June 22, 2017 — , in celebration of its 40th Anniversary year, proudly presents Disney's The Little Mermaid July 14th, 15th, 16th, 21st, 22nd, and 23rd at the new Lorain Performing Arts Center at Lorain High School (2600 Ashland Ave.). Join LCMT 'under the sea' and come be a part of one of Disney's most beloved 'tails'. Tickets are on sale now here. The classic love story of The Little Mermaid is Disney storytelling at its best.

Lorain Community Music Theater was originally born as a vision from the late Ann Mensendiek Jensen. More than forty years ago, there had been a long history of musicals being performed at Lorain High, and Jensen felt that those students who loved performing in musicals at Lorain High might want to continue their passion with musical theater in the summer or after graduation. Jensen also felt students could continue to learn more about theater by performing with adults. With these thoughts in mind, Jensen approached Howard Hansen, Bob Bostwick, and others who were instrumental in organizing LCMT. Howard Hansen had directed over 25 productions at Lorain High before becoming Lorain Schools' Music Supervisor and Bob Bostwick was the current choral director Lorain High School.

With a grant from the Martha Holden Jennings Foundation, as well as some support money from the community, Hansen and Bostwick produced LCMT's first show, My Fair Lady, in July 1977 in the Lorain High auditorium. The show included adults as well as students from Lorain High, and about 1,000 community members were in attendance for the shows. In 1978, LCMT produced Oliver with Gene Dulmage as the Director and Bob Bostwick as the Producer/Music Director. Howard Hansen had sadly passed away the previous December and was sorely missed.
The third summer LCMT moved to the Palace Civic Center on Broadway in downtown Lorain in hopes of increasing attendance and public support. Both categories vastly improved with the larger venue, and the Palace Civic Center was the home of LCMT until 2009. In 2010, LCMT moved to Lorain County Community College's Stocker Arts Center, and remained there each July through 2016. LCMT is thrilled to be returning home, this July 2017, coming full circle, to the new, state-of- the-art, Lorain Performing Arts Center at the beautiful Lorain High School.
Lorain Community Music Theater is a non-profit organization with a Board of Directors of 17. The Board's responsibility is to finance and promote the annual musical production, as well as to oversee the production. In 1983, LCMT began an endowment to help defray the expense of putting on a high-quality musical production. Under the leadership of Ben Norton, and support grants from the and the Stocker Foundation, the endowment fund continues annually to help support each summer's musical. In additional to the annual musical, the Board also sponsors 'The Festival of Carols" which is presented the first Monday of each December for area school choirs to perform holiday music. It is a tradition for 'The Festival of Carols' to be recorded and replayed on Christmas morning on .

Since its inception, LCMT has brought quality musical productions to countless audience members who have been in attendance for the past 39 years. Literally thousands of performers and volunteers from Lorain, Erie, Cuyahoga, and Summit Counties have worked diligently each summer to deliver a bit of 'Broadway' to the stage to bring each one of LCMT's productions to life. LCMT's 2016 production of Into the Woods was the recipient of 6 out of 7 possible Broadway World Cleveland Region Awards for musicals including Best Musical 2016.

Based on Hans Christian Andersen's tale, Disney's The Little Mermaid is a hauntingly beautiful love story for the ages. Ariel, King Triton's youngest daughter, wishes to pursue the human Prince Eric in the world above and bargains with the evil sea witch, Ursula, to trade her tail for legs. But the bargain is not what it seems, and Ariel needs the help of her colorful friends Flounder the fish, Scuttle the seagull, and Sebastian the crab to restore order under the sea. Dive to new depths of adventure and excitement this July with Ariel, her treasure chest of friends, and Lorain Community Music Theater. Additional information is available here.