"All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts . . .".

— William Shakespeare

THE HISTORY of LEGACY THEATER COMPANY

Act One.

The opening act of a play or musical is the foundation of the rest of the story. The purpose of an "Act One" or "First Act" or "Opening Act" is to introduce your story's world to your audiences. It is where setting, character, mission, theme, and purpose are developed.

SETTING.

Legacy Theater Company's Act One began in the summer of 2011 when a small group of friends wrote and performed an improv play called The Higgins' Train to Georgia. This play launched Legacy and began introducing our community to the vision of our founder, Erika Bain.

Act One continued from 2011-2012 as we searched for our "setting" in Jacksonville, N.C. First, we rented out a church, then a fellowship hall on Henderson Drive, then a warehouse-style building on Doris Avenue. We performed five mainstage productions in those years and introduced the young people in our community to our School of the Arts program, where they performed three plays and one musical!

Finally, we settled into our first home, a 100 seat black-box style theater at 2442 Onslow Drive, Jacksonville, NC.

Converting 2442 Onslow Drive from an antique shop to a black-box theater.

CHARACTERS.

In 2013, we opened the doors on Onslow Drive. Under the direction of our artistic director, Erika Bain, and the talent and gifts of our volunteers, we began to introduce our community to a slew of characters and stories.

Our volunteer actors, singers, technicians, and front-of-house staff performed 18 Mainstage productions. We featured iconic shows like A Christmas Carol, The Odd Couple, A Midsummer Nights' Dream, and Steel Magnolias, fan-favorite musicals like Godspell and Beauty and the Beast, and original shows and musicals written by our directors like One Day More, Murder in Bohemia, The Hope Table, and Backstage: The Musical.

Our School of the Arts program for students ages 8-18 performed over 30 different plays, concerts, and musicals in our years on 2442 Onslow Drive. Musicals like Godspell, Mary Poppins, and You're A Good Man Charlie Brown brought joy, laughter, friendship, and music to our summer camp programs. During the school year, our students performed classic stories like The Secret Garden, Little Women, and Tales from Greek Mythology, wrote their own plays, and performed in improvs.

2015. The Stories of Hans Christian Anderson.

2016. The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe.

In 2014, we introduced our audiences to our Legacy Concert Series. Over the years, we performed ten different concerts in our little black-box theater on Onslow Drive. Our audiences had the opportunity to dress in costume as we rocked out to music from the '50s in Rocking Around the Clock and relived the glory days of the 1980s in Back to the '80s. Our Christmas Concerts opened the door to the Christmas season as we gathered 'round and celebrated family, faith, and the season that makes all things merry and bright.

This was Act One.

INTERMISSION

Every actor and every audience needs an intermission. For the audience, an intermission builds anticipation for acts to follow. For the actors, it is a time to change costumes, refresh lines, get into the proper headspace, and most importantly . . . rest for the acts to come.

In December 2017, Legacy Theater Company dimmed the lights and headed into what our founder and artistic director calls "Intermission."

Only God knew what was going to come for Erika and her family.

Erika's father died in October of 2017 from a cerebral hemorrhage while he was preaching at a conference in Georgia. In January 2019, Erika’s brother, a Legacy actor, volunteer, and beloved fan-favorite, Ian LoCurto, suddenly passed away from an aortic aneurysm while working out at the gym. He was only 38 years old.

2016. Ian as THE BEAST in Beauty and the Beast.

In April 2019, Erika was diagnosed with cancer and underwent surgery and therapy to heal and recover. In November of the same year, she was rushed to the emergency room and underwent surgery to remove a tumor.

Those major events and a handful more were what was to come when Erika dimmed the lights on Act One. Intermission was definitely needed to heal, grieve, and find a sense of place as her world turned upside down and inside out in a matter of three years.

And then . . . 2020 & 2021.
And do we need to relive those years with painful memories of loss, loneliness, brokenness, and despair?

It has been a difficult "intermission" for Erika and her family.
It has been a difficult "intermission" for many of us, and we think it is time to bring up the lights and find some love, joy, peace, healing, and rest.

The lights are beginning to rise, and the curtain is pulled back for Legacy Theater Company's Act Two.

ACT TWO.

Act Two forms the bulk of a story. It is where we are thrust into the "meat" of the story. Where relationships are deepened, conflicts are (hopefully) resolved, and we begin to see a harvest from seeds we planted in Act One.

OUR MISSION & WHAT'S NEXT

In Act One, our mission was to enrich, educate, and enhance our community through an excellent theatrical experience. We have all, by the grace of God, survived intermission. We may be bruised, bitter, and battered, but we believe that there is a ray of hope on the horizon.

In Act Two, our mission has deepened. The mission of Legacy as we open Act Two is to bring love, joy, healing, and rest to our audiences, volunteers, and community. It is to share the love of Jesus with our community as we use our gifts to better the lives of others.

Our mission is to make everyone who steps into our ministry feel loved, wanted, treasured, and cherished.
Our mission is to bring healing through community to those who are broken-hearted, to those walking through depression and anxiety or have lost so much, and just need to know that it will all be alright.
Our mission is to bring joy to our audiences, volunteers, and community. Happiness is dependent on happenings. As soon as the situation changes, happiness usually goes out the window. But JOY is that deep contentment that there is still joy to be found even when things are spinning out of control.
Our mission is to bring our community rest and a place to revive their weary souls.
Our mission is to use the arts and art therapy to help our military community cope with PTSD, tramatic brain injury, and the pain that often comes with fighting for freedom.
Our mission is to bring a joy, rest, belonging, and acceptance to the youth of our community.

Legacy Theater Company may not be like any non-profit you've visited or volunteered at. It is a place where our focus on excellence in music and art is mingled with what the Bible says in Isaiah 61:3. It is a place where you will be given "beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness . . . ".

Welcome back, Family and Friends, to Legacy.
Act Two is about to begin.
Will you join us?

"All the world's a stage,And all the men and women merely players;They have their exits and their entrances;And one man in his time plays many parts . . .".