About Us

In 1971 Lamp-Lite Theatre began life in the rented parish hall of Christ Episcopal Church. Drawing from the dense pool of local talent, Sarah McMullan put together a troupe of actors who brought first-rate productions to the tiny stage at Christ Episcopal Church. They opened their first season with Mary, Mary, by Jean Kerr.

In 1976 the Lamp-Liters joined with other artists in the area to form the City Spirit Arts Center out of the old Phelan Warehouse. Mother Nature brought torrential rains and floods during the seventies which resulted in the warehouse theatre being declared a flood plain. For the next year, the Lamp-Liters went on the road with dinner theatre productions at the University and at local restaurants. Meanwhile, the City of Nacogdoches offered a land lease for the new theatre home, our present location on Loop 224 and Old Tyler Road.

Actors and friends took down the old warehouse theatre, board by board and brick by brick, to reassemble, add to, and finally raise the Lamp-Lite Theatre. The lights went on May 19, 1979, with The Last of the Red Hot Lovers opening the new theatre. Built almost entirely by volunteer labor and a few generous professionals, the theatre has steadily grown. New wings were added: dressing rooms, storage space, etc. Grants from the Meadows Foundation, Temple-Inland, Southland Pineywoods, and

the Nacogdoches Junior Forum came just in time for sorely needed space. Lamp-Lite supporters built the costume wing, the “largest closet” in East Texas.

Each season spotlights off Broadway and on Broadway musicals, comedies, dramas and occasionally a premiere presentation of an original work by a regional playwright, children’s classes and plays and Christmas plays.