History
A group from Fort Mill, including Robert Reid, saw a play while vacationing. Robert immediately decided that this was something Fort Mill should do. He asked Steve McCrae to help, and with many others involved the first play, Spring for Sure, was produced in 1980 under a circus tent at the Leroy Springs Recreation Complex, sponsored by Leroy Springs & Co. Community enthusiasm and support was overwhelming. A meeting of all people in the Fort Mill Township with an interest in the theater was called and the Fort Mill Community Playhouse was organized in October of 1980 as a non-profit organization that seeks to offer quality entertainment to its sponsors, patrons and members.
The following year the same setting lent authentic flavor to the musical, Carnival. In May, 1982, The Music Man charmed audiences at A. O. Jones School Auditorium which also provided a home to the Playhouse for the musicals Where’s Charley?, Carousel, and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.
When the school auditorium burned in 1985, the Playhouse made immediate plans to go back to the Big Top where it presented A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, as part of the city’s Fest-i-Fun celebration in 1986.
With 1987’s The Sound of Music, the Playhouse found a new performing venue in the Fort Mill High School Auditorium, where the majority of performances were held until the Playhouse was given a home on Banks Street in 2001, again being backed by Leroy Springs & Co., and held the first production there, The Man with the Plastic Sandwich.
Due to development of the property on Banks Street, the Playhouse moved to 220 Main Street, Fort Mill, in 2016 and produced The Honky Tonk Angels as the first show of the 2016 Season.
The Playhouse continues to produce quality entertainment, no matter where they are based, and is indebted to its members, volunteers, advertisers, sponsors, the greater Fort Mill Township and Leroy Springs & Co. for their support, encouragement and enthusiasm throughout the years.
The purpose of the Fort Mill Community Playhouse is to present plays and dramatic works of all kinds that promote and encourage interest in theatrical productions in Fort Mill. Most of all we want to bring the enjoyment of a live performance to our audience; something that television or movies can never achieve.