Community Theatre board member, was the director for the kids camp show two years ago. She said, “It’s so good. I mean, if you want to see kids just being kids and having fun on stage, like come see the show. Get your kids into the show. It’s super fun.” Matt Lehman Wiens, also a Community Theatre board member, added “It’s an all-day camp and on day one they have auditions. Five days later they put on the show. So the kids really get to see what it is like to be part of a theater production in a very concentrated, exciting venue.”
Skye will be directing the fall drama this year AND at Chamber Connections she announced for the first time what the fall production will be. Drumroll please! … “Dial M for Murder,” the Hatcher version! She said, “It’s a newer version but it still has the same twists and turns as the original. And I’m really excited to do it.”
Throughout the year the McPherson Community Theatre has fundraisers. Matt shared that just getting the rights to the shows can be $5,000-$10,000. “That really adds up,” he said, “and then we’re building sets, we’re paying directors, we’re paying stage managers, and so on.” Their next fundraiser will be a Pre-Paddy’s Pint Night on March 14th at Three Rings Brewery. There will be live music and you can enjoy a St. Paddy’s themed menu. For every pint that is bought that night, Three Rings will donate $1 to the Community Theatre.
When Skye and Matt were asked what theater means to each of them Skye said, “So for me personally theater is a sense of belonging. If you are a person who is creative and theatrical and a little bit over the top and you don’t necessarily have an outlet for that cause you’re maybe not a sporting person. And so basketball isn’t like the place that you belong. So finding theater, finding people who are also like into the same things that you are and want to sing show tunes at random times … it’s that. It’s a family, it’s a community, and it’s creative expression. So that’s what it is to me.”
“For me,” Matt said, “I think it’s the fact that it’s a very temporal living experience. Each show that you see, things can go wrong at the drop of a hat. When things go right it is electric! Because there are live people on stage, I think there’s a closeness between the people on stage and the people in the audience that you don’t get when you see Tom Hanks on screen.” He added, “But seeing someone that you know, step on the stage as somebody else and then you forget. You forget who they are in real life and they’re suddenly somebody else and then they come off stage and they’re never that person again. That temporary change is so beautiful and addicting to me. I can never get enough of that.”
The McPherson Community Theatre will be holding auditions for their summer musical on March 29th and 30th. So if you like to act, sing, or dance … don’t be shy … audition for a part! Matt ended by saying, “We recognize that the community theater element is not just the community of people that are making the show happen. It’s the community around us. The community around us that is investing in what we do. The community around us that is coming to the show. That’s the last most important thing you can do to support us, come to the shows. Enjoy live theater. And I think live theater is something that draws people together and especially for McPherson, it makes our city special.” For updates on what the McPherson Community Theatre has going on, visit their Facebook page. To see photos from Chamber Connections hosted by McPherson Community Theatre go here.
