Footlite Musicals is an all-volunteer, 501(c)3 nonprofit corporation founded in 1955. We offer the best of Broadway, presenting six musical productions each year with a new show on stage every six weeks. Each show is selected through a submission process, in which directors submit proposals and our show selection committee reviews the submissions holistically to create a full season. We operate with a board of directors, chosen by our membership, as well as numerous committees that lead our marketing, development, membership, diversity, volunteer, and other operations efforts year-round.
WHO WE ARE
Our mission is to produce musicals and other dramatic offerings and to provide for education and training of persons in the theatre through hands-on experience and classes in the various stages of dramatic and musical theatre
OUR LOCATION
We are located in the Hedback Theatre, located in downtown Indianapolis in the historic Herron-Morton Place neighborhood, at the corner of 19th Street and North Alabama Street.
OUR HISTORY
Our Beginning
In 1955, a group of Indianapolis performers created Footlite Musicals, Inc., a non-profit organization dedicated to the purpose of presenting the best in avocational musical theatre. Starting with two productions a year, the group produced and rehearsed 50 musicals in a variety of high school auditoriums and other venues across Indianapolis from 1956 to 1974.
A History of Success
In July 1991, Footlite Musicals became America’s “Number One Community Theatre” by winning the national competition of the American Community Theatre Association for a production of Into the Woods by Stephen Sondheim. The production then competed in an international competition in Toyama, Japan, in August 1992, where it won several awards.
Now
Following its move to the Hedback Theatre, Footlite Musicals’ season included four productions and has expanded to six each season. We offer hands-on experience and classes that cover all stages in the production process. In addition to bringing in dramatic and musical talents, volunteers construct sets, create costumes, provide technical assistance, and work as stagehands for its performances. Activity occurs year-round and includes four full-scale Broadway musicals, a winter cabaret, and two summer youth productions. It also conducts a summer children’s workshop that culminates in a fully staged musical.