Laura Gallagher Byrne Launches New Youth Theater Program

Nantucket theater veteran Laura Gallagher Byrne announced Tuesday that she is leaving her position at The Dreamland to launch a new youth theater program called the Nantucket Stage Company.

Gallagher Byrne has worked in the performing arts on Nantucket for more than two decades, including the past eight years as director of theater and education at The Dreamland, where she led the Dreamland Stage Company. In that role, she directed dozens of youth theater performances and taught hundreds of island students about acting and theatrical productions.

Her new venture, the Nantucket Stage Company, will operate with the tagline "A Stage for Youth, a Theatre for All," and will be dedicated to empowering young performers, producing professional-quality productions, and providing high-quality training.

“I believe theatre has the power to transform young lives and strengthen our community,” said Gallagher Byrne in a statement. “Nantucket Stage Company places young people at the center of everything we do. We aim to nurture their creativity, confidence, and voices, while giving meaningful opportunities to connect  - with each other, with the island, and with the wider arts world beyond our shores. Our goal is to create a space where every child feels seen, inspired, and part of something bigger than themselves.”

In an interview with the Current on Tuesday, Gallagher Byrne said the inspiration for the Nantucket Stage Company came to her during last year's Dreamland Stage Company trip to Atlanta for the Junior Theater Festival, where she observed several successful youth theater groups, including the Wellesley Theatre Project.

"And then coming back and working at the Dreamland, which has been a gift to be able to build the program there, I just realized that we really had outgrown the parameters of a space that's not totally designated to theater," she said. "And there were parents who approached me and said, 'We want to do more.' And then it just became a fun, kind of brainstorming, 'what if?' idea. And then it really just moved on from there."

Nantucket Stage Company will utilize The Gaslight and the Theatre Workshop of Nantucket for its initial classes and performances while funding is being secured for permanent space. She hopes the new venture will be able to utilize a variety of the existing venues around the island, including The Dreamland, as the Nantucket Stage Company moves forward.

"First of all, it keeps kids really engaged, because different venues offer different challenges, different ways of performing when you're really close to somebody, versus when you're in a really big auditorium like at the high school," she said. "And I am looking at this new venture as a way to be a resource for all the theaters to be the youth theater on the island, and it's a model that is successful, and it's, in my opinion, something that this island needs. There are stories of kids who have had theater change their lives. The impact on the kids is exactly why I do it, but then the reverberations of that are things that I have not always expected, like suddenly parents that didn't know each other are now best friends. And now there's another sub-community that's forming, and then, and then that grows the theater, and then you're also creating audiences, and you're creating a bigger support system for the theater, and then it just reverberates out from there."

Alicia Carney, the executive director of The Dreamland, said the Dreamland Stage Company will continue following Gallagher Byrne's departure, but the non-profit will take some time to assess the program and how it will be run moving forward. Carney emphasized the program's continuity, noting its history with Tiffany Gallo, who ran the program before Gallagher Byrne arrived in 2017, and its focus on nurturing leaders in the arts.

"Dreamland has always had its own youth theater program - prior to Laura, it was Tiffany Gallo - and I think fundamentally, from my position, I'm really proud that Dreamland has been a place where someone like Laura has grown and developed the confidence to pursue her own path," Carney said. "I think it's a really great reflection of our commitment to nurturing leaders in the arts community. I'm happy for her. We're all happy for her, and we, at the same time, remain dedicated to our own youth theater programs and looking forward to continuing to offer enriching opportunities for young performers. And how that takes shape over the next couple of months will be just a matter of time before we decide how to move forward. But I think at the end of the day, we see this as a positive scenario, and it's reflective of the strengths of our programs in the vibrant arts ecosystem on the island, frankly."

In a message sent Monday evening to the families of children who participated in the Dreamland Stage Company, the Dreamland stated, "Dreamland remains committed to live theatre in our community. In the months ahead, we will carefully evaluate next steps for the program and will share updates as plans take shape."

Gallagher Byrne, a former public school educator who now serves as chair of the Nantucket School Committee, said the new Nantucket Stage Company will operate as a non-profit, and will be launching programming as soon as this fall. She anticipates bringing a group back to the Junior Theater Festival gathering in January, as well.

"For me, this is a natural evolution," she said. "It's something that I've long wanted to do. It's been sort of there in my heart for a long time. And I have to be honest, my faith is very important to me, and I feel that this is the path that I am supposed to take. I am looking forward to being able to do a fully youth-centered program, and I want families to know that everything is about the kids and the families and service to them through the medium of theater."