A History of MCT
The Methacton Community Theater (MCT) is a 501(c)(3) family-oriented, non-profit performing arts organization that has been active in the Montgomery County area for over forty years. Established in the summer of 1977 by Methacton School District faculty and staff, our goal was to raise money for student college scholarships while bringing live entertainment to the Worcester, Lower Providence and Collegeville/Trappe areas. Originally, performances of the blossoming community theatre were held in the Arcola Middle School and Methacton High School auditoriums. MCT spent many years rehearsing at the original Worcester Elementary School and then transitioned into a building in Trappe that was used for both rehearsal and performances. Performance venues moved throughout the years, to the Perkiomen Valley Middle School East auditorium and now the Shannondell Performing Arts Center. Performances were primarily musicals beginning with our first production of Carousel during the summer of 1977. Soon MCT branched out to performing straight plays such as Plaza Suite, Arsenic And Old Lace and Brighton Beach Memoirs to name just a few, and in March of 2024 performed our first cabaret.
Providing quality performing arts to the public costs money. There are expenses for royalties, sets, props, etc. In the late 70s and early 80s, generating revenue from performances was challenging. In those days, a production was considered successful if it broke even. Our 1983 production of Cole Porter’s Anything Goes, for example, made a total $65 profit. Throughout the years, MCT has embarked on a variety of ventures to raise funds. One holiday season in the 1980s, the must-have toy was the evasive Cabbage Patch Doll that was in scarce supply on store shelves. A then MCT member donated a doll that was raffled off as a fundraiser. In the 80s and early 90s the MCT Travelers group took the entertainment to the people by performing skits, dances and songs at various places throughout the community, including such venues as the Soroptimists Club of Blue Bell, Normandy Farms Estates, the Harleysville Senior Center, Jeffersonville Apartments, Meadow Wood, Trinity Lutheran Church and TLC Ushers Association, East Norriton Township Municipal Building and the Lower Providence Municipal Building Recreation Departments. Contracts for Travelers performances and meticulous notes supplied from MCT members at the time showed the Travelers group raised anywhere from $50 to $200 a performance. We have held 50/50 raffles in the lobby at performances to raise money for our scholarship fund. For many years we ran a Bingo Night to raise funds for performances. Of course a small amount of funds are raised annually from our membership dues, which some members have gotten free for life by being awarded lifetime memberships after years of service in various areas, such as various committees, production staff, stage crew, etc. In recent years, our Annual Trivia Night and Gift Basket Raffle has become our main fundraising event.
At the MCT start, all actors had to supply their own suitable costumes for our performances. Props were brought in by any performer who happened to own (or knew someone from whom we could borrow) what was needed for a production. Sets were built for productions and then dismantled and discarded at the end of a show run. Over the years, we have formed committees to manage costumes, props and set building. As MCT grew, it became evident that some type of affordable storage facility was needed. MCT has had a variety of locations for storage over time and after the last building MCT was renting was lost due to sale of the building, we forged a great relationship with the Variety Club Camp in Worcester, PA. This wonderful charity rents us storage in addition to their recreation hall for two productions a year. In return, MCT provides costumed characters, story tellers, carolers and a candy dispensing machine for their fundraising events, initially for their annual Fall Festival (now defunct) and now for their annual Holiday Lane event. Both MCT and the Variety Club Camp are significantly enriched by our relationship.
MCT began to build scrap books of performance photos and memorabilia, such as show programs. It is here that the current MCT History Committee would like to thank Brenda Hunsberger, our former historian, for her tireless efforts and creative genius in putting together so many of these books. As we began to try to digitize our history, we wanted to preserve her efforts and creativity from those books. She alone took on the responsibility that required the work of an entire committee to complete. Thus, the early performances in our digital history consist of photos of her scrapbook pages. You can enjoy perusing the pages and see more detail by zooming in. Later shows were digitized from the start and may be easier to view without zooming.
The Shannondell Performing Arts Center provides an amazing theater space with its state-of-the-art acoustics that create a beautiful clear sound. Since beginning performances at Shannondell, musicals have again become a staple for MCT to make full use of their excellent performance center. Lend Me A Tenor was scheduled as our first non-musical offering at Shannondell for the spring of 2020. However, due to the COVID pandemic, the production was put on hold but eventually opened on the Shannondell stage in the spring of 2022. Early on, productions were three show runs for one weekend only. We have since expanded to performing six shows over two weekends for most productions.
As mentioned earlier, COVID interrupted our scheduled performances of 2020 and 2021. During that time, MCT did not take a hiatus. We recorded several productions and sold tickets for online viewing, including an original production written by one of our members, Elizabeth Majewski. Performers and crew were kept safe with the use of clear masks and see-through dividers, split screens depicting two performers within a scene but filmed separately, and other creative methods. As the pandemic waned, we held a production of Twelfth Night in the outdoor theatre at the Variety Club Camp as a fundraiser for the Variety Club Organization. Throughout the COVID period, productions that were put on hold continued to practice via videoconference and small rehearsal groups with social distancing to be prepared for when we could finally open up a new season on stage.
Our season currently consists of five productions per year. We perform three shows a year at the Shannondell Performing Arts Center in Audubon and two shows per year, including a youth production, at the Variety Club Camp Recreation Hall in Worcester. Our Youth Theatre production is dedicated to the involvement of children and teens in all facets of the theatre arts. This program has been a staple in the MCT seasons. The youth program emphasizes theater education as it prepares young actors to join the larger productions in the near future. MCT has continued to provide scholarships every year since its inception to graduating high school seniors who have been active with the Methacton Community Theater and are planning to continue their education.
A list of shows from MCT’s start can be found on this history site, as well as a list of former presidents of MCT and some of the lifetime membership recipients. The MCT History Committee hopes you enjoy our history documented here and the writers of this brief history hope you have enjoyed our accounting of MCT.
Diane Balog, Ken Brown and Lauren Franz