About Us

The Mooresville Community Theatre was founded in 1971 as a community outreach from the Creative Arts Center in the Mooresville City Schools.  One of the founding members, Clayton Miller, was an essential part of putting the group together and kept the group going.  In 1996, as Executive Director of the Mooresville Community Theatre, Clayton Miller organized the first group of volunteers to head up a children’s division under the adult theatre umbrella. The Mooresville Community Children’s Theatre (MCCT) produced its first performance around 1997. This children’s theatre division quickly became loved among the community.  Joseph’s Technicolor Dreamcoat was one of its most memorable performances. Often the children’s division brought in more revenue to the organization than the adult performances.  Unfortunately, the waning economy, in addition to the eff and flow of the interest in community theatre, limited funding.  The children’s division performed its last musical Willy Wonka, Jr. during the summer of 2009.

Thankfully, former Mooresville Community Theatre Board of Directors members, Maria Dozier and Vicki Reeves, worked closely with the Town of Mooresville to resurrect the local children’s theatre.  In partnership with the Town of Mooresville, the Mooresville Community Children’s Theatre (MCCT) received town funding and support to bring children’s theatre back to Mooresville.  To date, the Town of Mooresville is our largest funding partner.  MCCT has the privilege to rehearse and perform in the town’s buildings.

In the fall of 2011, community volunteers united loosely to form the MCCT Board of Directors.  This group of eight individuals pioneered the basic business structure of today’s organization.  Efforts included the MCCT became a registered non-profit organization with a 501(c)3 status in May 2013. The Board established bylaws, organizational charter, contracts, policies, procedures, mission statement, branding, and began collaborations with additional community partners and the Town of Mooresville.  MCCT started with seed money from previous year’s (2011) efforts, with continued funding and support from the Town of Mooresville, which is subject to an annual review, and donations and sponsorships from corporate and private individuals.

In 2014 we held our first Introduction to Theatre Workshop (May 2014) directed by Lisa Alteri with 35 participants.  We continued adding workshops before each audition and then a summer week-long workshop as time and space allowed. In Fall 2016 we added a Theatre Skills Intensive Workshop and a Winter 2017 Triple Threat Intensive Workshop to meet the growing community interest in youth theatre.

In 2015, MCCT began offering student internships opportunities for high school and college students, and created the Clayton Miller Memorial Scholarship Award for youth pursuing theatre in their choice of higher education programs. In 2016, MCCT was able to expanded the scholarship fund to include participation fee scholarships for children wanting to participate in our productions and workshops.

The North Carolina Theatre Conference (NCTC) recognized MCCT for their 2017 Youth Education Award. This statewide award was nominated by the NCTC Board of Directors.  Presented to MCCT at their Wizard of Oz Summer 2018 production.

Clayton Miller Memorial Scholarship

After the passing of Clayton Miller in 2014, the MCCT created a college scholarship award named in his honor to youth pursuing theatre in their choice of higher education programs. In 2016 MCCT expanded the scholarship fund to include participation fee scholarships for children wanting to participate in our productions and workshops.

• 2015 – Darius Crusoe, Greensboro College
• 2016 – Austin Flewell, Greensboro College/CPCC; and Victoria Hargett, Wake Forest University.
• 2017 – Brooke Baldwin, Millikin University; and Camry Duckworth, Wagner College
• 2018 – Kate Durgin; Hannah Whittington, UNC Chapel Hill; Cloe Wright, Winthrop University; Patrick Weeks, UNC Chapel Hill  (Honorable Mention); and Emma Metzger (Honorable Mention)

In April 2018, MCCT presented School Daze (2018) directed by Mark Lighton.  This production featured over the course of two days a series of short (10 – 30 minute) small-scale plays will be performed in the style of a film festival.  A series of workshop-style events led up to the actual stage performances.  Our goal was to help the participants gain a deeper understanding of stage production through hands-on experience. Three of the plays were directed by student directors completing their high school senior projects and mentored by MCCT Board Members.  All proceeds went to toward the Clayton Miller Scholarship Fund.