PRESIDENT
MAGGIE THOMAS
VICE PRESIDENT
BECKY POITRAS
SECRETARY
BRANDI AMOS
TREASURER
STEVE HAWKINS
BOARD MEMBERS
WILLIAM STILFIELD
TROY WULFEMEYER
JEANNE MCNABNEY
BOB ROGERS
CARRIE MARCANTONIO
SHELTON PONDER – GARRISON SCHOOL REPRESENTATIVE
STAFF
LAURA WARREN BARGE
ADMINISTRATOR
MAGGIE THOMAS – CORBIN BOARD OF DIRECTORS, PRESIDENT
MAGGIE THOMAS HAS BEEN INVOLVED WITH CORBIN FOR 12 AMAZING YEARS. SHE HAS DIRECTED MANY SHOWS, INCLUDING HER FAVORITES, DIXIE SWIM CLUB, MOON OVER BUFFALO, AND NUNSENSE! SHE IS ALSO THE FOUNDER AND DIRECTOR OF CORBIN KIDS COMPANY, WHICH BEGAN IN 2010. HER FAVORITE ROLES ONSTAGE WERE JO IN THAT DARN PLOT AND BUTTONS IN LYING IN STATE. IN ADDITION TO ACTING AND DIRECTING, MAGGIE IS A PROFESSIONAL VOCALIST, PERFORMING AT LOCAL VENUES AND AT COUNTLESS PRIVATE EVENTS, AS WELL AS SINGING THE HITS OF BROADWAY ON CORBIN’S STAGE. WHEN NOT ON STAGE, SHE IS THE SENIOR RAPID RE-HOUSING CASE MANAGER AT METRO LUTHERAN MINISTRIES, A BUSY MOM OF FOUR KIDS, AND IS WORKING ON HER MASTER’S DEGREE IN SOCIAL WORK WITH AN EMPHASIS IN TRAUMA.
BRANDI AMOS – CORBIN BOARD OF DIRECTORS, SECRETARY
BRANDI AMOS IS PROUD TO HAVE BEEN ASKED TO SIT ON THE BOARD OF LIBERTY’S CORBIN THEATER. SHE ATTENDED LPS STARTING IN 3RD GRADE AND GRADUATED FROM LHS IN 1981. SHE ATTENDED THE CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC AT UMKC FOR BOTH HER UNDERGRADUATE (BACHELOR OF MUSIC EDUCATION) AND GRADUATE DEGREES (MASTER OF MUSIC IN CHORAL CONDUCTING). SHE BEGAN HER CAREER IN ST. JOSEPH, MO. AT LAFAYETTE HS AND TWO YEARS LATER, RETURNED TO LIBERTY FOR THE REMAINDER OF HER 31 YEAR TEACHING CAREER. SHE PRIMARILY TAUGHT AT LIBERTY JUNIOR HIGH/HERITAGE MIDDLE SCHOOL, ALTHOUGH SHE PERIODICALLY TRAVELLED AND TAUGHT AT ADDITIONAL SCHOOLS IN LIBERTY. SHE HAS BEEN THE VOCAL DIRECTOR FOR NUMEROUS MUSICALS, AT THE MIDDLE SCHOOL, JUNIOR HIGH, AND HIGH SCHOOL LEVELS. PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS INCLUDE MMEA, MCDA, ACDA, AND MRTA. SHE RETIRED FROM LPS IN 2017
STEVE HAWKINS – CORBIN BOARD OF DIRECTORS, TREASURER
FOR 24 YEARS STEVE HAWKINS WAS A CITY COUNCIL MEMBER AND THEN MAYOR OF LIBERTY. PROFESSIONALLY, THOUGH LARGELY RETIRED, HE IS A CPA AND HAS A LAW DEGREE AS WELL. HE IS A MUSICIAN (PIANIST) BY AVOCATION. STEVE HAS LIVED IN LIBERTY SINCE 1963 AND HE AND HIS LATE WIFE JEAN, WHO MARRIED IN 1975, ARE PARENTS TO FOUR YOUNG MEN EACH OF WHOM GRADUATED FROM LIBERTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS AND WILLIAM JEWELL COLLEGE. THEY ARE GRANDPARENTS OF FOUR: TWO GRANDDAUGHTERS AND A GRANDSON IN PENDLETON, INDIANA AND A GRANDSON IN TOPEKA.
WILLIAM STILFIELD – CORBIN BOARD OF DIRECTORS, MUSIC CHAIR
BILL STILFIELD GREW UP IN LIBERTY AND IS AN LHS GRADUATE. HE LATER GRADUATED WITH A MUSIC DEGREE FROM MU. HE’S BEEN A LIFELONG PIANIST MAJORING IN MUSIC THEORY AND COMPOSITION. HE SPENT 40 YEARS IN LOS ANGELES IN THE MUSIC BUSINESS, FIRST WORKING FOR BANDLEADER STAN KENTON, AND THEN VARIOUS JAZZ RECORDING LABELS BEFORE FORMING HIS OWN TWO LABELS IN 1987. SINCE BILL AND HIS WIFE, CATHY, MOVED BACK TO LIBERTY IN 2012 HE HAS PERFORMED WITH CORBIN THEATRE, VOLUNTEERS ON THE LIBERTY ARTS COMMISSION AND THE EVENT DIRECTOR FOR MAKE MUSIC LIBERTY. HE’S ALSO THE PIANIST WITH THE FMO BIG BAND AND PLAYS PIANO AND SINGS IN THE CHOIR OF SECOND BAPTIST CHURCH.
