By Fred “Flash” Lash

 The Little Theatre of Alexandria (LTA), located at 600 Wolfe Street in Old Town, was founded by Mary Lindsay in 1934.  Originally known as the ‘Peacock Players,’ the community theatre has since staged more than 350 productions.

The theatre has welcomed numerous dignitaries throughout its colorful past, including President George W. Bush, who attended his first cultural event at LTA after occupying the White House, along with First Lady Laura Bush.  They were in the audience to see a relative, Margaret Bush, perform in a leading role in Neil Simon’s Proposals on June 28, 2001.

LTA is the oldest award-winning theatre in the Washington Metro Area and one of the few community theatres in the country with its own building and an ambitious seven-show season.

Located in the heart of Old Town, LTA has been providing a variety of musicals, dramas, and comedies to local and regional audiences for nine decades and is proud to have produced shows throughout the COVID period, employing reduced audience size, realistic masking, and strict immunization protocols, together with enhanced safety guidelines for the casts and crew of each show.  In short, protection for everyone within the building before, during, and after each performance.

Just like the old Bailey Brothers Savings and Loan Building in It’s a Wonderful Life, LTA kept its doors open and floodlights lit during the entire four-year- period!

The Little Theatre seeks to create a vibrant and thriving artistic space, where its members, volunteers, and greater community can engage in rewarding theatrical experiences that entertain, educate, and build community pride and spirit.  LTA also joins with the Alexandria community as a participant in the annual George Washington Birthday and Scottish Walk parades, as well as volunteering its spaces to service organizations for events.

Having been a landmark at Wolfe and Saint Asaph Streets for nearly a century, LTA continues to present the plays that the community flocks to see.  A typical comment from a theatre goer posted on Trip Advisor reads: “We saw the play Mary Stuart yesterday, and our entire party gave it five stars.  Excellent acting and Scottish dialect, along with superb costumes and makeup.”

Additionally, now in its 16^th year, LTA’s Education Program offers a comprehensive year-round schedule of classes, camps, and workshops attended by students of all ages, with the youngest ‘Thespians-in training’ being just three years old.

Proud of its heritage and role in Northern Virginia, LTA is pleased to celebrate its past and looks forward to staging first-rate theatrical productions far into the next century.

A review by DC Theater Arts of LTA’s most recent production Memphis well sums up the theatre’s philosophy when it comes to its selection of shows for any one season.  “There may be no theatre better suited to tackle as moving, yet racially charged a musical as Memphis, than one that has lived through the era that the show depicts.  The Little Theatre of Alexandria, announcing its 90^th anniversary (1934-2024), likely experienced a level of segregation like that of 1950s Memphis, Tennessee.  This production, combined with the theatre’s historical context, serves to remind us of just how far we’ve come in music and theatre arts.”