CMU School of Drama


Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Little Lake Theatre Sails from the Family Nest

Pittsburgh Magazine - October 2015 - Pittsburgh, PA: Little Lake Theatre Company’s new artistic director, Roxy MtJoy, quotes a line from Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” when sharing her vision for the beloved venue in North Strabane Township, near Canonsburg: “Though she be but little, she is fierce!”

MtJoy, who hails from Greene County and whose directing experience includes off-Broadway and Los Angeles credits, is the first artistic director in the community theater’s storied 67-year history whose surname isn’t “Disney.” She’s determined to make her forebears proud.

1 comment:

Olivia Hern said...

I feel like this is such a unique situation to be in. In Tech Management, we recently discussed the difficulties in motivating a group of people when they are not getting compensated, which is very evident in most community theatres. There are always people who do theatre just because tthey love theatre, but it is difficult to get the level of commitment from the vital participants who have other jobs and lives at the same time. However, this company seems to have broken the mold. Besides being critically regarded, they have a huge scope of production, managing to have an impressively high number of shows over a couple of ensembles, and have over 90 people who have participated in over 20 productions. This feels like of like theatrical utopia. The atmosphere being cultivated through this company must be one of dedication to the art. The fact that such a huge company can not only exist, but thrive on a mostly volunteer basis is astounding and inspiring. If we could maintain this level of love and dedication in commercial theatre, I think even the most capitalist venture would have more heart.