Mission Statement
Emmetsburg Main Street Community Theater is a non-profit organization, and active membership is open to anyone interested in any phase of the theatre. The purpose of the theatre is to contribute to the cultural and recreational life of our community by presenting outstanding plays and giving the membership an opportunity for self-expression in the art of acting and its allied fields.
-1977 EMSCT Board
Emmetsburg Main Street Community Theater
Emmetsburg Main Street Community Theater provides entertainment and cultural activities for the benefit of the public, and in turn, it receives participation, patronage, and financial support from the community. EMSCT is a community theater operated entirely by volunteers. Located in Emmetsburg, IA, it has developed a reputation for providing quality theater productions that rival professional groups. The quality of talent is exceptional for a small community of this size, and the theater draws its audience and participants from the entire area. EMSCT usually produces a musical, a children’s theater, and another production each year.
Its first production, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, occurred in 1978 with performances at the Middle School Auditorium. In 1986, the Theater obtained its own Performing Arts Center at 19th and Palmer Streets, where all performances are now given. In 2017, the theater celebrated its 40th anniversary, having produced 121 productions!
Emmetsburg Main Street Community Theater is a non-profit organization composed of people who have a common interest in community theater. The community theater is operated by a Board of Directors elected to three-year terms by the membership at its annual meeting. It is supported by membership fees, revenues from productions, and occasional grants and donations.
Rubber Chicken Story
If you’ve been to one of our productions, it’s quite likely you have seen our rubber chicken, newly named George Spelvin, make a cameo appearance somewhere in the show. There’s quite a history to why George is in almost every show.
In 1981, EMSCT did a production of “Annie Get Your Gun.” During one scene, Annie shot her gun in the air and is supposed to accidentally kill a seagull that falls from the sky in a bit of comedic relief. So our propmaster got busy creating a “seagull,” using a rubber chicken prop that we had and some white tape, creating a rather lumpy, white, somewhat mummified bird-like prop that would suffice.
In order to get the chicken/seagull to fall from the sky, the propmaster decided to stand backstage and toss the chicken/seagull high into the air, maximizing height, and it would fall down on the stage. Brilliant plan, but less than stellar execution.
What actually happened was Annie pointed her shotgun up and shot straight up. Propmaster on the side of the stage winds up to toss the chicken/seagull into the air, but as her arm moved forward, she accidentally let go of the chicken, and it shot straight out from stage left! Absolutely NO sense could be made of this by the actors or audience, so it was just embraced as “one of those community theatre moments.” But the story doesn’t end there.
Since then, the annual award for a musician who has contributed substantially to the theater has become the Coveted Rubber Chicken Award!
See, we are a fun group of people who love a good joke, and we’re not going to let one go simply because we’ve moved on to another show!
