THE MISSION

To enrich lives through the performing arts, including educational programming, focusing on volunteer service guided by professional artists.

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THE HISTORY
The Shreveport Little Theatre & Academy is celebrating its 104th consecutive season in 2025-2026. Shreveport Little Theatre, founded in 1922, is one of the oldest continuously producing community theatres in America. SLT produced without interruption throughout the Great Depression, World War II, and two fires. From the first performance in the City Hall Auditorium in 1922, The Shreveport Little Theatre staged productions in the Jewish Synagogue, the Grand Opera House, the Auditorium of the Woman's Department Club until we built our own home and opened on March 14, 1927 at 812 Margaret Place.

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SLT was once again a traveling troupe after two fires in 1986 and 2008 and performed at Theatre On Line, LSU-S, Performing Arts Center, Woman's Department Club, State Exhibit Museum, Anderson Auditorium & Marjorie Lyons Playhouse on Centenary College campus, and Southfield School. After each fire, a group of SLT patrons and members of the community, rallied around the idea that it was time to return to our original home at 812 Margaret Place and set out to raise the necessary funds to rebuild the backstage area and then the entire theatre, after the second fire of 2008.

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This charming and intimate 170 seat theater is of Rural English architectural style and is completely handicapped-accessible. The playhouse has earned national recognition through the years, including LIFE magazine naming Shreveport Little Theatre as one of the nation's top three community playhouses.

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David O. Selznick's infamous 1938 search for Scarlett O'Hara included auditions at Shreveport Little Theatre, discovering local actress Marcella Martin, who was cast as Cathleen Calvert in GONE WITH THE WIND. The theatre was among the first theaters to stage the Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt musical THE FANTASTICKS with music being duplicated and sent to Shreveport as it was completed and revised. Comedian George Carlin first stepped onstage at SLT in DESK SET, in 1958, while a young airman stationed at Barksdale Air Force Base. John Wray and Margaret Mary Young served as the theatre's managing and technical directors from 1936 until their retirement in 1973. Mr. Young remains the most published author on the American Community Theatre and was one of the 1948 founders of the Southwest Theatre Conference.

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Dr. Robert K. Darrow, former Managing and Artistic Director, began his service in 1998, overseeing the founding in 2008 of SLT Academy for youth and a recent $3.3 million dollar renovation and expansion of this historic American theatre, which opened in January 2011. Our current Artistic Director, Laura Beeman Nugent started her directorship with the overall theatre in 2024, after previously serving with the Academy. Laura Beeman Nugent began working with Shreveport Little Theatre in 1998, participating in former Artistic and Managing Director Dr. Robert Darrow’s directorial debut in Dearly Departed. After touring the nation and Canada with Missoula Children’s Theatre, Beeman Nugent returned to Shreveport and continued to work at Shreveport Little Theatre. She has been a cornerstone of the Shreveport Little Theatre Academy since its inception in 2007. As one of the founders of the Academy, Beeman Nugent has dedicated over fifteen years to shaping it's artistic vision and nurturing the talents of countless young performers as the Academy’s Artistic Director, her appointment since 2013. Beeman Nugent has also served as director and choreographer for Shreveport Little Theatre’s Main Stage and summer musical productions for ten years. Her deep-rooted passion for the performing arts and commitment to educational excellence has left an indelible mark on the Academy and the broader theatre community. Our new Managing Director, Michelle Coffel joined the theatre in 2025.

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THE COMMUNITY
Audiences for our ten annual productions come not only from the Shreveport-Bossier City areas, but also from East Texas, Southern Arkansas and smaller communities throughout Northwest Louisiana.

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THE SUCCESSES
While rebuilding the stage and backstage areas lost in a 1986 fire, the fire from a welder's torch started a fire that destroyed the remaining original structure, the auditorium and lobby, on November 18, 2008.  The slab for the new auditorium and lobby was poured on the original footprint and the historic theatre building was recreated by McNew Architecture in its same rural English style. The new theatre held a gala opening on March 3, 2011 with an award-winning production of Tennessee Williams’ A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE.

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DONATIONS MAY BE MADE BY CALLING 318.424.4439

or DONATING ONLINE.