New theater company opens with musical showcase

The Horizon Theater is a brand new community theater group in Sweetwater County whose debut performance will be "A Dreamer's Showcase," a performance of songs by Andrew Lloyd Webber, with four performances next weekend.

The husband and wife team of Sarah and Cory Schaeperkoetter are the founders of the The Horizon Theater. Sarah grew up in Green River and was active in theater from a young age. Cory grew up in Rock Springs and got involved in theater in high school. The two eventually met and fell in love through the theater program at Western Wyoming Community College.

"We both just had that love of theater and we shared it together throughout college," Sarah said.

Their love of theater, and desire for more local opportunities, was what motivated Sarah and Cory to start The Horizon Theater.

"We honestly weren't expecting to do it," Sarah explained. "We wanted to just be able to do shows and just put on whatever shows we wanted. And so then we had the thought, 'Well, why don't we just start our own theatre company?'"

The name of their new company echoed Sarah and Cory's process of starting something entirely new. They did some brainstorming to come up with name ideas, wanting something to convey the concepts of new beginnings and fresh opportunities, eventually settling on the image of seeing something coming on the horizon.

When it came to figuring out how to create a theater company, Sarah and Cory started by jumping in and trying to make things happen.

"Essentially you just have to do it," Sarah said.

Friends and family offered help and support in making the dream a reality. Kenneth Starling, who had some experience after starting their own theater company in Utah, came on board early on to help things get started. Sarah and Cory also reached out to people they knew from their time in Western's theater program and other friends to put together a group of performers for the first show.

Sarah and Cory also decided to start with something smaller and more simple than a full play, which would give the company a kickstart to get up and running. A musical showcase was the perfect opportunity, and songs by Andrew Lloyd Webber have the advantage of being more well-known as well as being from some of Sarah and Cory's favorite musicals.

Putting together the showcase meant Sarah and Cory got to pick out songs for themselves and their friends to perform as solos, duets and group numbers, as well as picking out songs to fit a theme and tell a loose story. Even thinking through details like what each performer will wear presented opportunities to find new meanings.

"The cool thing about Andrew Lloyd Webber songs is when they're taken out of the context of the show they've got some different interpretations," Sarah said. "So you put it in a setting like this in a showcase and it could tell a completely different story every time you perform the song. And so that's kind of what we wanted to do is let the performers and the audience take the story from each individual piece in performance."

The process of starting a theater company and putting together a showcase has been challenging, Sarah admitted, especially when it comes to just figuring out all the details that need to come together without being overwhelmed. But it's also been rewarding, especially seeing how even a small cast has progressed and grown, and seeing how the details are coming together.

"It's so rewarding when you start seeing everything come to life," Sarah said.

The rewards the showcase is bringing is just the start for The Horizon Theater.

"We're hoping to get a lot more people involved in our next production," Sarah said.

The next production will be the play "The Importance of Being Earnest," which Sarah plans to direct. She hopes to be able to hold open auditions in the summer and perform the play in the fall. After that, the theater company will see what comes next, but Sarah has high hopes, eventually wanting to do plays like "A Christmas Carol" and "Beauty and the Beast."

One of Sarah's goals for The Horizon Theater is to provide a broad variety of shows as well as unique theater experiences in Sweetwater County. Many of the current theater opportunities locally are limited by age groups, particularly through the schools. Sarah hopes The Horizon Theater will eventually give opportunities for a wider age range.

"What we want to do with the shows we're bringing in is have families involved," Sarah explained. She envisions putting on plays with entire families, from children to parents and even grandparents being able to work together in the cast.

Another reason Sarah hopes The Horizon Theater can share more theater with the community, both for those performing and those watching, is because of how important theater is as a form of expression and the way it allows exploration and discovery in a unique format.

"It's all about interpreting how real humans and real people and real characters would react, even if they're fictional," Sarah explained. "It's such a good form of expression in learning how to identify that within yourself. So it's really healthy mentally and physically to be able to learn how people work, essentially, and to be able to view that and to bring it to life."

The Horizon Theater's debut show, "A Dreamer's Showcase," will be performed at the Broadway Theater in Rock Springs at 7:30 p.m. June 9, 10 and 11, with a 2 p.m. matinee June 11. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for children and seniors.