About Us
Mission
The mission of the Mount Vernon Lisbon Community Theatre (MVLCT) is to produce quality events and promote the dramatic arts in Mount Vernon, Lisbon and the surrounding area. This is accomplished through cooperative involvement and community interaction that fosters continued growth and development of the dramatic arts. MVLCT is dedicated to providing quality theatre experiences to actors and audience members of all ages. We believe that through involvement in theatre, we strengthen our sense of community.
Founded in 1980 by an enthusiastic troupe of volunteers, MVLCT now produces several shows each year, ranging from straight plays up through large scale musicals. Open auditions are typically held six weeks before productions. All levels of performance experience are welcome, as well technical experience such as building and painting sets, working backstage, lighting and sound design, and other technical positions. Everyone is encouraged to get involved!
MVLCT makes its home in the Uptown Theatre at the First Street Community Center located at 221 First Street NE, Mt. Vernon, IA, 52314.
Board of Directors
Trevor Baty
President
Braden JP Rood
Vice President
Braden JP Rood has proudly been a member of the MVLCT board since 2005 filling various roles from actor to producer to set construction among many others—basically whatever needs to be done for the show! She also works a the LBC & University of Iowa and loves to volunteer in her beloved Mount Vernon. All of this is accomplished with the support of her amazing husband, Anton and her three boys, Jasper, Atticus and Chester.
Amy White
Secretary
Amy White has been involved with MVLCT since their 1998 production of Steel Magnolias. Her original plays and monologues (including Animal Facts, Drama at Dry Gulch Creek, and Someone Who Knew Her) have been performed by MVLCT and other groups. Amy believes in the power of live theatre to engage and educate everyone. A resident of Mt. Vernon, Amy is also the director of the Lisbon Public Library.
Courtenay Baker
Treasurer
Courtenay has lived in Mount Vernon since the dawn of the millennia. Currently, she is a busy single mom to the four most amazing kids ever created. She pays the bills as a project manager and feeds her creativity teaching local kiddos how to dance at Dance Arts Iowa. She was awarded degrees in two centuries: a BA in Speech and Theatre Education in way-back times and an MBA in the more recent past. Also: she was basically invited to join the board because she attends every dang show and pretty much lives at the FSCC, so why not put all of that lollygagging to good use?
Kami Zbanek Hill
Publicity and Promotions Officer
Kami Zbanek Hill is privileged to be on the board for MVLCT. She has been involved in productions for 13 years, both onstage and off and considers MVLCT her “Theater Home”. Favorite roles include Olive in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, and Emma Goldman in Assassins. She made her directing debut at MVLCT in 2020 with These Shining Lives. She lives in Ely with her partner John. They are owned by two cats. Kami can’t wait to have more theatrical adventures with MVLCT!
Mary Morgan-Blacharski
Board Member at Large
Mary Morgan-Blacharski was one of the first audience members of MVLCT, when her mom directed Oklahoma In 1980. Mary has been acting with MVLCT Since 2009 and she joined the board in 2020. This community theatre is as welcoming and full of artistic energy as the community where it was born and raised. Mary is proud to serve on the board.
Pat Struttmann
Board Member at Large
Ask a Struttmann to volunteer and you are likely to get two or three of them. That's what happened to me. In high school, our daughter built sets and worked backstage. Her dad helped. Then they dragged me in for costumes. (I can sew a straight line.) Then a community theater called for backstage volunteers and Len told me that he would teach me the ropes. He didn't. However, after being thrown to the wolves, I emerged and have been backstage ever since. Stage managing, radio readings, and I even sew on buttons. Let's go MVLCT.
Erin Lauer
Board Member at Large
Erin Lauer first became involved at MVLCT during the inaugural Shakespeare in the Park production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. She fell in love with the people and the organization and keeps coming back for more productions and play readings. Erin has a BA in theatre and English from the College of Saint Benedict in St. Joseph, Minnesota and an MBA from West Virginia University. Erin is pleased to join this board of creative and caring individuals and to promote the welcoming community that is MVLCT.
History
In the summer of 1980, a few Mt. Vernon residents who “just loved having fun on stage” produced Oklahoma in the old Armstrong Theatre on the Cornell College campus. One of the organizers took out a $500 personal loan from the Mt. Vernon Bank to pay for expenses. Tickets were sold to a standing-room-only crowd (even in August, with no air conditioning) and enough money was left over to pay back the loan and put on another show the next year.
Armstrong Theatre was the home of community theatre summer musicals until the Mt. Vernon school district auditorium was built in 1990. Dinner theatre shows were soon added in the spring, with Cornell students acting alongside community members in the college Commons and later at Gwen’s Restaurant in Lisbon.
In 2002, the name of the theatre was officially changed to Mt. Vernon Lisbon Community Theatre. A fall children’s production was added to the season in 2008.
The group received official 501(c)3 non-profit status in 2014 and now calls the Uptown Theatre in the First Street Community Center (the old Mt. Vernon High School) its home. Although the details of the organization have changed, MVLCT has remained true to its original mission of welcoming volunteers who just love having fun on stage.
