In July, Mountain Theatre Company officially handed the keys to The Highlands Playhouse back to the Town of Highlands. This simple and final act completed our move to the new Highlands Performing Arts Center (HPAC) as we entered our 85th season of producing live theatre in Highlands, NC. It was an emotional day for us as we bid farewell the stage that so many called home for generations.
The Highlands Playhouse served as Mountain Theatre Company’s stage for 84 years. We would like to formally thank the Town of Highlands, who owns the Playhouse building, for so generously allowing us to occupy this historic and beloved space completely rent-free for decades. By doing so, the Town allowed a fledgling theatre company in the 1930s to grow and flourish into Western North Carolina’s premier professional theatre company. Interrupted only briefly during World War II and by the global pandemic in 2020, the Town’s community support hosted one of the longest-running, continually operating theatre companies in the state.
Our departure from this iconic venue is bittersweet. Our move to the HPAC has allowed us to grow and elevate our organization in every way. We know the best is yet to come for Mountain Theatre Company. The new stage at the HPAC will serve our theatre company for generations to come. As we transition into this new and exciting chapter, we find it important to pause, honor our history, and give thanks to the Town of Highlands for providing us a firm foundation on which we could grow.
We will miss the charm and history of The Highlands Playhouse, but those elements will now go on to serve the community in new ways under the continued stewardship of the Town. And you can rest assured that we are bringing every ounce of the legacy we built at the Playhouse with us to the HPAC.
Sincerely,
The Staff & Board of Mountain Theatre Company
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