Footlite Musicals began simply enough in 1955. A group of musician-thespians without a home banded together to travel around Indianapolis producing musical theater at any likely venue, including school auditoriums and churches. Today, the group produces the best of Broadway on a professional stage with professional quality, though the organization is made up of volunteers.
Footlite Musicals, Inc. found a home in the heart of downtown Indianapolis in 1974, inside the renovated Hedback Theatre, which was, in a previous life, the old Civic Theatre of Indianapolis. In 1976, Phil Hedback, the force behind the Hedback Community Theatre, gifted Footlite Musicals with the theatre building.
Aside from the crowd-pleasing musicals produced there every season like clockwork, (such perennial favorites as Crazy for You, High Society, and Once Upon a Mattress), one of the biggest draws is the authentic pipe organ, which members of the American Theatre Organ Society play before every performance so consistently it has now become an institution.
A big part of Footlite’s stated goal is to offer great classes in theatrical arts and musical theatre, which they provide with flair and generosity throughout the year. A very popular educational program Footlite Musicals offers is the Children’s Summer Workshop. Indianapolis kids get the chance to study with veteran musical theatre performers through summer rehearsals that culminate in the performance of a complete musical on the Footlite stage.
Footlite represents one of the top venues in Indianapolis performing arts. Like all volunteer groups, the Footlite Musicals organization is always looking for help, onstage or off. Auditions are open and not pre-cast. Normally, those auditioning will be required to sing at least sixteen bars of a song of their choice, and be prepared to read lines and dance. After all, the only thing more fun than watching a musical is being in one!
Footlite Musicals, Inc.
1847 N Alabama St
Indianapolis, IN 46202
317.926.6630
