Published March 21, 2025

Reno Little Theater Celebrates 90 Years of Community Theater

by Dennyse Sewell

All of us who live in the Truckee Meadows region are incredibly fortunate to have access to a wide range of cultural and entertainment opportunities. We are blessed with so many talented, creative community members whose leadership, dedication, and vision have helped shape the fabric of our hometown. For a prime example of this, look no further than Reno Little Theater.  Founded in 1935, Reno Little Theater (“RLT” for short) has been producing community theater shows for 90 years – that’s right, 90 years – which earns them the significant honor of being Nevada’s longest-running community theater.

For anyone who may not be entirely familiar with the concept of “community theater,” it typically features the talents of volunteer performers in theatrical productions that are presented by nonprofit community organizations. These volunteer performers are often a living embodiment of the community itself, representing a broad spectrum of demographics including age, ethnicity, gender identity, life experience, and personal background. Community theater productions create opportunities for citizens to directly engage with creation, including costuming, set design, technical production (lighting, sound), and of course the art of acting itself. For all of these reasons, community theater shows are best when they are created by the community, for the community.

 

Like so many nonprofits all across the country, RLT is managed through a collaborative effort of Board members, staff, and volunteers. The organization’s ability to survive and thrive for so many years is a testament to the energy, passion, and hard work of literally thousands of people who have kept the creative fires burning since 1935. Today’s leadership team at RLT includes a dedicated Board of Directors and skilled staff who work side by side with their truly visionary Executive Director Melissa Taylor. I sat down with Melissa to learn a little bit more about the past, present, and future of Reno Little Theater.

Melissa, tell us a bit about yourself and what shaped your love of performing arts in general – and theater specifically. What was your educational and professional journey that led you to the role of Executive Director of Reno Little Theater?

(M.T.) Theater has been a part of my life for as long as I remember. I just happened to be born into a family of performers - my father a guitarist, my mother a dancer, my aunt a thespian. My very first role was at the age of 4 and I kind of never stopped. I was lucky enough to attend a high school in New Jersey that had a stellar theater program and then went on to study theater in college. After college, I took a slight detour and found myself in ticketing and venue management in Atlantic City, but when I relocated to Reno - 3,000 miles away from everyone I knew and loved - I knew that I’d find “my people” in the theater community and jumped right in as a volunteer and performer at both Reno Little Theater and Good Luck Macbeth. Everyone was so welcoming and I knew that I found my new “home.” I’ve been really lucky to call RLT my professional home now for over 10 years and like to think that I’ve grown with the organization- something I plan to continue! 

Reno Little Theater is celebrating an astonishing 90 years in operation. For anyone who doesn’t know about RLT, can you give readers a brief overview of this community treasure?  How and why was the organization founded?

(M.T.) One of the things I love most about working for Reno Little Theater is its incredible legacy. RLT was founded in 1935 by Edwin Semenza. He and some friends wanted to bring theater to the Biggest Little City and did so during the time when theaters were popping up across the country: The Little Theater movement. Lots of people think our name comes from the “Biggest Little City” moniker or from the fact that our theater is not very large, but it actually comes from the time period we were formed in. And now, our theater, which is slowly but surely becoming not so “little,” is celebrating our 90th birthday in October. I like to think that Ed and the founders would be thrilled to see their company still going and growing! 

With a legacy extending back to the mid 1930s, I can’t help but be curious about the historical records and documentation of the past nine decades.  Are there any interesting nuggets from RLT’s past that you can share with us, including photographs, archival memorabilia, or names of famous local personalities who performed in RLT shows?

(M.T.) We are so lucky that the University of Nevada, Reno Special Collections actually houses a lot of archival material for RLT. You can find programs, photos, newspaper articles, posters, and more dating all the way back to the very first season there. In fact, later this fall, they’ll be hosting a special retrospective which showcases some of that memorabilia and we’ll be adding new items to the collection from the last few decades. As you can imagine, with 90 years of history, there are so many incredible stories and images to share. I’ll never forget the first time I visited the collection - I was just overcome with emotion! It’s so clear from poring over those artifacts that the mission and vision of RLT has always been about creating exceptional art with and for our community.

 

Do you have a record of the total number of shows RLT has produced over the last 90 years? What were some of the titles in that very first opening season?  

(M.T.) Yes! If you can believe it, we do have a list of every single show RLT has produced starting with “Three Cornered Moon” in 1935. The first season was made up of seven productions which also included “Goodbye Again,” “Cradle Song” and “The Trial of Mary Dugan.” To date, we’ve produced nearly 2,000 productions for tens of thousands of performances! As part of celebrating our 90th season, we’re actually in the process of trying to review all of these lists to make sure we aren’t missing anything. As you can imagine, there is so much information to collect and from so many sources. In addition to our mainstage seasons, there have also been staged readings, second-series shows, and children’s theater productions that we need to make sure have been added to the full list, too. I can safely say that we’ve impacted hundreds of thousands of people in Reno over the last 90 years - which is pretty incredible. 

Which titles have been produced the most often throughout RLT’s history? Are there any perennial favorites that have stood the test of time and that you’d consider staging again in the future?  

(M.T.) We try to make sure we’re producing work that speaks to our community today, but there are definitely some titles that have stood the test of time and have been produced at RLT more than once. Some of those favorites have included “A Christmas Carol,” “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown,” and most recently “Dial M for Murder” which we produced this season as a sort of tip-of-the-hat to our past. 

