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What a year 2025 has been!

As much of Western North Carolina continues to recover from Hurricane Helene’s impact, you - our loyal patrons, have remained our heartbeat. Your love for live theatre carried us through a difficult season in which tourism on the Plateau was slow to rebound after the storm. Fewer visitors meant smaller audiences and leaner revenue for MTC, despite glowing reviews for all three summer shows! Yet every time the curtain rose, and applause filled the theater, we were reminded that the magic of theatre is alive and well. You make that magic possible!

Now, we look ahead with excitement to 2026. The MTC team is already preparing an unforgettable 88th season devoted to music, laughter, and joy-filled entertainment. Can we count on you to help us bring this enchanting new season to life?

Every MTC production begins long before opening night. Cast auditions, travel to Highlands, housing, costumes, and sets require over $100,000 in upfront investment… before the first ticket is sold. That’s why your support today is so critical. This year, your gift carries even greater significance. New tax law changes beginning in 2026 will limit the deductibility of charitable contributions. By contributing prior to year-end, you can maximize your tax benefits while supporting MTC’s creation of Broadway-quality theatre.

Please consider a generous gift today to help us launch a 2026 season filled with stellar performances and unforgettable memories! You can give by visiting an MTC staff member in the lobby or online at MountainTheatre.com/support.

From every artist, staff member, board member, and volunteer who calls MTC home, thank you for lifting us up, keeping theatre alive on the Plateau, and for ensuring that Mountain Theatre Company remains YOUR entertainment destination.

With heartfelt gratitude,

Scott Daniel

Executive Artistic Director | Mountain Theatre Company

Mountain Theatre Company, one of North Carolina’s oldest theatre companies, is the legacy of early forward-thinking families of Highlands. They sought to bring the art of theatre to our small mountain town during the height of The Great Depression. 

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Mountain Theatre Company began at The Highlands Playhouse, which was originally built as the auditorium for the Highlands School in 1931. In the mid-1930s, Jack and Virginia “Ted” Wilcox helped to create the first troupe of actors in Highlands. All amateurs, they began using the auditorium for summer theatre productions while school was out of session. The first big production was the hit Broadway comedy Dulcy, written by Pulitzer Prize winning playwrights, George S. Kaufman and Marc Connelly. Reserved seats cost 50¢, bleacher seats were 35¢, and it was a sold out crowd! The magic of live theatre had arrived in Highlands.

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This troupe of summer players formally organized as the Highlands Little Theatre in the late 1930s. The Highlands Little Theatre was renamed Highlands Community Theatre in 1949. Over the decades, this dedicated troupe of players put on important works by notable authors. They mounted challenging plays by important playwrights including Thorton Wilder, George Bernard Shaw, and Arthur Kopit. 

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When the present Highlands School opened in 1952, the town of Highlands acquired the auditorium building, and our troupe of players had a permanent home. In 1972, the organization became a nonprofit organization, receiving 501(c)(3) tax exemption status, as Highlands Community Theatre, Inc. ​

As the organization grew over the next several decades, so did the number of shows produced, along with the number of talented actors, designers, and technicians needed for each season. In the early 1980s, Highlands Community Theatre, Inc. started hiring professional actors and technicians to share their talents on the Highlands-Cashiers Plateau during their summer seasons. No longer a community theatre, the identity of the organization became that of the building it had occupied for over 50 years, The Highlands Playhouse, presenting summer stock theatre each year. 

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Actors who tread the boards on the Playhouse stage went on to serve full and distinguished careers in the performing arts. Collin Wilcox, the daughter of Jack and Ted Wilcox who founded Highlands’ original acting troupe, studied at The Actors Studio in New York City. Over the course of her career she worked with Tallulah Bankhead, Geraldine Paige, and Tennessee Williams. Her most notable role came in 1961 as Mayella Ewell in the film adaptation of To Kill a Mockingbird. In her later years she returned to Highlands where she helped to found the Highlands Studio for the Arts, which offered arts education classes to children in her hometown.

We’ve come a long way from the Wilcox family’s dream of bringing quality theatre to the small town of Highlands nearly a century ago. In 2022, we officially rebranded, changing our name from The Highlands Playhouse to Mountain Theatre Company. No longer a summer stock theatre, we are now a professional regional theatre, presenting Broadway-quality musicals from June - December.

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In 2023, Mountain Theatre Company became the resident professional theatre company at the new Highlands Performing Arts Center. All of our history and legacy of the past 85+ years made the move with us! Our future now seems brighter than ever, and the original players of the Highlands Little Theatre would be proud indeed.