About Us

Our Mission:
To provide an equal opportunity for individuals to actively participate and learn about live theatre production and theatre company operations; thereby providing a live entertainment experience for its theatre patrons.

History

1980

Our history is rich in community involvement some of our endeavors have been: ‘Chorus Time’ (a singing troupe for various community functions), a reader’s theatre hour, The Enchanted Forest (an annual Halloween event in association with the City of Independence and the George Owens Nature Park), our annual food booth at the Independence Arts and Crafts show, involvement with the Santa-Cali-Gon festival. In addition, we held annual kite flying contests, an annual Christmas and ‘Spiriting’ party (to heighten our Christmas spirits) and at one time we fielded a volleyball team. And more recently: annual Playwright Festival, a softball team for participation in fund raising for cancer research, food booth and roving actors for the Powerhouse Theater Foundation’s Powerpalooza carnival.

Sermon Center

1991

The City Theatre of Independence performs their plays in the Powerhouse Theater, named such in 1991 (other suggestions included; The Old Spring Theater and The Pioneer Playhouse), located in the Roger T. Sermon Center at the SE corner of Truman and Noland roads. In our 30 plus years, we have performed 100’s of plays and musicals from standards to the original and unique (we once killed off city officials in ‘Death by Chocolate’). Our first production was, ‘Plaza Suite’ on July 17th, 1980. The first organizational meeting of City Theatre was on August 19th, 1980.

Chicago

2000

In 2000, the Missouri Association of Community Theatre, the state’s community theatre organization, was inaugurated and CTI was one of the founding members. CTI hosted the first MOACT festival in 2002 and subsequently won the 2003 Best Play ‘Taking Sides’ by Ronald Harwood and Best Director, Nancy Eppert, awards. City Theatre is also a member of the American Association of Community Theatre.

2018

The History of the City Theatre of Independence, Part 1

Steve and Donna Kennedy recount their memories of the early years of the City Theatre of Independence.

The History of the City Theatre of Independence, Part 2

Joyce Stone and RJ Parish discuss their involvement in the City Theatre of Independence.

2019

The membership of City Theatre has grown from the 20 members listed at the first meeting to over 400 lifetime and subscription members.

Through the years City Theatre has become more than just a playhouse, we have become a gathering place for people of various backgrounds and experiences to join in friendship and the mutual goal of making our community a better place.

Board Members

President

Lynnae Andersen

Vice-President of Production

RJ Parish

Vice-President of Operations

Aaron Wilson

Treasurer

Tammie Caley

Board Secretary

Robin Carroll-Dolci

City of Independence Representative

Rose-Marie Carlson

At-Large

Shane St. James, Lizzie DeShaw, Mike Hadley, Aaron Stokes, and Chae Wall

Education

OPEN

Special Events

Chair – Mary Morris

Fundraising

OPEN

Costume Manager

Chae Wall

Powerhouse Theatre Foundation Representative

Lynnae Andersen & Shane St. James

Box Office

OPEN