BECKY POITRAS – CORBIN BOARD OF DIRECTORS, VICE PRESIDENT, FUNDRAISING CHAIR
BECKY HAS BEEN INVOLVED WITH CORBIN AS A PERFORMER IN VARIOUS PRODUCTIONS FOR OVER 15 YEARS. SHE HAS PERFORMED WITH NUMEROUS COMMUNITY THEATER ORGANIZATIONS ACROSS THE METRO, AND WAS A MEMBER OF THE PROFESSIONAL CHORAL GROUP, THE KANSAS CITY SINGERS. SOME OF HER FAVORITE ROLES HAVE INCLUDED SISTER HUBERT IN NUNSENSE! AND SONIA IN GODSPELL. WHEN NOT “PLAYING”, BECKY SERVES ON SEVERAL NONPROFIT BOARDS, IS THE DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR FOR METRO LUTHERAN MINISTRY, AND IS A PROUD MOM OF TWO CRAZY BOYS.
LAURA WARREN BARGE – ADMINISTRATOR
CORBIN HISTORY
THE CORBIN OPERA HOUSE WAS A SOCIAL AND ENTERTAINMENT CENTER OF THE COMMUNITY FROM THE LATE 1880’S UNTIL THE 1920’S ON THE NORTH SIDE OF THE PUBLIC SQUARE IN LIBERTY, MISSOURI.
THE OPERA HOUSE, NAMED FOR THE O.H. CORBIN MILLING FAMILY, WAS LOCATED ON THE SECOND FLOOR OF A BUILDING CONSTRUCTED IN THE 1850’S. THE MERCANTILE ESTABLISHMENTS OF J.J. STOGDALE AND JOHN A. DENNY OCCUPIED THE FIRST FLOOR. A STAIRWAY OF LOW, BROAD STEPS AT NO.6 EAST FRANKLIN STREET LED TO THE OPERA HOUSE ABOVE.
FOR NEARLY 40 YEARS, THE CORBIN OPERA HOUSE WAS THE SITE OF COUNTLESS CULTURAL ACTIVITIES.
CHRISTMAS DANCES, LYCEUM LECTURE COURSES, AND TRAVELING ROAD SHOWS REGULARLY OCCURRED. THE COMMENCEMENT EXERCISES FOR THE LIBERTY LADIES COLLEGE WERE HELD HERE AS WELL AS THE PLAYS OF WILLIAM JEWELL COLLEGE. AT THE TIME, JEWELL WAS AN ALL-MALE INSTITUTION AND “THE SMOOTHEST-FACED AND ROSIEST-CHECKED LAD” PLAYED THE PART OF THE HEROINE.AS THERE WAS NO COUNTY MUSEUM AT THE TIME OF CLAY COUNTY’S CENTENNIAL IN 1922, THE CORBIN OPERA HOUSE WAS CHOSEN AS THE SITE OF A THREE DAY HISTORICAL EXHIBIT OF RARE PIONEER RELICS FROM THE COMMUNITY’S EARLY DAYS. LIVE ENTERTAINMENT WAS DISCONTINUED UPON THE ADVENT OF MOTION PICTURES IN THE 1920’S AND THE OPERA HOUSE CEASED TO EXIST AFTER AN APRIL 1934 STORM IRREPARABLY DAMAGED ITS ROOF AND WEST WALL.
CORBIN THEATRE COMPANY MISSION STATEMENT
THE CORBIN THEATRE COMPANY IN HISTORIC LIBERTY IS COMMITTED TO PROVIDING HIGH-QUALITY THEATRICAL ENTERTAINMENT, ENCOURAGING AND FACILITATING COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION IN EVERY PHASE OF LIVE THEATRE, OFFERING HIGH-QUALITY MUSICAL ENTERTAINMENT THROUGH SHOWS FROM VARIOUS MUSIC GENRES, AND SPONSORING AND PROMOTING EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES THAT CREATE GREATER KNOWLEDGE OF THE PERFORMING ARTS.
FUNDAMENTAL VALUES
THE CORBIN THEATRE COMPANY’S EFFORTS TO MEET THE CHALLENGE OF ITS MISSION STATEMENT ARE BASED UPON A SET OF FUNDAMENTAL VALUES, WHICH FORM THE BASIS FOR THE CREATION OF POLICY AND MANAGEMENT, AS FOLLOWS:
FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY
PRODUCING HIGH QUALITY THEATRICAL PRODUCTIONS AND THEATRICAL EXPERIENCES FOR THE COMMUNITY
THE ROLE OF THE PERFORMING ARTS IN ENHANCING THE QUALITY OF LIFE
CULTURAL DIVERSITY AS REFLECTED IN THE PERFORMING ARTS
COMMUNITY ACCESS TO THE RESOURCES OF THE THEATRE
THE BASIC IMPORTANCE OF A LIVELY ARTS COMMUNITY AS AN ECONOMIC STIMULATOR FOR THE COMMUNITY
IN ORDER TO SUCCEED WITH ITS MISSION, THE CORBIN THEATRE COMPANY WILL RELY ON THE ENERGY AND TALENT OF ITS VOLUNTEERS AND THE SUPPORT AND PARTICIPATION OF ITS PATRONS.