It is operated by an all-volunteer State Theater Arts Council, with generous support from the community and annual grants from the Missouri Arts Council. Audiences are treated to a wide range of concerts, including jazz, country, bluegrass, folk, classical and gospel, as well as to community plays, traveling theater productions, student workshops, and children’s theater. The theater also is used for special community events and for school plays. It plays an important role in the Northwest Missouri region, with a mission to provide cultural opportunities in a rural area, helping residents study, understand, enjoy and appreciate the arts. It is in downtown Mound City, Missouri, a town of 1,100 people in the northwest corner of the state. Mound City is on I-29, halfway between Kansas City and Omaha.
“The finest showhouse Mound City has ever had.” That’s how the State Theater was described at its grand opening Oct. 21, 1938, where festivities at the new movie theater drew a standing room only crowd. Telegrams poured in from Hollywood from such notables as Edward G. Robinson, Pat O’Brien and Bette Davis congratulating the builders, George Harttman and his associates of Kansas City. Movies were shown there into the early 1980s, but the building then stood empty and fell into disrepair. In 1988, a group of citizens organized the State Theater Arts Council to restore the theater and bring quality entertainment to the community. Through the hard work of numerous volunteers and generous donations from community residents, the theater was restored and adapted for live presentations. A grand re-opening was held in October 1989, and since then audiences have been drawn to the theater for a wide range of performances. An addition that includes dressing areas, backstage space for actors, restrooms, costume storage and set construction was completed in fall 1997.
