History:

In the early 1970’s, a group of local friends recognized the need for families to participate in, and experience live theatre in their area. A place that would nurture talent, teach a variety of skills, entertain and excite audiences. Center Stage Theatre (Comstock Community Theatre) was born. A place for everyone to discover the love of theatre!

Within the first three years of operation, many people from the Greater Kalamazoo area began to participate and attend Center Stage productions. Center Stage Theatre remains focused on community, and encourages cast and crew to get their whole families involved with each show.

Center Stage is the only community theatre in the Kalamazoo area that invites everyone who auditions, and is willing to make the time commitment, into its large summer shows. It is common for each summers’ musical to have more than 100 cast and crew.

In addition to the large summer musicals, Center Stage produces smaller shows in the spring and fall of each year. Currently, the fall production is a children’s show performed by young people, while the spring performance is often by adults for adults. Center Stage has also had the privilege of partnering with Second Star from the Right Productions to produce musicals with local high school students whose schools do not have their own theatre programs.

Center Stage Theatre has been fortunate to have over 4,000 dedicated volunteers on the stage and behind the scenes. To this day, Center Stage Theatre is an all-volunteer organization that attracts some of the areas most talented volunteers. Without these dedicated volunteers, Center Stage could not have produced 40 seasons of wonderful memories!