Colchester Theatre Company

Colchester Theatre Company logo 2006-2007

The Colchester Theatre Company is a high school Theatre troupe in Colchester, Vermont, founded in 1977 by John Coon. It has been nominated for and presented with various awards for talent, effort, and commitment.

The Colchester Theatre Company has fallen into a tradition of performing three shows each year, one in the fall, one in the winter, and one in the spring.

While the Theatre Company does perform musicals, they tend to be performed in the fall, since many scheduling conflicts arise between the Theatre Company and the school's Music Department because of various local music festivals during the spring months. However, as no musicals had been performed between 2004 and 2006, an extra effort was made to perform two musicals in the 2006–2007 season: Footloose, and the hit Broadway musical, Grease.

A concept that sits at the foundation of the Colchester Theatre Company's structure is that of ensemble. Casting is based on the way that people interact as the characters in the audition and not on the director's preference of one person over another. There is no distinguishing line between actors and technicians. Those who do not get parts are encouraged, but not required, to perform technical jobs, such as properties, costumes, lighting, sounds, special effects, or advertising, for the show being performed. It gives a good understanding to those participating of how important everyone in a theatre company is to a successful show.

The Colchester Theatre Company annually puts on a no-charge Haunted Forest on the night before Halloween (commonly known as cabbage night,) sponsored by the Colchester Police Department. According to the police, the Haunted Forest has greatly reduced the number of cabbage night crimes.

Also, the Colchester Theatre Company puts on a dinner theatre performance for the Colchester Winter Carnival, usually a "whodunit" murder mystery with audience participation.

From 2001 to 2005, the Colchester Theatre Company hosted an annual non-competitive One-Act Festival called the Champlain Theatre Experience, under the joint guidance of John Coon of Colchester High School and Rod Ross of Winooski High School.

Performances (Incomplete)

Year	Season	Show	Dates
2011-2012	Spring	The Nerd	May
	Winter	The Miracle Worker	March
	Fall	Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street	November 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th
2010-2011	Spring	The Glass Menagerie	May 12th, 13th, 14th
	Winter	A Night of Theatre Magic: Wiley and the Hairy Man, The Fisherman and His Wife, 15-Minute Hamlet	March
	Fall	They're Playing Our Song	November
2009-2010	Spring	The Monkey's Paw, Hello Out There, Selections from Glee	May
	Winter	The Foreigner	March
	Fall	Godspell	November 19, 20, 21
2008-2009	Summer	Romance/Romance	July
	Spring	Baby (The Musical)	May
	Winter	The Night of January 16th	March 12, 13, 14
	Fall	Scapino!	November
2007-2008	Spring	Little Shop of Horrors	May
	Winter	Lovers, The Actor's Nightmare	February
	Fall	Dracula	November 15, 16, 17
2006-2007	Spring	Grease	May 17, 18, 19
	Winter	The Mousetrap	February 15, 16, 17
	Fall	Footloose	November 16, 17, 18
2005-2006	Spring	Story Theatre	May 18, 19, 20
	Winter	The Complete Works of Shakespeare : Abridged	February 23, 24, 25
	Fall	Blithe Spirit	December 8, 9
2004-2005	Spring	Barefoot in the Park	May 19, 20, 21
	Winter	No Exit	March 19
	Fall	Midsummer Night's Dream	November 18, 19, 20
2003-2004	Spring	Dracula	May 20, 21, 22
	Winter	Fifteen-Minute Hamlet
	Winter	Rumpelstiltskin	February 7
	Fall	Godspell
2002-2003	Spring	The Crucible
	Winter	The Quiet Place
	Fall	Little Shop Of Horrors