A look at the summer theater season in Northeast Mississippi

STARKVILLE, Miss. (WCBI) – Maintaining the arts has its challenges in a small town compared to larger cities, but our local theaters continue to keep the arts relevant in our area year after year.

Most performances are solely volunteer work.

After speaking with volunteers, we learned work isn’t a word someone should use when describing the effort put into these performances.

For keeping the arts here in Northeast Mississippi, it’s a labor of love.

It’s taken six weeks for the cast at Starkville Community Theatre to prepare for their performance debuting soon.

The show’s is called “Snapshots: A Musical Memory Lane.”

“It’s our 20th summer,” said volunteer director, Pattye Archer. “The idea was to do snapshots from the past 20 years and also some ideas of what might come in the next 20 years.”

Having the arts years down the road is realistic according to Archer.

She says it’s a time commitment, and there isn’t any money in it for her as a director or the cast members.

But Starkville seems to attract the volunteers needed to put on a show for all who attend.

“Really, any kind of involvement from coming to see a show to spending six weeks putting a show together, it takes all of it,” Archer said.

“Starkville Community Theatre has been entirely volunteer driven. That means every step of every single show is done by volunteers,” said SCT Chief Administration Officer, Gabe Smith. “That starts with the people that get together and choose the shows we’re going to do. All of our officers and board of directors members, people who sell the tickets, people who take your tickets as you go in, the actors, directors, It’s a labor of love for everybody.”

Aside from Starkville, these efforts are seen throughout our area of Northeast Mississippi, keeping the arts alive and enjoyable for residents.

“I think the arts are incredibly important to the quality of life in any community,” Smith said. “It’s not just having something to do on a Friday night. The arts bring people together.”

“When you go see a movie, that’s great, but when you go to live theater that moment can only happen once,” said Archer. “You know, you don’t get another take, so what happens between the actors and the audience is just for that moment.”

It’s about fun, and in Starkville the fun looks to be continuing going into their 41st season.

“I feel like we’re in a really great spot,” Smith said. “I’m proud that we’ve maintained quality and maintained loyalty for people coming to see us and thinking we’re great, but it’s even better to keep moving.”

Here are some of our local theaters with upcoming shows:

Starkville, Tupelo, Winona, Corinth, Columbus.

To the actors preparing to perform, break a leg.