One of Cincinnati’s oldest and most successful community theaters, Cincinnati Music Theatre (CMT) is proud of its long history of presenting popular, large-scale, award-winning musicals to enthusiastic audiences from across the Greater Cincinnati area. It was in the early ’60s when CMT founder Will Breyer first approached a select group of individuals to propose the formation of a new Music Theatre Group. In an era when community theatres weren’t producing large-scale musicals, this new organization was dedicated to the non-professional artist desiring an opportunity to perform in a medium otherwise unobtainable. Will shared his dream with other musical theatre enthusiasts and after many months of hard work, Eastern Hills Music Theatre became a reality.

Will’s dream sparked the imaginations of so many talented performers and technicians that within a very short time, the group’s scope broadened, and Eastern Hills Music Theatre became Cincinnati Music Theatre. Today, performers, orchestra, production staff, and crews also come from far-flung areas of southwest Ohio and northern Kentucky, bringing to CMT a rich diversity and a strong sense of community.

For the next thirty-some seasons, CMT performed in some of the area’s better equipped high school auditoriums as they offered their audiences an entertaining mix of classic favorites, including Annie Get Your Gun, The Sound of Music, Hello Dolly, Fiddler on the Roof, Oliver, My Fair Lady, and The Music Man.

In the Fall of 1995, CMT took a giant step forward as they became one of the first (and now, the only) community theatres to become a Resident Company at the newly opened Jarson-Kaplan Theater at the Aronoff Center for the Arts. Their inaugural production in the Jarson-Kaplan, Sweeney Todd, was the first full-scale production mounted in the new theater and signaled a broadening of CMT’s visions and goals. Starting with its 1995-96 season, CMT began producing two large-scale musicals each season.

Since then, in addition to a continuing mix of classic musicals, they have presented family favorites like Disney's Beauty and the Beast and Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella as well as exciting, newer titles including Ragtime, La Cage aux Folles, Curtains, The Drowsy Chaperone, Cabaret, Priscilla Queen of the Desert, and Matilda.

CMT currently produces five shows each season: two large-scale musicals in the Jarson-Kaplan Theatre for our Mainstage Series and three musicals in the Fifth Third Theatre for our Studio Series. We pride ourselves in offering performances that both push the boundaries of art’s role in society and provide a lasting legacy for audiences to enjoy.

 

CMT continues to build on the heritage that they’ve created. They acknowledge their debt to the founding board (Will Breyer, Doug Gray, Frank Longevin, Jean & John McDowell and Jane & Joe O’Reilly), and continue to expand both audiences and horizons. CMT continues to challenge themselves in bringing their best to the stage and commit themselves to continuing the tradition of presenting outstanding, non-professional musical theatre.