Francine Thomas Reynolds has been the Artistic Director at New Stage Theatre since 2006, but that’s not when her story with New Stage began. Reynolds laughs as she recounts, “I came to do a show in 1989, and then I was on staff from 1990 to 1995. I left, but came back occasionally as a guest - directing and acting. And then a decade later, I took on the role of Interim Artistic Director.”

“The last show I did before becoming Interim Director was actually Noises Off! in 2005. I wanted to program it again because the production was affected by Katrina. Katrina happened the Monday of our third week of rehearsal, which led to a late opening and not many people were able to see it.”

In a full circle moment for Reynolds, the company kicked off its 59th season with none other than Noises Off!

While the stories that are told on stage are magical, it’s in the people, the crew of New Stage Theatre where the magic really lives. There is a passion and an excitement that pours from them, both onstage and off. Some pass through the doors for an experience, or to show their support from the seats, but for some, New Stage becomes what Reynolds calls, “an artistic home.” A starting block, a launch pad, a cultural respite, an escape, or even a place to return to familiar faces; New Stage is and has been so much for so many.

Since being chartered as a nonprofit in 1965, New Stage Theatre has been committed to producing works of the highest quality, both classic and contemporary, and giving their audience a professional theatre experience in the heart of Jackson. “We are trying to honor what the founders were intending, which is to bring a high quality performing arts experience to Jackson that the audience might not be able to get elsewhere,” Reynolds notes.

New Stage Theatre hosts around 125 guest artists each season, as well as four ‘associate artists’ that stay through the season, typically as a bridge between college and a career in theatre. With a regular season of five main stage productions, a holiday show, the Unframed Series, two touring arts education shows, summer camp, and weekend arts classes, there is always something brewing within the walls of this special space.

With a commitment to a culturally diverse approach, Reynolds encourages all Jacksonians, and those visiting from elsewhere to, “come check us out, come see what we’re doing! We’re surviving when a lot of theatres across the country are not.”