About Theater League

Theater League History

Founded in 1976, Theater League is a not-for-profit, tax-exempt, community-based performing arts organization dedicated to the development of professional legitimate theater, both as a cultural and an educational resource. Serving its constituent communities by producing and presenting Broadway musicals, plays and new works in local performing arts centers, the League enriches the lives of more than 300,000 theatergoers annually, made possible by the support of the organization's 55,000+ members, who subscribe to Theater League's cultural offerings.

Theater League produces and presents professional theater series in the following communities:

  • Mesa, AZ
  • Phoenix, AZ
  • Santa Barbara, CA
  • South Bend, IN
  • Thousand Oaks, CA
  • Toledo, OH
  • Wichita, KS

Performing arts centers and historic theaters play host to the organization's Broadway musicals and plays. Related activities include special performances for students of the performing arts, which feature question and answer sessions with theater artists and our Theater ROCKs (Reach Out to Kids) program, which brings at-risk youth to the theater for special educational and cultural opportunities.

Theater League's presentations include the top national touring companies of all of the major Broadway musicals of the last twenty-five years. In addition, the League's own in-house producing division mounts annual revivals of classic Broadway fare featuring stars of stage, screen and television. These Theater League-produced tours allow the organization further flexibility in meeting the diverse schedules and goals of each of the venues and communities we serve.

Founder and President Mark Edelman participates in the national theater dialogue through membership in the League of American Theaters and Producers and the National Alliance for Musical Theatre. The organization takes a leading role in cooperative arts marketing efforts in the communities it serves and supports the facilities it calls home through grants, memberships and special promotional opportunities. In addition, outreach projects include the League's Teatro Latino division, created to bring Spanish-language plays to audiences in the West and Southwest.