In the world of theater, actors aim for perfection. A complete production’s set builds and shifts the audience’s perspective. It will manipulate the eyes and deceive reality.
What the audience doesn’t see is the work torn down after a successful performance. After LPC’s summer production of “The Wizard of Oz” in 2025, the curtain closed and concrete crumbled.
This upcoming summer of 2026, the Barbara F. Mertes Center for the Arts outdoor amphitheater will undergo construction. The new and improved amphitheater will provide storage for new equipment, specifically for outdoor theater productions. The structure will be used for lighting and sound equipment, set pieces and other necessities required to put on a performance. It will also provide shade for the cast and crew on scorching hot summer days.
“We’ll be able to focus on the production instead of having to problem-solve the realities of the outdoor nature of the amphitheater,” said Titian Lish, coordinator of the Theater Arts department. “It just starts to eliminate some of the various problems we’ve faced and lets us creatively function a little bit better.”
This will put a pause on LPC’s annual summer production, but theater arts education will continue through asynchronous classes. Both offered courses — technical theater design and play analysis — will fulfill general education requirements and keep students involved with theater.
“We are an instructional program designed to provide students opportunities to perform, participate in stage crews and technical teams,” Lish said. “To learn and grow as artists and technicians.”
While these renovations will improve the future of the program, they come at a cost — literally. The Theater Arts department has spent the last few years planning this renovation, and thus has been cautious about how much money is spent on each production. Pausing annual productions for construction also results in a loss of revenue.
“While we may not have the full revenue from a summer production, we also don’t have the costs associated with producing a summer musical,” said Amy Mattern, dean of Arts and Humanities. “We run very lean — the cost of the show and revenue balance very closely. We’re not a money-making venture.”
Students who have been in the most recent productions, including“Suenos,” “The Wizard of Oz” and “Rocky Horror Picture Show,” are sad that there will not be a summer production. However, they’re also hopeful and excited for what is to come. They are trusting the process.
“We have the resources, theoretically,” said Scout Del Real, a student of the LPC Actors Conservatory. “But I’m sure there’s a reason we are not using them.”
Theater students are expecting an extraordinary production in their summer showcase of 2027. Not knowing what the next season looks like for their productions, they speculated on the department’s reasons for not using resources that are currently available.
“Probably because the next summer show is going to have the biggest budget. But usually the summer show does bring the most money and supplies the rest of the show’s funding,” said Ryan Morris, another LPC Actors Conservatory student. “If we’re not gonna do a show to replace it, we’re gonna put all the budget into that.”
Instead of watching characters evolve, theater students will watch concrete dissolve and bricks pile into a shady, new amphitheater. Soon enough, the show will go on once more.
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TOP PHOTO: The LPC outdoor amphitheater is undergoing renovations and will be closed until a summer musical in 2027. While under construction, the indoor shows and performances remain unchanged. (Photo by Ian Kapsalis/The Express)
Sydney Breckenridge is a Staff Writer for The Express. Follow her on X @SydBreckenridge.
