Theatre
About Us
The Waupaca Community Theatre began its long association with the Waupaca Fine Arts Festival in 1979 and has been providing large-scale musical theatre productions with a full orchestra to Central Wisconsin for the past 26 years. Cast auditions are held each spring with performances taking place in late July at the Waupaca High School’s Performing Arts Center. We gladly welcome anyone with an interest in assisting with our shows, whether in set construction, art work, costuming, choreography, stage crew, sound, lighting or any other area of production. We also present smaller productions including plays, dinner theatre and special events throughout the year at various locations.
To request more information, please fill out our contact form.
Waupaca Community Theatre Board of Directors
John Kelley, Chairman
Wanda Eikenbary, Treasurer
Carmen Riebel, Secretary
Michael Etzwiler
Amy Holterman
Liz Kelley
Dave Larson
Holly Saunders
Linda Trepasso
From Our Facebook Feed
Are you unsure of how to prepare for an audition?
Out of practice and wanting to brush up on your audition skills?
Want to be in a show but don't even know where to start?
We'd love to see you at our Audition Boot Camp!
This is going to be a positive and supportive environment where you can get some practice and learn about what directors are looking to see during auditions. Sign up today!!
Come out and support the talented theatre students in our schools!
Called “the funniest play Broadway has ever seen” (Huffington Post), this classic murder mystery is chock-full of mishaps and madcap mania! Welcome to the Cornley Community Theatre's production of The Murder at Haversham Manor, where things are quickly going from bad to utterly disastrous. This play-within-a-play was a Broadway smash hit so you don't want to miss out! Bring your sweetie on a date Valentine's weekend to The Waupaca High School. The shenanigans are to DIE FOR!
Tickets go on sale Jan. 27th.
You've met our cast, now meet our Creative Team for for our show, "The Kids Left. The Dog Died. Now What?" which is occurring THIS WEEKEND Friday - Sunday!
Carmen Riebel - Director
A native of Waupaca, Carmen has enjoyed performing in numerous musicals with the Waupaca Community Theatre and resides as Secretary on their Board of Directors. This is Carmen's second time directing. She is retired and enjoys traveling. In her spare time, she sings with the Waupaca Community Chorus, the local Christian group Shepherd’s Quarter, the local band Hijinx and has her own Christian music ministry. During the winter months she is also on a curling team. She is blessed to work with so much talent from the Waupaca area. It has been a total joy putting this show together with Danny.
Daniel O'Brien - Assistant Director
Daniel made his acting debut while in 8th grade and performed in several school stage productions including "The Princess and The Pea," "South Pacific," "The Sound of Music," "The Pajama Game," and "One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest." He moved from Waupaca to Grand Rapids, Michigan where he worked as a district manager for a fast food chain for five years, then to Coldwater, Michigan and finally back to the Waupaca area in 2022. After a 12-year hiatus from acting, he returned to the stage in the 2024 Waupaca Community Theatre's world premiere of "Critics' Choice." Daniel is making his directing debut as assistant for “The Kids Left. The Dog Died. Now What?” He is excited to be a part of the production and has had a blast working with Carmen!
Marisa Landsverk - Music Director/Piano
Marisa is a Waupaca native who began playing for singers in 8th grade. She played keyboard in WCT productions of "The Wizard of Oz" (2012) and "Into the Woods" (2015) and most recently Music Directed the 2023 production of "Vanities - The Musical." Marisa has a bachelor’s degree in Music from Carthage College in Kenosha, where she studied piano and organ, and a Master’s degree in vocal accompaniment from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She lives in Appleton where she works as music director at St. Joseph Parish and in voice studios and as a freelance accompanist at Lawrence University. She frequently collaborates at area high schools and regional summer productions of musicals. Marisa also enjoys knitting and spending time with her husband Aaron and their spunky Siamese cat Rosie. She is thrilled to be the representative from the Millennial generation on this production, and yes, the cast had to explain some of these jokes to her.
