Lower Shore Performing Arts Company

Historical Background 

Lower Shore Performing Arts Company was founded in 2016 in Pocomoke MD. LSPAC is celebrating ten years in which we have evolved into a fully mobile traveling theater company. Our shows include colorful sets that are easy to assemble and take on the road. Our founders at the dinner meeting January 2016 that launched it all: Pictured (left to right) – Amy and Hob Mason, Jodi and Mark Tyler, Jane and Mike Jump, Kathryn Redden, Kisha Jackson, Beth Sharpley, Bob and Kathi DeSouter, Willis Redden, Robin and Amber Cockey, John Sharpley. Not pictured: Diane Ceruzzi and John Lenda.

LSPAC was formed to reach out into the community and focus on live theater, arts and education, family entertainment by taking the theater to the community. 

Thanks to many shows ranging from musicals such as 1776 our inaugural show as LSPAC, Godspell; to murder mystery classics such as radio shows The Thin Man ; classic characters in twist of a show combining Sherlock with Mr. Scrooge; an Italian mob family and a funeral for a dead family member, only he “aint dead”; Goosebumps to engage with younger audiences; Gilligan’s’ Island the Musical which had a record breaking number of performances, 13, including a performance at the North Street Playhouse in Onancock VA! Our runs are usually 8 – 10 shows. 

Current State

Audience Appreciation 

Our audiences love our shows and look forward to us coming to their venues. Our arts partners look forward to our shows. Some of our members have been a part of this company since its inception and feel we are making an impact in our community with enriching people’s lives with the performing arts. We are meeting the challenge of designing lightweight, colorful, portable sets that are creative and will impress the audience. 

Arts Partnerships 

We have strong relationships with our arts partners. This is an accomplishment from our strategic planning session in 2016. We can still look to expand our venues and will keep this as a long-range goal for the coming 10 years. 

Networking has really helped grow our membership and our involvement. With relationships with artists, we have gotten to know gallery directors and their teams. Visual arts go hand in hand with performing arts. 

Antioch Church Princess Anne, Art League of Ocean City, Chincoteague Island Theater in CI VA, Corbin Gallery and Studio in Crisfield, Gallery 413 Crisfield, MARVA Theater Pocomoke, St Mary’s Episcopal Church Pocomoke. LSPAC has agreements with all of the venues. Each venue we have an agreement to mutually support our nonprofit organizations with promoting LSPAC shows. We share the box office profits with these partners. Sharing the profit is mutually beneficial for both nonprofits. With the exception of the MARVA, we have a rental agreement with a fee established by them. All of the arts partners are extremely accommodating to our company. We have also provided entertainment for art gallery openings and exhibits. With a presence at the Island Theater, we want to have a footprint in VA. This part of VA is home to many Title 9 schools and low-income families, as is Somerset County MD. 

LSPAC also has an Arts and Education Series category for shows. The shows are focused on historical aspects of US history and local history. We presented two original shows at the Corbin Gallery. One was "Lilyan Stratton Corbin: Renaissance Woman of the Eastern Shore" and The Women's Right to Vote: in their own Words." 

We also support playwrights with featuring or premiering original works.  Micheal O'Leary of Guiding Light fame premiered his work "Breathing Under Dirt" here on the campus of UMES at the Ella Fitzgerald Center; local playwright John Pesanello has had two musical presented by LSPAC "The Next Big Thing" about a garage band and "My Curiosity" about the life of Thomas Edison. 

Murder Mystery Events

Additionally, this past year we established agreements for clients who request murder mysteries for entertainment and fundraising. We customize the mystery to the organization and what the event is for.  We also perform mysteries or a season show for a fundraising effort.   Clients include the AGH Junior Auxiliary, Crisfield Historical Foundation with a murder mystery dinner at the Tawes Museum. A murder mystery fundraiser to benefit Art League of Ocean City and the Ocean City American Legion and American Cancer Society.  

Future State 

Strategic Planning 

LSPAC developed a strategic plan when we started.  We will revisit that plan since 10 years and conduct a new SWOT analysis – strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Assessing what are the internal and external factors impacting LSPAC. From this analysis and discussion with our Board, members, and arts partners, we will set new long and short-range goals. We are continually assessing our organization. 

Board competency development has included CFES providing leadership training for the officers of LSPAC.