Mountain Community Theater

Check out this fun animated music video written by MCT "Assassins" alums Davis Banta and Max Bennett-Parker! Shared on behalf of Your Friends Comedy, a local sketch comedy troupe! Happy Halloween, y'all!

Jade Adkins and Michael La Mere bring to life a pandemic horror story written by Edgar Allan Poe over a hundred and seventy-five years ago--with the complete original text, and recorded completely in their home--just in time for Halloween. Pleasant screams!

New Works 2021 MCT Presents A Marriage Proposal Story by Anton Chekhov Adapted by Brian Heath Directed by Hannah Eckstein... A Marriage Proposal is a fast-paced comedy. World renowned playwright, Anton Chekhov, is known for brilliant, serious full-length plays, yet in his younger years he fancied writing short, one-act comedies like A Marriage Proposal. It was written in 18881889 and first performed in 1890 when he was just thirty before contracting tuberculosis which darkened his view of the world. Combining wit, irony, and brilliantly developed and impassioned characters, this three-person play shows the young playwright at his best. Chekhov’s one-act has been adapted by Santa Cruz writer Brian Heath who recently adapted the holiday show Ebenezer for Jewel Theater. The play centers around a Russian landowner and hypochondriac Lomov who comes to propose marriage to his neighbor Natalya. This spirited journey on the road to love features MCT favorites David Leach, Tiffany Lee Cesarin and Steve Capasso directed by Hannah Eckstein. Check it out on our website at http://mctshows.org!

What do you get when you bring a bunch of actors together who have been too long removed from performing on stage, due to a pandemic? Well, I mean, if you could bring them together, you’d get a raucous stage play in a theater. But right now, we hope to give you a few laughs in the comfort of your own home. This is our latest mix of original sketches, improv and delightful local musical talent. Give yourself a treat & watch Episode 3 from our very own comedy team, Mountain Comedy Theatrics.

Mountain Community Theater is proud to present an original theatrical-music-film experience in the time of Covid. Written and shot by local filmmaker, Scott Deal, and directed by MCT veteran theater director, Kathie Kratochvil, One Goodbye bridges live theatrical and music performance with filmmaking to improve on the static Zoom look of performance in the COVID era. It’s the story of a clash between artistsa painter and a musicianabout what constitutes ART, and which form has more value. Featured artists (acting and music performances) are MCT favorites Shannon Marie McDonough and Ian McDonough. Local musicians The Coffis Brothers provide a produced soundtrack of the title song. Check it out on our website https://mctshows.org!

Hey all! Long time no chat. We've been busy this year with online offerings under our Ghost Light Theater festival. But a lot of folks have been asking about our 2021 Season. Things have changed a bit, so check out our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/mctshows for more information on our 2021 and 2022 Seasons. Thanks!

A Note from the MCT board and Membership: We've missed you! Like virtually everyone else, MCT's live productions have been shut down since March 2020 - since what literally would have been opening night of our first show of the season, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. A few months ago, when California lifted its COVID-19 restrictions, the virus seemed to be in retreat, and as we began taking off our masks and gathering again, MCT made plans to begin live productions in Sept...Continue reading

The time has come for change! Get ready everyone Daylight Savings is drawing nigh. Sometime during the early hours of Sunday March 14th time will jump forward one hour. How did Daylight Savings come about? Join us as we visit the land of Old King Cole to learn how it developed in Once Upon A Time Change. The script, written by Rita Wadsworth and Carolyn Hyatt, reveals the story behind the story. The outstanding cast stars long-time MCT-ers Wendy Edmonds, Rita Wadsworth, Stephen Phillipps and Ward Willats. The behind-the-scenes magic was provided by irreplaceable Zoom Masters Mitch Plott and Ward Willats. The team loved putting together this fun show and are looking forward to working on more! Enjoy!

Alright, we did it again. Give a watch to our Mountain Community Theatrics Episode 2, if you need a good laugh. Crazy improv, original sketches, amazing local musical talent. Life is good, if you want it to be.

MCT and Elf Empire present a zoom Reader’s Theater production of Isaac Asimov’s 1956 short story The Last Question. Come along with us on a 10 trillion-year journey, courtesy of Asimov’s awe-inspiring imagination, to explore the future of humanity, computers, and creation. Check it out!

In 1980, Longtime MCT Member Mary Ann LoBalbo was hired by Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus to train and perform as an aerialist and dancer. Here are stories and reflections on her experience travelling the United States on a train with the circus for two years, told in films, photos, and poems. Enjoy!

MCT loves to support our members' creative outputs! We're sharing forward a website and Youtube channel from one of our longtime members, Davis Banta. See what Davis has to say below about the Your Friends Show: Improv/Sketch troupe Your Friends has been performing regular livestreams on Thursday evenings at 7pm PST since last June. The show is a free weekly improv, sketch, and variety comedy show with a new guest each week. The show includes live musical accompaniment, and ...incorporates suggestions from the audience taken from the Youtube chat each show. Cast from Your Friends includes MCT alumni such as Davis Banta (actor in August Osage County, Director for Assassins). Jacob Ellis (Actor in My Three Angels), Max Bennett-Parker (Music Director for Assassins), and Benjamin Canant (Actor in Assassins, 9 to 5, Young Frankenstein). Guests in previous shows have included MCT performers such as April Bennett and Sarah Kauffmann Michael (both in Assassins), and the guest for April 1 was MCT stalwart Scott Kravitz! The regular cast of Your Friends is Davis Banta, Daniel Ruiz, Carrie Browde, Jacob Ellis, Elizabeth Prindle, Benjamin Canant, and Max Bennett-Parker. You can subscribe or follow the channel at yourfriendscomedy.com/youtube! See more

Need a fun distraction from your daily routine? Introducing... Mountain Comedy Theatrics! Enjoy this group of local actors as they bring you original comedic sketches and improv game hilarity. Each episode also includes a musical act. Have fun!