RLT has occupied a few different theater spaces over the years prior to building your own new theater from the ground up. Since the opening season in 1935, where were each of those past locations? What does it mean to RLT’s future now that you have your own permanent home?

(M.T.) RLT’s first shows took place at UNR and we’ve had several homes over the years including a facility on 7th & Sierra St. as well as Hug High School. In 2011, we broke ground on our permanent home at 147 E. Pueblo Street and that was a game-changer for the organization. The stability of owning our own space has allowed us to expand our staff and programming. I daresay, we’ve once again reached the point where we’ve outgrown our current space and we’re having some pretty exciting conversations about what RLT might look like in the next 10 years. We’ve already expanded some of our programming off-site and have toured a few productions to Carson City - so, we’re getting creative and looking for more ways to expand our artistic “footprint.” 

 

Your 90^th anniversary mainstage season is a fantastic mashup of familiar favorites, new works, and one very kitschy roller-skating disco musical.  What goes into selecting RLT’s season lineup?  What sorts of considerations help shape your programming each year?

(M.T.) RLT plans our season in a way that’s not like most theaters and it’s something I’m really proud of. Lots of companies have a single Artistic Director who is tasked with coming up with the artistic vision of the season, but we do it in a more collaborative way. We actually have an Artistic Leadership Committee (made up of seven community and staff members) who read a number of shows, discuss them, and then ultimately choose the slate together. Because we’re a community theater, we’re always striving to create a season that will speak to a broad range of audience members. I always say we are trying to do “something for everyone and everything for no one” which essentially means that we don’t expect a single person to feel emotionally connected to every single show in our season. We hope they’ll enjoy them and think we did a good job of producing the shows, but we don’t expect that everything will resonate with everyone. If it did, we probably aren’t doing our job or meeting our artistic goals. One of the most important things about theater, to me, is that it helps build bridges. Theater can teach empathy and create connections as we learn about one another - so to me, choosing a season which celebrates diversity in many forms is so important.

 

In addition to your mainstage season, RLT also has a thriving education division. What types of education programming can people find at RLT?

(M.T.) RLT has had educational programming going back to the 1940s, so we were thrilled to relaunch the Education program in 2015 after we settled into our building. Our year-round program offers camps, classes, workshops, and productions for students ages 8-18. We just wrapped up a new Shakespeare class called “Beginning Bard” and are now in rehearsals for our Teen Musical: “Hadestown, Teen Edition.” Nothing brings tears to my eyes faster than hearing our students sing! Some of these kids started with us at 5 years old and are now driving themselves to rehearsals and applying for college. It’s so surreal. Those older students are now mentoring our younger students and working at our camps and it’s just fabulous. 

Your theater is host to much more than just your own programming. Can you tell us a little bit about the different collaborations and guest presentations that are also brought to life on the RLT stage?

(M.T.) There’s honestly something happening at RLT almost every night of the week. We have a few resident companies who have called our space home for several years including Latino Arte & Culture, Ageless Repertory Theatre, For the Love of Jazz, and Crocodile Nixon Improv Troupe. These groups produce their own incredible seasons, and we help present their work in our space. We also rent our space to community members for concerts, speaking engagements, stand-up comedy, and more. We’ve even hosted baby showers and a prom, if you can believe it! We really want RLT to belong to the whole community - so we do our best to keep the space accessible for community members. Basically, if we don’t have an event booked, we’ll work with you to make yours happen in our space. 

The world has changed immeasurably over the last 90 years, and yet RLT is still going strong. What is it about community theater that you think gives organizations like RLT such staying power?  

(M.T.) We have a sign in our admin office that says “PIVOT.” I’m dating myself, but it’s from an episode of “Friends” where Ross, Chandler, and Rachel are trying to carry a couch up an awkward set of stairs and Ross just keeps yelling “Pivot! Pivotttt!” Anyway, that’s our motto. It’s silly, but I think that’s what it takes to keep an organization going for 90 years: a willingness to pivot. We aim to meet our audiences and our artists where they are - not to dictate it. We open ourselves up for constant evaluation and do a lot of “checking in” with leadership, volunteers, and other stakeholders. We admit when we can do things better and we genuinely try to make adjustments as we go. I think that’s what it takes. What works one day may not work the next and that’s ok. In fact, it’s probably a good thing. I don’t think RLT would still be in operation if it held too tightly to the beliefs it held in the thirties - and I think that the founders (and certainly the people who came before me) knew that, too. I hope that our willingness to adapt and expand will keep RLT around for another 90 years. 

If people are interested in getting more involved with RLT, what are their options – whether as a volunteer, a patron, a performer, or a donor?

(M.T.) There are so many ways to get involved with RLT. First, I’d say, come see what we do! Tickets are available on our website (https://www.renolittletheater.org/) or by calling our Box Office at (775) 813-8900. If you like what you see, come get involved! We’re always looking for volunteers to work front-of-house or behind-the-scenes. We’re also always looking for artists to come work with us as actors, directors, designers, stage managers, and educators. You can literally contact any staff member (including me) or our general email address and we’ll connect you with the right person & say “Welcome to the team!” As someone who quite literally did just that, I am a perfect example of how one simple email can lead to you finding incredible community, a fantastic artistic outlet, and maybe even running the place one way!

Dennyse Sewell is the CEO of the Pioneer Center for the Performing Arts in Reno, Nevada

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