For 68 years, the Longmont Theatre Company has been the collective community heartbeat of downtown Main Street. But that heart has beaten largely unnoticed outside of Boulder County.

That changed a year ago – and for all the wrong reasons: A public power struggle broke out between the board and its longtime president, Faye Lamb. 

Last July, former board members Peg Bolan and Charlie Wright filed a complaint in Boulder County District Court that essentially alleged Lamb had actively conspired to bypass the required participation of company volunteers in major company decisions, including the selection of new board members. (That’s an unusual condition of this company’s bylaws that sets Longmont apart from many other arts organizations.)

“Succession” this was not, but an alleged plot to consolidate power at the state’s third-oldest theater company? Certainly, Wright said last year. And the stakes could not have been higher to those who have invested their lives in the company.

The case was set for trial but, on Wednesday, a resolution was announced that includes a reshuffled leaderboard. Lamb, the face of the company since becoming board president in 2016, is out, along with the full existing board. Wright is the new board chair, with a slate that includes Bolan, Jay Jakosky, Scott Dunn and Rob Mess.

The company’s official announcement included no mention of who is now going to serve as the company’s artistic director – so I asked. Mess responded that it’s well … him. It’s unusual for an artistic director to also be a voting board member, but there is precedent  – including at Longmont, where artistic direction is by committee that Mess will lead.

The company’s website has been temporarily taken down, replaced with a placeholder message that simply declares Longmont as “A Place for All” – a clear if indirect assertion that, at least in recent years, it has not been.

“Well, I don’t want to characterize things that happened in the past,” Mess said. “I just want people to know that if you felt that you couldn’t come here before – you can now.

“We’re excited both to have an inclusive organization that really brings together the community, and to put on quality shows. Our mission statement has always called for the people of Boulder County to run this arts center for the people of Boulder County – and so, we’re going to be throwing the doors open for everybody.”

Community theaters, it should be said, are the bedrock of every town in America. While the productions can be quite good – even occasionally remarkable – community theater is almost always a fully volunteer endeavor. The goal will never be to compete with professional theaters in quality. “It is to open the door so that more people can be involved,” Mess said.

The company, he added, was not in danger of closing over the recent legal mess. But this definitive restructuring, he said, “should ensure people that it’s not going anywhere. I think that is the takeaway.”

The immediate future of the company is nothing if not uncertain, from upcoming programming to the company’s finances. But Mess believes there will again be a full, year-long theater season, now with expanded community-based offerings such as symphony, concerts, lectures and standup comedy. The space will also be made available for other arts organizations to rent. 

“We really want this to be a thriving place in the middle of downtown that drives people to the center of Longmont,” Mess said.

As for the financials, the company has “a solid enough base to get up and running and off the ground,” Mess said. “That said, we are going to need help from our donors and volunteers in the greater community.”

Mess was first elected to the board in 2019, when the company also announced that Lamb was “the first president in a decade to lead the (then) 62-year-old company to financial success.” Lamb was praised for producing record ticket sales, many sold-out shows in the 300-seat auditorium at 513 Main St., creating new staff positions, installing a screen for movie nights, and completing major repairs to the building.

Then came COVID, and all the existential challenges and internal divisions it spawned.

Mess, a native of Massachusetts, moved to Colorado in 2005. In 2011, he was cast in Longmont Theatre Company’s “Frost/Nixon,” starring as David Frost in what remains one of the company’s most fully realized productions of the past 25 years. I can say that because I was a critic at the time, and wrote: “At first glance, Mess seems as overmatched as Frost himself in 1977. But in quick time, the young actor’s casual charm wins over the audience as surely as Frost earned Nixon’s respect, displaying a carefree demeanor that morphs from Frost’s greatest weakness to his most potent weapon.”

Mess left the board in 2022. He is returning now, he said, because Longmont was the company that gave him a home in Colorado.

“I was looking for a place where I could use my talents, and not just as an actor, but eventually being a director and getting on the board, and I fell in love with the place,” said Mess, whose down-low day job has him working in compliance for Major League Baseball.

“This community is such a wonderful, wonderful group of people, and that’s what really made me want to come back,” he said. “And with Charlie and Peg now leading the way, this is absolutely the right time.”

Mess said to expect the imminent announcement of a community gathering at the end of July “to start talking about our new direction,” he said.

Historic Arvada Center hiring

The Arvada Center has hired prolific director Kenny Moten for the newly created position of associate artistic director. Moten, who has been the go-to director for plays and musicals at the Arvada Center in recent years, will assist Artistic Director Lynne Collins with casting, producing and planning. And just in time for the Arvada Center’s 2025-26 50th anniversary season. (He’ll be directing both Disney’s “Frozen” and “Come from Away.”)

Meet the new gatekeeper: Kenny Moten | John Moore

When Collins was named artistic director in 2022, she made it clear that she was in it for three to five years before her own retirement – and that she looked forward to choosing her eventual replacement.

That’s not what this is, all three principal players say – including CEO Philip Sneed.

“We don’t know what the future will be,” Sneed told The Denver Gazette. “This is something we’re doing for this year. The future is undecided.”

For her part, Collins said she feels “incredibly lucky that Kenny will be sharing his energy and talents with us.”

Moten, who was named The Denver Gazette’s 2023 True West Awards Theatre Person of the Year in Colorado, runs his own events company called Narrative Consulting. He is also the president of the Denver Actors Fund’s Board of Directors. His duties will also include planning donor events, enhanced student matinee experiences and lobby activations, as well as  developing “brand stories” for the company’s plays and musicals.

“From theater and writing to immersive events and creative leadership, my career has been all about using story to connect people,” Moten said. “I’m excited to bring that creative lens to the Arvada Center.”

Lost in the announcement was the historic nature of it: Moten is the first artist of color to be hired into an artistic leadership staff position in the five-decade history of the Arvada Center.

“It’s certainly an important role and I think recognizes the excellent work Kenny has done for us and the great relationships he has in the community and just what a great artist he is,” Sneed said.

Offen running in Fort Collins

OpenStage Theatre in Fort Collins has named Jacob Offen as just the third producing artistic director in the company’s 50-plus-year history. He will replace Sydney Parks Smith later this summer. She took the helm from founding producer Denise Freestone in 2019.

“This company has shaped me as an artist and a person,” said Offen, originally from Gunnison and holder of an MFA from the University of Houston. “I’m excited to champion the power of theater to bring people together, challenge perspectives and tell the stories that matter.”

Offen is a longtime performer and behind-the-scenes contributor to the company’s artistic and operational activities. His background in community engagement, leadership support and fundraising made him uniquely suited to lead OpenStage, according to a statement issued by the search committee:

“Jake has a profound understanding of OpenStage’s mission and a clear passion for the transformative power of theater. His collaborative leadership style, commitment to equity, and eagerness to both honor the company’s legacy and innovate for the future, made him the unanimous choice.”

Smith, who will stay on until the end of July, is being praised for expanding community partnerships, mentoring emerging artists and overseeing bold and innovative programming, such as “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” and the recent workplace drama “Sweat.”