Milestones in LTC's History
1995
First Production. LTC's first production was Camelot. With a cast of over 60 and a full orchestra, performances were held at the Lebanon High School. This was the first community theatre production in Lebanon, Ohio in over 10 years.
1996
Partnering with the Shoe Factory Antique Mall. In 1996, Shoe Factory Antique Mall owner Penny Haas, advisor at the time to the LTC Board of Directors, convinced her business partners to allow LTC to use the space on the top floor of The Shoe Factory Antique Mall as a rehearsal / performance / set and costume storage space at a special rate. This enabled LTC to establish itself.
1997
Non-profit Status. Theatre arts have been alive and well in Lebanon for the past 40 years, but The Lebanon Theatre Company was finally incorporated as a non-profit group in 1997. This means your donations to the theatre are tax deductible and the theatre may apply for arts grants.
1998
First Box Set. This may not sound like much, but when you don't have a permanent home, scant storage space and only the merest budget for sets, the construction of your first boxed set (lightweight, paintable, reusable flats) represents a milestone! It seemed costly at the time: in 1998 we spent $2,000 to build the Lost In Yonkers set. And we had yet another milestone with that show--it was our first standing-room-only, and was held over for two additional performances!
First Full Season. In 1998 LTC realized its biggest goal thus far: to offer a complete season of plays; one big musical, one straight play, and one play acted all or in part by children. Each year now, LTC presents a musical, a drama, and a comedy plus one event either acted by or for children.
First Full Season. In 1998 LTC realized its biggest goal thus far: to offer a complete season of plays; one big musical, one straight play, and one play acted all or in part by children. Each year now, LTC presents a musical, a drama, and a comedy plus one event either acted by or for children.
1999
First Orchid Awards. LTC was accepted into the prestigious Association of Community Theatres (ACT), making each LTC production eligible to be critiqued by ACT judges. Their mission is to help theatres grow artistically, and to give annual awards to the best in community theatre. In 1999, the show Wait Until Darkreceived three Orchids: two for acting, and one for the set (our first with running water!). Since then, we have received numerous awards for all areas of our work. Click to see our list of our awards to date.
2002
Twenty New Lights. Buying new lights in 2002 was a cause for celebration! Light rental costs had forced us to lose money on a few of our shows, so our goal was to own our own and reduce expenses. Thanks to the generous donations of a group of patrons known as "The Light Brigade", LTC continued moving toward its goal of investing in itself.
Recycled Seats. Realizing that the existing white folding chairs were uncomfortable for our audience, we set out to find something better. We quickly found that new chairs were not in our budget, but after searching for quite some time, we found used banquet chairs that we could afford, and that would offer a better experience to our audience.
Original Production. 2002 was Lebanon’s Bicentennial and in honor of the event, LTC applied for and received a $2000 grant from the Fine Arts Fund to commission a play about the women who contributed to Lebanon’s history. LTC board member and accomplished writer Jill Davis, researched and wrote an original play called Leading Ladies of Lebanon which we produced to standing room only crowds over the 2002 Labor Day weekend.
Recycled Seats. Realizing that the existing white folding chairs were uncomfortable for our audience, we set out to find something better. We quickly found that new chairs were not in our budget, but after searching for quite some time, we found used banquet chairs that we could afford, and that would offer a better experience to our audience.
Original Production. 2002 was Lebanon’s Bicentennial and in honor of the event, LTC applied for and received a $2000 grant from the Fine Arts Fund to commission a play about the women who contributed to Lebanon’s history. LTC board member and accomplished writer Jill Davis, researched and wrote an original play called Leading Ladies of Lebanon which we produced to standing room only crowds over the 2002 Labor Day weekend.
2003
Warren County's Bicentennial. In 2003, Warren County celebrated its Bicentennial. Once again LTC received a $1000 Fine Arts Fund grant to compile a musical review about the county’s history. Each night of the show highlighted a different city/region of the county.
2004
First Excerpt. Each year the ACT holds an excerpt festival. Local theatres present 30 minute clippings from one of their shows for the season. In 2004 LTC entered an excerpt from The Fantasticks. This was our first excertp entry for ACT. Not only did we win many awards there, we were selected to represent the region at the state contest, where we received four awards.
2005
Christmas, Travelocity & Busloads. In 2005, we included included in our season a Christmas show for the first time. The Best Christmas Pageant Ever was another sold out show. In March, the internet travel service Travelocity named LTC as one of 10 places in Ohio called Local Secrets/Big Finds. Another first was a tour bus group who attended our production of The Octette Bridge Club.
Lebanon Chamber of Commerce. In May 2005 the Lebanon Chamber of Commerce recognized LTC by naming us the Community Organization of the Year for 2005. We are honored by this award and are striving to work harder with the business community to bring more folks to Lebanon to enjoy our shops, stores, restaurants, heritage areas, and, of course, plays.
Lebanon Chamber of Commerce. In May 2005 the Lebanon Chamber of Commerce recognized LTC by naming us the Community Organization of the Year for 2005. We are honored by this award and are striving to work harder with the business community to bring more folks to Lebanon to enjoy our shops, stores, restaurants, heritage areas, and, of course, plays.
2006
Brand New Seats. Noting that our used banquet seats had seen better days, and having been very good at saving our pennies, we took the plunge and replaced all our theatre seats with high quality, industrial grade, cushioned chairs.
2007
Website Makeover #1. In Spring of 2007, our website received its first major makeover.
2010
Move to New Location. In late February of 2010, we moved out of our 14-year location on the 3rd floor of the Shoe Factory Mall, and signed the lease for a single level facility on 10 S. Mechanic Street in the heart of downtown Lebanon, Ohio. Click for a brief newspaper article on the move.
First Production in New Location. Within 3 very, very busy months of signing the lease, we put on our first production in our new theatre: seven performances of Pippin over May 14-16 and 20-23.
First Production in New Location. Within 3 very, very busy months of signing the lease, we put on our first production in our new theatre: seven performances of Pippin over May 14-16 and 20-23.
2016
Website Makeover #2. In February of 2016, our website received its second major makeover.
2019
In March of 2019, we purchased our theater facility at 10 S. Mechanic Street!