Listen to MCT's President, Peter Gelblum, interviewed about Ghost Light Theater and MCT by Tina Davey on SLV's own KBCZ! Check it out here: https://www.mixcloud.com//community-voices-interview-with/

MCT's Ghost Light Theater is happy to present this special musical tribute to the San Lorenzo Valley produced by our own Scott Deal, featuring many of the amazing musicians who call the Valley home. The video, "Love Our SLV," was made to help raise funds for the residents affected by the disastrous CZU Lightning Complex Fire, which destroyed over 900 homes in the summer of 2020. Contributions are still needed and can be made through the avenues presented in the video. Please help if you can!

Sending everyone hope for a Holly Jolly Christmas and a Happy New Year from Mountain Community Theater. Check out our #youtube page for a new Ghost Light Theater piece, released today for the holiday! www.youtube.com/mctshows

Join us, starting tonight, for MCT's "Miracle" Marathon! Each night for the next few nights, we will post a video of MCT's beloved "Miracle on 34th Street" past productions on our YouTube channel @mctshows, starting all the way back in 1987 and going all the way until 2018, our last production to hit the stage. Written for the stage by MCT members, "Miracle" sustains our wonderful company and is a San Lorenzo Valley beloved tradition! Enjoy this peek through MCT history and Happy Holidays! Check it out on YouTube @mctshows and soon up at our website www.mctshows.org!

For this Ghost Light Theater piece, we are pulling from our extensive archives to revisit a well-loved play. In 2011, MCT presented Thornton Wilder’s Pulitzer Prize winning play "Our Town", directed by Peter Gelblum. A landmark in American drama, Our Town tells the story of a small town, Grover’s Corners, New Hampshire, in order to tell us the story of every town, the whole world over. Here are two monologues from the play. Enjoy!

Ghost Light Theater presents something much different for this piece: a full length, staged Zoom reading of a new play, The Puzzle with the Piazza, by Mark Dunn. This heartwarming script focuses in on characters Althea Witlin (Rita Wadsworth), a grandmother to all, who is facing a very serious life upheaval; Leif Morrell (Steve Allhoff) and Connie Morrell (Sarah Marsh), a young couple looking for a sense of purpose in their lives; Mattie Pleshette (Sasha Voight), a young woma...n recently out on her own, needing support, and Ina Gluck (Marj Young), the somewhat reserved sister of Althea, who finds herself warming to the ragtag team by the play's end. Althea, due to health issues, is looking to sell her home and move in with her sister. In meeting with Leif Morrell during a house showing, they descend to the basement of her home, and find her expansive puzzle collection. On a whim, they decide to open up the largest puzzle - a 3,000 piece behemoth featuring Venice's illustrious canals - and soon, Mattie and Connie arrive to assist them in their gargantuan task: finishing the puzzle before Althea has to be picked up by Ina. A night spent in "Venice" changes everyone's lives, and along the way surprising, heartwarming, and funny moments happen as the characters connect. Make sure you stick through to the end to catch the wonderful twist at the end of the play, as it is not to be missed. Life can be so stressful in these times. Join us in spending a "night in Venice" for an escape: a lovely, life affirming reading, one you will surely enjoy.

Our 2018 production of our own script of "Miracle on 34th Street, the Play" has a lot to say about how crucial the US Postal Service is to not only our daily lives, but the identity of the REAL Santa Claus. We need this reminder now more than ever. Enjoy!

The next entry in our Ghost Light Theater is a flight of fancy from the imagination of Robin Lasser. Robin was recently seen in the cast of the MCT production Sordid Lives. Taking Flight is the story of two sisters. One sister helps the other one break out of jail and flies them both to safety in her small private airplane. Robin Lasser plays the pilot, Hannah Eckstein the jailbird, and Patrick W. True is the relentless prison guard in hot pursuit. The getaway is sprinkled with happy surprises as the sisters make their way to Hollywood to seek fame and fortune. We invite you to take a plane ride with them as they escape into Tinsel Town to pursue their dreams. Buckle your seat belts! https://youtu.be/I0JddjQo9Vw

The next entry in our digital festival, Ghost Light Theater, is the second interview of a multi-part series introducing you to the directors and some of the artists who are creating next season’s plays. Our interviewer, Sue Ann Guildermann, will explore with these artists the challenges and expectations they face as they prepare to design, cast, rehearse, and present each play. During this interview, Sue Ann explores the issues involved in producing our second production next season, Calendar Girls, with the director, Hannah Eckstein, and two cast members, Sally Bookman and Shireen Doyle. The play by Tim Firth is based on the 2003 film starring Helen Mirren. Learn firsthand the challenges and rewards these artists face as they prepare for a production that is now a year away! Enjoy! https://youtu.be/rfid280bqbw