The Belmont Theatre, formerly York Little Theatre, is a community theater in

York, Pennsylvania York ( Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Yarrick''), known as the White Rose City (after the symbol of the House of York), is the county seat of York County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located in the south-central region of the state. The populati ...

, founded on February 5, 1933, as part of the Little Theatre Movement.

Early years

The theatre initially borrowed space from the local Women's Club, the

York Collegiate Institute York College of Pennsylvania is a private college in Spring Garden Township, Pennsylvania. It offers more than 70 baccalaureate majors in professional programs, the sciences, and humanities to 3,500 full-time undergraduate students. It also off ...

, and the local

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. Its first full-length performance was '' Lady Windermere's Fan'' at the

Phineas Davis Phineas Davis (January 27, 1792 – September 27, 1835) was a well-known clockmaker and inventor who designed and built the first practical American coal-burning railroad locomotive. Early life and career Davis was born in Warner, New Hampshi ...

School Auditorium on December 14, 1933. After two unsuccessful attempts at securing its own real estate, the theatre acquired a permanent home at the Elmwood Theatre, a former cinema built and opened in 1949. After a lease-purchase agreement was signed in July 1953, the theatre gained title to the building seven years ahead of schedule in May 1956.

Leadership and growth

Bert Smith was artistic director from 1953 until 1982. Eric Bradley Long was artistic director until 2010. Rene Staub became artistic director in 2012, while Lyn Bergdoll became executive director that year. A addition to the theatre was completed in 1997, after more than $1 million was raised under the leadership of Henry Leader, brother of former Pennsylvania governor

George M. Leader George Michael Leader (January 17, 1918 – May 9, 2013) was an American politician. He served as the 36th governor of Pennsylvania from January 18, 1955, until January 20, 1959. He was a member of the Democratic Party, and a native of York Count ...

. After 2012, the theatre recovered from its own major financial crisis suffered in the wake of the

financial crisis of 2007–08 Finance is the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. It is related to, but not synonymous with economics, the study of production, distribution, and consumption of money, assets, goods and services (the discipline of fina ...

, paying off debts and making long-overdue improvements to the building and stage equipment.

Changes

According to the executive director, Lyn Bergdoll, the theatre was renamed after its street in mid-2016 due to a migration of the former name's meaning. While "little theater" originally connoted "community theater", it has more recently been applied to "children's theater" or "smaller productions". The theatre's most enduring fundraiser has been an annual

food stand A food kiosk or food booth (also food stand, temporary food service facility) is generally a temporary structure used to prepare and sell food to the general public, usually where large groups of people are situated outdoors in a park, at a parade ...

at the York Fair, at which

steak sandwich A steak sandwich is a sandwich prepared with steak that has been broiled, fried, grilled, barbecued or seared using steel grates or gridirons, then served on bread or a roll. Steak sandwiches are sometimes served with toppings of cheese, onions, ...

es are sold. The stand was started in 1957 by Betty Gerberick and run by volunteers. A partnership with the local Roosevelt Tavern began in 2017 to operate the stand from 2018 onward.

Alumni

Notable theatre alumni include

Rebecca Wisocky Rebecca Wisocky (born November 12, 1971) is an American actress. Best known for her role as Evelyn Powell in the Lifetime comedy-drama series ''Devious Maids'' (2013–16), as of 2021 she is starring as Hetty Woodstone on the CBS sitcom ''Ghosts' ...

and Sam Freed.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Belmont Theatre 1933 establishments in Pennsylvania Theatre companies in Pennsylvania Buildings and structures in York, Pennsylvania Tourist attractions in York County, Pennsylvania