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ACTS Community Theatre is a non-profit theatre company dedicated to the enhancement of life in the community through the enrichment, education and entertainment of people young and old.
ACTS has been a professional-quality theatre dedicated to helping people of all ages achieve their full potential through meaningful engagement, education and excellence in the performing arts.
Families and friends of the cast are welcome to volunteer to assist with everything from box office and concession sales to sewing costumes and building sets.
Aurora Players' Mission is to create interest in, and to foster enthusiasm for, the study and execution of the dramatic arts; to provide a medium of expression for those who have a natural love for theatre in any of its phases; and to be the means of bringing together in organized activities all those whose interests center in drama and the performing arts.
In 1934, a group of friends from East Aurora formed a drama club, gathering in their homes to explore the world of theatre through play readings. Their debut performance of Take My Advice in 1935 marked the beginning of a journey that would lead to the founding and flourishing of Aurora Players, now located in the historic Roycroft Pavilion Theater in East Aurora's Hamlin Park. From its origins at the East Aurora High School, where tickets were 35 cents, Aurora Players has become a vibrant hub for top-notch theatre. It offers a summer theatre program for children each year; three main stage productions; Theater in Hamlin Park during the summer; and a holiday show every other year. This wouldn't be possible without countless volunteers who, over the years, have done everything from painting the theater and replacing windows, to performing, directing, designing costumes and serving on the board of directors. The organization is also fortunate to have dedicated members, loyal patrons and the unwavering support of the Village of East Aurora. With over 280 productions to date, Aurora Players has showcased talent ranging from aspiring amateurs to seasoned professionals – both on stage and backstage. As a community theater, it strives to provide a platform for people with varied skills to explore every facet of a theatrical production and all are welcome.
A performing arts organization dedicated to producing live stage theater in the Town of Evans and Village of Angola.
Lake Plains Players began in 1982, when a group of local actors from the Rotary Club of Middleport, decided to continue the tradition of bringing live theatre to our community. Since then, Lake Plains Players, the little theatre company without a theatre, has committed to making quality live theatre accessible to all who live in our community. Historically, the group made the decision to welcome anyone who was interested in performing into the casts of their shows, a tradition that continues to this day. In 2014, Lake Plains Players committed to investing in theatre education at a wider, community level. A summer theatre program for students was formed, in addition to the formation of what is now known as the Lance Anderson Memorial Scholarship. Lake Plains Players continues to perform multiple shows a year, collaborating with groups like Royalton-Hartland High School and Leonard Oakes Estate Winery, who generously provide venues for performances. Today, Lake Plains Players remains dedicated to the tradition of welcoming anyone from the community who has an interest in performing into the ensemble for their fall musicals. All of the members of Lake Plains Players are volunteers from the community who freely give their time and talents to create live theater. Our dream is to continue to be able to bring quality theatre to our community and to someday create a space that we can invest in and call “our own.”
Batavia Players is an all-volunteer not-for-profit organization that has been in existence since 1934. We have recently worked closely with our City and local supporters to create an amazing venue to support our mission and our community. Located at 56 Main St, our 154 seat black box theater has already become a community performance hub. We also own and operate the Main St 56 Dance Company. Our volunteers produce and perform 12 shows a year, along with our monthly open Mic nights, our summer youth program and camps, and we host many groups and other local talent. The mission of Batavia Players Inc. is to bring affordable theater to the community by making theater accessible to everyone with a variety of quality productions, to enhance artistic growth of participants and encourage audiences to think, feel and develop an appreciation for theater. There's always something happening at the Main St 56 Theater.
For the past 92 years, the Batavia Players have been a staple of the community. Today, people from Rochester to Buffalo come to participate in shows staged by the community theater troupe.
The story of Batavia Players started in 1931 with a discussion by a group of Batavia citizens looking to do a community theater production on a regular basis. The company was started by Lucille Carr in May 1932. Batavia Players incorporated a decade later.
The first permanent home for Batavia Players was at Horseshoe Lake in 1941. It was a summer-only theater and there was a ton of activity on the lakeshore until the 1960s when the building that housed the theater burned down. That’s when Batavia Players started working in conjunction with the Treadway Inn in Batavia, which is located next to the thruway. The troupe did dinner theater shows throughout the 1960s and 1970s. Many local people were extremely supportive and it was popular to the point they would do extra dinners. After the Treadway Inn was sold to another company, Batavia Players started to do shows on the road. That continued until somewhere around the 1990s when we determined we would be doing shows on a more regular basis, so we looked for some more permanent homes in permanent places. Batavia Players had agreements with the City of Batavia School District, Genesee Community College, and the Holiday Inn.
Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, Batavia Players was doing four to five shows annually and started a Summer Youth Program. The program became so popular at the middle school, Batavia Players expanded it to the high school and then Elba. We were doing so much and had accumulated so many things and started doing classes, and so on and so forth we were looking for a location to move into more so to have rehearsals and classrooms. We got a call one day that they were trying to increase the amount of the arts in the Harvester building. The Batavia Players Board of Directors decided they would try to start a small theater with a rehearsal space in the long-time business incubator. Their costume storage could also be in the same location. The Harvester Theater space took a year to build and Batavia Players called it home for a decade.
Through the help of a DRI and Main Street Anchor Grant, and tons of fundraising, the theater was able to expand again to a larger space on Main St. with the process of new construction starting in 2020. Covid delayed construction and hampered our ability to raise money or perform shows in order to support rent and utilities in two locations, but, we made it through the pandemic and were able to finally start to move into our new state-of-the-art theater in the summer of 2023 with our Summer Youth Theater production of Cry Baby opening on the new stage. We still have work to do, but are almost there!
