So many students get their turn on stage with Morgantown Theatre Co.
One opportunity to act on the stage can change the course of a child’s life. Morgantown Theatre Company offers that, and so much more. Under the artistic direction of Heath Kale for the past near-decade, the organization has grown from two productions a year to six and now creates that opportunity in grand style for hundreds of children each year.
“It can be a challenge for us as directors,” Kale says, “but we make sure that everybody gets their time on stage.”
Kale acted in community theater as a teen and has a lifelong passion for its value. From the time of his 2018 first show as artistic director, The Wizard of Oz, MTC produced one show a semester until COVID hit in 2020. Public performances resumed in 2021—in force. “I think people were itching to be around people again and find joy in any type of entertainment away from their devices,” he says. He brought two former actors on to help him grow the operation—Sterling Gibson as assistant director and Cambrie Gerdes as choreographer—and the three have worked together ever since, with a lot of volunteer and contracted help.
Kids involved with MTC range from 2nd to 12th grade, and families travel as much as an hour each way to be involved. Why? Kale attributes it to life lessons wrapped in a good time. “I try to make great actors and wonderful performers, but I’d rather make good people who are well-rounded and know how to communicate,” he says. “My general motto is, if we’re not having fun, then what are we doing? That’s why the theater company has grown.”
Broad support for MTC allows it to surround its actors with high-quality sets and costumes at an astounding scale: The fall 2026 production of Mary Poppins, for example, had more than 60 actors, each of whom had at least two costumes.
All of that brings students back year after year, many until they graduate—some of them finding their confidence at MTC. “Watching kids grow up on stage has been the joy of my life,” Kale says. “When kids can come and watch other kids do stuff, they know that they can do it, too.”
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