About
Who we are
Riverfront Theatre Company Inc. is a Registered Charity. We provide theatrical training and performance experience to the youth of Windsor and Essex County in a year-long annual program, through the generous support of our sponsors and our community, with the help of an exclusively volunteer staff, at minimal charge to the participating families.
Mission Statement
Riverfront Theatre Company provides all youth, regardless of ethnic, social or economic background, the opportunity to participate in a collaborative theatre experience. We offer a safe, accessible, open forum in which young people can express themselves and we provide them with the resources, tools and leadership to study, produce, promote, market and perform live theatrical works. It is our firm intention to ensure that live theatre is also accessible and affordable for our audiences and the community in which we operate.
In June 2015, we adopted the concept of being a “warm place for cold penguins,” and took penguins on as our “mascot.”
Our History
Riverfront Theatre Company was founded in 2004 by Deb Stanson, Cassie Young and Norma Johnston. This team started independently, but in the following season, approached the Boys & Girls Club of Windsor Essex to assist them. Over the years, Cassie gradually took over from Deb as Artistic Director, before herself moving out of the area. RTC has been operating every season since then to make theatrical arts available to young people at no cost, and has produced such plays as Our Town, Wonderland, Peter Pan, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, In Search of the Golden Spoons, The Little Mermaid, Anne of Green Gables, Narnia, Tom Sawyer, Free to Be You and Me, Aladdin, Up the Down Staircase, Christmas Around the World, Peter Pan (again! The second time, the full musical), The Secret-Keeper, The Balloon Tree, Princesses Aplenty (2012, 2017) The Secret Garden, A Christmas Carol, Number the Stars, Alice in Wonderland, The Trial of the Big Bad Wolf, The Importance of Being Earnest, Pollyanna, Fee, Fi, Fo, Fum, Outrageous Fortune, and Princess Whatsername. Our 2015-2016 season included A Salute to Peanuts, an original adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, a brand-new version, custom-written musical production of Aladdin and the Arabian Nights. In 2016-2017, we produced an original adaptation of Narnia: The Early Chronicles, which was based on C.S. Lewis’ novels, The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, and The Magician’s Nephew. Our 2017-2018 season involved a new production of Christmas Around the World, an original adaptation of Anne of Green Gables, and Seussical: The Musical! Our 2018-2019 season included Under Pressure: A Trio of One-Act Plays about bullying, social anxiety and peer pressure (November 2018), A Christmas Peter Pan (December 2018), Where There’s a Will: A Riverfront Shakespeare Festival (February 2019), and Mary Poppins (May 2019). In December 2019, we held a cabaret-style Friends and Family Night, followed by Frozen Jr in February 2020, and our first YouTube video show, The Show Must Go Online (May 2020 – as a result of COVID-19 closures and a swift substitution). Our May 2020 production of Beauty and the Beast, unfortunately, was cancelled because of COVID-19.
Through the summer of 2020, we stayed active, though we had to work online, because we wanted to give the kids a sense that we were in things together. We pushed on through the fall and spring, with false starts, and attempts, writing and workshopping art, trying different plays in read-throughs – whatever we could do to keep them together. In June 2021 we produced an online (streamed) version of The Most-Viewed Least Watched Talk Show in History.
In December 2021, back together at last, we produced The Grunch. In February 2022, we brought our own original production of No Complaints to the stage. Both productions took place at KordaZone Theatre. We ended the year with a cabaret we called Curtain Call.
In our 19th season, we produced Sister Act Jr. and Shrek The Musical, both licensed through MTI shows Inc.
Our 2023-2024 Season marked our 20th Anniversary. We produced three shows: The Velveteen Rabbit (December 2023, Paulin Memorial Church), A Wrinkle in Time (January 2024, Kordazone Theatre), and Madagascar Jr. – A Musical Adventure (May 2024, The Capitol Theatre).
For our 21st season, we will be producing The Best Christmas Pageant Ever jointly with Paulin Memorial Church (Nov/Dec 2024), and we are beyond thrilled to be bringing Les Misérables: School Edition to the Capitol Theatre in May 2025!
In July 2021, Riverfront Theatre Company was incoporated as an independent not-for-profit organization. In late December of 2022, we were notified that we had successfully obtained our charitable status!
Past directors have included Deb Stanson, Cassie Young, Mona El Baroudi, Melissa Scheele, Michelle Mainwaring, Allyssa Epp, Jenny Morin, Rob Tymec, Stacy Corlett, Erin Rivard, Jamie Osley, Jacquelyn Poulin, Amber Milne, Kaylee Cabrera, Emily Robinson, Kerri Jubenville, Caleb Hooper, Elena Holowitz, Genevieve Chevalier and Finn Garswood.
We are very proud of our growth in recent years and the contributions and sacrifices that each and every member of our group makes!
