Las Cruces Community Theatre records
Collection
Identifier: Ms-0534
Scope and Contents
This collection consists of materials related to the productions of the Las Cruces Community Theatre. Included are administrative files dealing with board meetings, membership lists and financial information. The bulk of the collection includes 35mm slide trays which contain images of various productions along with scrapbooks depicting various productions, VHS and 1/4 magnetic audio tapes. The scrapbooks contain programs, brochures, flyers and images of productions. The date span is from the 1960s to the early 1990s.
Dates
- 1963-1993
Conditions Governing Access
Open. All materials in this collection are available for research under supervised conditions in the Research Room. Researchers should contact the department in advance to make arrangements to view unprocessed materials, as these may need to be screened before use.
Biographical / Historical
Michael Coquat, a graduate student attending New Mexico State University organized the Las Cruces Community Theatre. In the summer of 1963, Coquat arranged a meeting to determine if there were others within Las Cruces area interested in community theatre and in fact, there was about a dozen individuals who attended the gathering and decided to organize a show. The first production was planned to be at the St. Genevieve's churchyard due to not having a dedicated space.
As the newly theatre group realized a theatre was much needed, a member of the newly formed group contacted Arthur Fountain - the owner of Fountain Theater to check if the venue was available. Terms between Albert Fountain and the LCCT members included that the site be cleaned up and that an alternate storage space for Fountain’s possession be found. These possessions included outdated refrigerators, dried chilies and antique movie projectors. It is not clear where these items were relocated, but the stipulations of the agreement were met in time for "The Silver Whistle," their first real theater production several months later.
As improvements were made, the Fountain Theater was home to the LCCT and in 1977 the organization relocated from Mesilla to Las Cruces and continues to be an active organization.
Source: The History of The Las Cruces Community Theater by John Hadsell
As improvements were made, the Fountain Theater was home to the LCCT and in 1977 the organization relocated from Mesilla to Las Cruces and continues to be an active organization.
Source: The History of The Las Cruces Community Theater by John Hadsell
Extent
14 Linear Feet
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
The Las Cruces Community Theatre records include 35mm slides, scrapbooks containing photos, newspaper articles and programs of various productions dating from the 1960s-1990s. The bulk of the materials consist of production images in 35mm format dating from the 1960s-1970s.
Processing Information
This collection was processed by Jennifer Olguin. (January, 2020)
- Title
- Guide to the Las Cruces Community Theatre records
- Status
- In Progress
- Author
- Finding Aid by Jennifer Olguin
- Date
- 2020-1-14
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Code for undetermined script
- Language of description note
- English
Repository Details
Part of the New Mexico State University Library Archives and Special Collections Repository