Theatre Directory

The historic Mars Theatre first began in the 1930’s as a cinema. After the movie house closed its doors for good in the 50’s the building was used for other purposes until a fire destroyed it in 207. Not realizing what they until it was gone, the broken hearted community came together to rebuild and restore this gem inside the heart of Lafayette, GA, the Mars Theatre. Against all odds, in 2013 the building was fully revitalized just as it was in its early days.\n\nToday the Mars Theatre is now the home of Back Alley Productions and showcases high quality theatrical stage plays throughout the year.\n\n \n

Upcoming Productions

In the 1970’s, when people in Chattanooga were flocking to the suburbs, First-Centenary United Methodist Church took a giant leap forward with a decision to expand their facilities to become a more viable force in downtown Chattanooga .\n\nIn the plans were blueprints for a theater, suggested by Flo Summitt, a church member.  Senior Minister Dr. Ralph Mohney envisioned a drama ministry and in 1978, with the completion of the new wing, the theater was a reality.  Located on the second floor, the theater was really only a large room:  a stage with just one entrance and no curtain, a long wall banked with stationary picture windows that extended up to the stage, and a limited number of stage lights. But it was a theater!\n\nThe first play presented in 1980 in the newly named Oak Street Playhouse was The Trial of Pontius Pilate, an interesting choice in which a jury, selected from the audience each night, decided the fate of Pilate. The director was Nancy Lane Wright, a member of First-Centenary and artistic director of the Dance Theatre Workshop in Chattanooga .  Flo Summitt became the producer and Robert Smartt designed the lighting and sound. The play ran two nights and there was no admission charge.  The following year, Fred Arnold came on board as set designer and as creator/director of the Oak Street Playhouse Puppet Theatre.\n\nNow, twenty years since it’s beginning, like an acorn, Oak Street Playhouse continues to grow with its mission of providing outstanding family-style entertainment and cultural enrichment.\n\nThroughout ensuing years, helped by generous donations and efforts of the Playhouse volunteers, carpeted risers were built, windows were closed in, a stage curtain hung and new lights and light board installed.  Suzanne Smartt became the Artistic Director in 1992.  The Playhouse produces a variety of productions: dramas such as Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, classic comedies like Harvey, musicals such as My Fair Lady and 1998’s season’s run-away favorite, The Moving of Lilla Barton, winner of the Alabama Shakespeare Festival Southern Writer’s Competition.\n\nThe Playhouse today has become what June Hatcher, former Entertainment Editor of the Chattanooga Free Press, wrote, “A gem of a theater in downtown Chattanooga,” which includes a spring play in May, performances of Fred Arnold’s puppets in September/October along with twelve additional schoolday performances, and a popular December Dinner-Theatre that draws audiences from across Tennessee.\n\nThe Playhouse holds open auditions with casts of actors from both Tennessee and North Georgia .  By invitation they performed Camelot before thousands at the 1989 International Methodist Men’s Conference held on the Purdue University campus and their production of The Rainmaker competed at the Southeastern Theatre Conference in 1991.\n\n \n

Upcoming Productions

The historic Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Auditorium was dedicated on November 11, 1922. —Veterans Day, —as Chattanooga and Hamilton County’s living memorial to those who have served in the armed forces. With seating for 3,866, Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Auditorium is a great place for full-scale Broadway and theatrical productions, music concerts, comedy shows, and community events.

In addition to the main hall, the Memorial Auditorium also houses the Walker theatre, an intimate proscenium stage theatre that seats 801 people.

Northwest Georgia Amphitheater

Step into 1864! The War Between the States comes to life on a magnificent 19th-century set in the beautifully reproduced Victorian dining and performance hall. The story of a Union soldier meeting his Confederate brother on the battlefield is based on hundreds of diaries and memoirs form the period.\n\nOpen year-round, this indoor, family-friendly production in Whitwell (just 35 miles west of Chattanooga) immerses the audiences in the 1860s, with fascinating tidbits of history, dining tables made from old church pews and authentic recipes from the cookbook of Varina Davis, wife of Confederate President Jefferson David.

Dalton Little Theatre, DLT, held its first documented performance in 1869. The organization began as The Dalton Amateurs, and continued as The Sophoclean Dramatic Club, and The Dalton Players, before becoming Dalton Little Theatre in 1955. The theatre has performed continuously except for breaks during WWI and WWII. The organization formally incorporated in 1958, and found its first home in 1981 when it converted the former firehouse built in 1888 into The Firehouse Theatre. The Firehouse Theatre is often referred to as The Old Dalton Firehouse and it remains the home of Dalton Little Theatre to this day.\n\n \n

Upcoming Productions

East Brainerd Community Theater is an impassioned group of esteemed members of the community who offer the opportunity to be part of live musicals and plays. They strive to be inclusive and welcome all with the ability to be part of their productions both onstage and off.\n\nThe theater is housed inside the  Christ United Methodist Church located at 8645 E Brainerd Rd in Chattanooga, TN 37421.

Lee University offers both a B.A. in Theatre and a B.A.T. in Theatre with Teaching Licensure (K-12). The B.A. in Theatre is designed to train students interested in professional or academic work in the area of acting, directing and technical theatre. The B.A.T. in Theatre allows student to graduate in four years with a certificate to teach theatre to grades K-12 in the state of Tennessee. Students in both programs will learn multifaceted skills needed to meet graduate and professional standards and will gain the knowledge of practices, styles and standards within the technical field. The senior seminar and religion capstone demonstrate how these elements come together to equip the student for faith and learning. Students can also choose to minor in drama requiring a minimum of eighteen hours in specified studies.

The Muse of Fire Project brings kids together from diverse communities to write plays that adult actors perform for the public at large.\n\nThe Muse of Fire Project is modeled on The 52nd Street Project in NYC. We are housed at The Chattanooga Public Library. It‘s a cool theater club for kids from all backgrounds who work with fun, smart adults to create original, short plays for public performance.\n\n \n

Upcoming Productions

Covenant has two separate production arms: Mainstage Drama produced by the Theatre and Film Studies Department and the Drama Association, our fully student-led theatre. Additionally, students can work on plays at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC). This is the most unique element of our program; a chance to work in a “secular theatre laboratory” and later debrief with Christian professors and students is key to our goal of preparing students to be “missionaries” to the professional theatre and film worlds.\n\n \n

Upcoming Productions

The Ensemble Theatre of Chattanooga, a small professional theatre company founded by local artists, will present professional theatrical entertainment that serves to culturally enrich our community, forcibly engage the imagination, thoughtfully examine the social norms, courageously eliminate bias and defiantly explore theatre as an art form. We fear no censorship, we are not motivated by profit and we take pride in what we do.\n\n \n

Upcoming Productions

A family friendly all inclusive community theater group training and performing in an environment that reflects Judeo-Christian values.\n\nIn addition to producing musical productions they also host a Summer Musical Theater Day Camp for children K-6th Grade and a youth theater program that offers classes on acting, dance, music, theater, voice, and more for children ages 8-18 yrs old.\n\n \n

Upcoming Productions