Some organizations take a “Field Of Dreams” approach to growth. (If you build it, they will come.) Others employ a “Cast Your Bread Upon the Waters’’ approach (We’ve built it, now we’ll go get them.)

Golden Triangle Theatre’s success continues to be built on the latter. In just three years, GTT director and founder Garrett Torbert has grown the children’s portion of the  organization from 15 kids to a program of 131 that encompasses programs in theater, music and dance for child and adult performers alike. In the first year alone, more than 873 adults and children took the stage, many for the first time. This fall, the GTT has expanded into the Columbus schools with a “All For One” outreach program designed to bring theater education directly to 4th and 5th graders at Fairview Elementary School each week.

GTT has taken its act on the road in a manner of speaking, sometimes out of necessity, sometimes by design, staging productions at the Rosenzweig Arts Center, the old First Baptist Church sanctuary and most recently the Lyceum at Lee.

This weekend, the GTT opens an ambitious five-production season at yet another venue: Cromwell Theater on the campus of Mississippi University for Women.

“Always…Patsy Cline” will stage on Friday and Saturday evenings and close with a Sunday matinee. For GTT, the Cromwell provides an excellent venue for its performers while building standing relationships with MUW’s theater department and theater students and the general student population. It’s also a great way to connect the community and The W.

MUW theater department chair David Carter said the W benefits from having another opportunity to showcase its wonderful theater.

If you’ve never been to a production at Cromwell, you’re missing a unique venue. The theater can be configured for seating on three sides of the performance area, allowing a large audience with an intimate feel.

If you’re not supporting GTT through sponsorships or attendance, you’re simply missing out on participating in one of the region’s greatest performance art and educational efforts.

This weekend’s performance is an opportunity to experience both.

Kudos to Carter and the university for providing GTT the use of Cromwell. While the venue may only be a temporary home for GTT while repairs are made at Lyceum at Lee, we think it’s a perfect pairing.

It is another sign of a growing relationship of theater in the Golden Triangle, one that is certain to continue to thrive. We have a community theater that we can all be proud of, one that has made a concerted effort to take theater to places and people that might not otherwise be exposed to the performing arts while drawing on talent of the existing arts community.

In three years, GTT has proven there is an appetite for theater here. The goal now is to create a culture for theater. That can only happen through continued outreach into the community and continuing to tap into the resources like MUW and its theater department and others in the arts community.

Tickets to GTT productions are available at goldentriangletheatre.com.

The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.

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