History of Little Theatre of Manchester

Founded in 1960 under the Manchester Recreation Department, The Little Theatre of Manchester, Inc. is a theater company of, by, and for the community.

LTM opened its first season in March 1961 with William Inge’s Bus Stop at Bowers School. In 1965, it reorganized as a nonprofit 501(c)(3) corporation in Connecticut. Since then, LTM has staged more than 240 mainstage productions, totaling more than 1,600 performances, for a combined audience estimated at more than 300,000. More than 2,000 community actors have performed in LTM shows, and more than 1,000 volunteers have worked backstage and on the business side of the company. Since 1991, LTM has called Cheney Hall home, a National Historic Landmark building and the oldest operating theater in Connecticut.

For its first thirty years, LTM had no theater of its own. The company held meetings, built scenery, and rehearsed in a series of “workshops.” It performed in school auditoriums across Manchester and East Hartford, including Bowers School, Illing Junior High, Bailey Auditorium at Manchester High School, and East Catholic High School. In 1982, the Town of Manchester asked LTM to consider taking over the operation of Cheney Hall once it was restored. LTM agreed and went on to lead the drive to fund the renovation.

With an extraordinary community base and experienced fundraisers behind it, LTM raised $1.8 million of the $2.6 million cost of restoring Cheney Hall to its former glory.

In 1991, LTM completed the award-winning renovation and opened its first production in Cheney Hall that fall with The Fantasticks. Working in partnership with the Town of Manchester and the Cheney Hall Foundation, LTM has kept this landmark a working theater for more than three decades. The arrangement is a model for nonprofits statewide and nationwide.

Today, LTM presents five mainstage productions each year, from classic plays to large-scale musicals. Its Evenings@7 play readings let the company hear new works, give playwrights a chance to see their scripts performed, and give new directors and actors room to grow. Rising Stars, LTM’s summer musical theatre program for young performers ages 8 to 16, ends with performances on the Cheney Hall stage. The Jukebox Music Series brings tribute concerts to the hall each fall. Throughout the year, Cheney Hall also serves as a gathering place for community and civic groups, private events, and celebrations.

With ongoing support from local businesses, corporations, state and local government, and public foundations, LTM’s programming has grown on both sides of the river and earned wide recognition as one of Connecticut's finest community theater companies.