An entry-level guide to getting involved with community theater in Cincinnati

Maybe you’ve sat in the audience at a local production and wondered what it would be like to be on the other side of the curtain. Or maybe acting isn’t your thing, but directing, building sets, designing costumes or working backstage sounds like fun. The good news: Cincinnati’s community theater scene offers plenty of ways to get involved, and you don’t need to be a professional — or even know anyone in the theater community — to get started. From finding auditions to volunteering behind the scenes, there are a lot of open doors to make your first entrance into Cincinnati’s community theater scene. And once you’re in, you’ll soon find out that there’s a lot more to it than just memorizing lines. Studying theater as a major at Thomas More taught me many valuable lessons beyond the stage: working with diverse groups, budgeting, time management, confidence and so much more. Once I graduated, I went into corporate life but wanted to remain connected to the theater world. And