This year marks the 50th year of operation for the Community Theater League. An entity that has brought excellence to the stage and enriched the cultural climate of northcentral Pennsylvania during that time at various locales.
But perhaps the best way to understand CTL’s 50 years is through the organization’s anniversary theme: “50 Years of Building Community Through Storytelling.”
The phrase captures what CTL has always been about. The productions are important, but the community created around them is just as important.
Since its founding in 1976, CTL has grown from a small community theatre operating in borrowed spaces into one of the region’s most active performing arts organizations. Along the way, the organization has produced hundreds of shows, educated generations of young performers, created opportunities for people with special needs, supported high school theatre programs, and become a longstanding part of the cultural life of Williamsport.
“Theatre gives people something real in a world where so much interaction happens through screens. It teaches empathy and collaboration, gives young people confidence, and gives adults opportunities for connection and purpose. At CTL, our mission has always been to educate, enrich, and entertain, but those ideas go far beyond what happens on stage. Theatre teaches empathy. It teaches collaboration. It gives young people confidence and adults a renewed sense of purpose and connection. Every rehearsal room becomes a classroom, every production becomes a community effort, and every person who walks through our doors becomes part of something bigger than themselves,” Seth Sponhouse, Executive Artistic Director for the CTL, told Webb Weekly.
His remarks were echoed by Kyle Huggins, Marketing Coordinator for the CTL.
“We live in a time where people are constantly being separated into sides, algorithms, opinions, and echo chambers. Community theatre pushes back against that. It creates spaces where people with completely different backgrounds, beliefs, ages, and experiences come together to create something collectively. A huge part of what we strive to communicate at CTL is that theatre is not just entertainment; it’s an opportunity for connection. The arts remind people how to listen to each other again. They remind us how to feel together. That’s incredibly important right now.”
The CTL was founded in 1976 by five local, theatre-minded businesspeople who envisioned a theatre that would be genuinely open to the community. There were no membership dues or annual meetings, and auditions were open to anyone regardless of previous experience.
An early CTL slogan captured the philosophy perfectly: “Your participation is membership in the Community Theatre League.”
CTL’s first documented production, Once Upon a Mattress, was staged in 1977 in the basement of the Lycoming County Historical Museum. In its early years, the organization moved between community venues before establishing a permanent home.
In 1980, CTL purchased the former Kingdom Hall at 1131 Washington Boulevard. Volunteers renovated the building themselves, creating a theatre that served the organization for nearly two decades.
By the late 1990s, CTL had once again outgrown its home. The organization ultimately became part of the revitalization of downtown Williamsport, moving into the Joseph McDade Trade and Transit Centre in 1999.
That move gave CTL a permanent downtown home, but it also provided something else: room to grow.
And grow it did. From producing theatre to building opportunities, over the decades, CTL’s mission expanded far beyond putting productions on a stage. Youth theatre, summer camps, classes, workshops, student productions, and high school programs became increasingly important parts of the organization.
The Ray of Light Awards began recognizing excellence in high school theatre throughout the region.
In 2015, CTL established CAST, the Community Academy of Stage and Theatre, creating year-round opportunities to learn both performance and backstage skills.
CTL also expanded its commitment to inclusive theatre. The organization became a replication site for The Penguin Project, giving young performers with special needs the opportunity to participate in full theatrical productions alongside peer mentors.
The Spotlight Program extended that commitment to adults with developmental disabilities.
CTL’s history has not been without challenges.
The organization faced an extraordinary disruption when COVID-19 shut down live theatre in 2020. Productions were cancelled and postponed, educational programming was disrupted, and CTL found new ways to remain connected with the community while normal operations were suspended. At the same time, fixed facility expenses continued.
The organization also ultimately lost its third-floor space after city officials determined that a lease amendment for the space had not received the required municipal approval. CTL had occupied the approximately 4,500-square-foot space for years, paid rent under the arrangement, and developed significant educational and theatrical programming.
The 50th Anniversary Season opened with the regional premiere of the Tony Award-winning musical “Come From Away,” a choice that is particularly fitting as the musical tells the true story of approximately 7,000 airline passengers whose flights were diverted to Gander, Newfoundland, following the events of September 11, 2001.
Other productions scheduled this season include: “Annie,” “Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery,” Thornton Wilder’s “Our Town,” and the season concludes with Mel Brooks’ “The Producers.”
The season includes Theatre for Kids, By Kids SPROUTS programming with “Peter Pan”, and The Penguine Project’s production of Disney’s “Dare to Dream Jr.”
Throughout the year, CTL will celebrate its 50th anniversary through special events and programming, culminating in a multi-generational concert production of “Guys and Dolls” on the Historic Journey Bank Community Arts Center stage.
It is going to be an extra special 50th anniversary season this year at the Community Theater League.