We have a full lineup of 12 shows for 2024 and will release our plans for 2025 by November. Check out our many goings on to include shows, education programs and dance studio on our website, www.bataviaplayers.org (and our Facebook page) often to see what we have next in store!
Opera-Lytes was founded in 1994 with the mission of staging the works of Gilbert and Sullivan. The company brings light opera, operetta, and classic musical theater to audiences in Western New York through stage performances, concerts, recordings, and educational programs. Opera-Lytes has staged productions at Lancaster Opera House, the Riviera Theatre, Ujima/Theater Loft, Springville Center for the Arts, and the Road Less Traveled; its current homes are Alleyway Theatre (spring productions) and Amherst Community Church (fall productions). To fulfill its mission of educating and sharing about operetta, Opera-Lytes posts videos of its Gilbert and Sullivan productions and pre-curtain lectures on its YouTube channel.
Established 20 years ago, Raiders of Niagara began with Randy Rumley’s love of the arts. Randy, along with his colleagues at NCCC, noticed a lack of events to share their poetry. Randy and his friends began creating events at local bookstores and colleges to showcase their work. Besides hosting and attending poetry events, Randy was also acting in and directing plays with local community theatres. During one of these events, a colleague of Randy’s, knowing his background in the arts, asked if he knew of anyone who could put on a murder mystery dinner show for a fundraising event he was holding. Although he didn’t, he was confident that he would be able to gather enough actors to create one. Working with so many different theatre companies, he began calling actors he worked with on past shows and asked if they would be interested in working on a murder mystery dinner with him. He was happy that so many said yes. The event was such a success that some of the guests asked if he could do the same thing at their fundraisers.
Between the murder mystery dinner shows and poetry events, Randy was always being asked for a card with his company’s name. Not having one, he decided it was time to create one. Working at Niagara County Community College, and with many of his poetry events being held in Niagara County, he knew he wanted Niagara to be a part of his company’s name. Now, for how to represent his theatre side. He thought back on his process of putting together his first murder mystery show, and how he kind of raided all of these different theater companies for actors and props. Playing with the word “raid” led him to the word raiders… And with that, Raiders of Niagara was born. While Randy had fun directing the murder mystery shows, he missed directing full stage shows. Randy spoke to his priest about using the church as a location for another play and, with his blessing, he was set. Randy had worked well producing and directing shows with Christine Coniglio in the past, and asked her to partner with him on this new venture. With Julie Lucia as our Stage Manager, and Dylan Coniglio handling all IT and social media, Raiders of Niagara was formed. Over the years we have produced a variety of shows - from comedies to dramas. Since Randy’s passing in 2022, our company has dedicated itself to carrying on the tradition of community theatre – staying true to the inclusive and creative beginning that Randy had started.
From 1990-2005, Douglas Kern was President and Co-founder of Stage Struck Theatre Group. A local theatre group that specialized in producing musicals. During that time Doug produced over 30 Musicals and Plays including “Camelot”, Jesus Christ Superstar”, “Evita”, “West Side Story” and “Tommy” just to name a few. In December 2005 Stage Struck produced its final musical ” Nuncrackers” and closed its doors forever. After about a year off, Doug started to get the Theatre Bug. So after some discussions and the hiring on a new production staff. Rocking Horse Productions was formed. In 2019, Rocking horse productions was recognized as a theater group in-residence by the Williamsville Arts and Culture Committee, and formed the “Theatre in the Village” season at The Meeting House in the Village of Williamsville. ROCKING HORSE PRODUCTIONS IS DEDICATED TO: Producing a broad range of theatrical presentations of the highest possible quality. Developing local talent, giving an equal chance to both seasoned and novice performers. Building an audience base that will support quality local theatrical programming. nspiring, entertaining and challenging audiences with theatrical productions that range from the classics to new works.
In 1958 the Lincoln Park Players and the Kenmore Community Players got together and joined forces to become the Towne Players of Ken-Ton. With combined talent they went on that year to produce “Arsenic and Old Lace”, “A Time of the Cuckoo” and “The Potting Shed” under the direction of the Board – President – Dr. Irving Vogel, Vice President – Doris Fuller, Corresponding Secretary – Sally Maxwell, Recording Secretary – Marge Sullivan, Treasurer – Lee Poole, Business Manager – Marie Dellas along with the following trustees – Wilson Clark, Sam Gelose, Bud Greune, Marie Dellas and Rose Marie Sutherland. They continue to offer theater for the community bringing a diversity in talent and pride in the production.
As the Towne Players continued to grow and in October 1989 they celebrated 30 years of Theater. To celebrate it was decided to put on a retrospective performance. A cast of twenty-one members – some participating for the first time, others reprising original roles from years past – they will include tidbits from “Tobacco Road”, “Lovers and Other Strangers” and “The Glass Menagerie” plus others says then President – Glenn Jumper. Some of the Actors to be seen on stage will be Orpha Flanders and Dorie Hoefler along with Jeanie Otis, Paul Sturner, John & Joan Milovich, Tom Turici, Carol Spaeth, Glenn Jumper, Mark Fredrick, Linda Hatswell, Jim Bogniewskie, Linda Casterline, Marty Bauer, Maureen Porter, Randy and Michelle Rumley, Ken Slimgen, Bill Hooley, Don Braun, and Alice & Philip Loweecey. As we start the journey of 66 years in Community Theater, we are continuing to bring forth great performances for everyone to enjoy. We continue to have our ups and downs as does any Community Theater – we survived the Year of Covid and no theater, then having to reschedule our performances due to major maintenance on the building we are housed in.
