Half Light Theatre provides outlet for art, artists in Broome County

Missy Harris loves to perform on stage, to connect with an audience and to hear the applause at the end.

“I like putting out really good art,” she said. “It’s a labor of love for me.”

That’s why she co-founded Half Light Theatre in 2011 along with Tim Mollen, a Binghamton native who is now pursuing an acting career in California. Harris is “the original volunteer” for Half Light Theatre, who now serves as the theater’s artistic director.

“Half Light comes from the feeling you get when you’re in the theater and the lights go down to half,” she said of the theater’s name. There’s a feeling of joy, excitement and anticipation as the lights dim, the curtain rises and the show starts.

“We always say we are expressing life one character at a time,” she said.

Although Harris makes her living as a professional actor, singer and director, she has never taken a penny of compensation from Half Light Theatre. Other actors from Half Light Theatre are paid although many other performers decline a salary.

“We’re here for the work,” she said. “We’re here for the art.”

Half Light performers work closely together for the joy of performing.  The performers bond together during all those hours of rehearsal, Harris said.

“There are no egos in our group. Egos are set aside,” she said. “We’re here to lift each other up.” 

Half Light Theatre has performed locally at the Roberson Museum and Science Center, the Phelps Mansion and Cutler Gardens on Front Street. They’ve also performed at the 1890 House in Cortland. The theater looks for historic places to perform in, Harris said.

“We really love working in creative spaces where things are a little unconventional,” she said.

In recent years, Half Light Theatre has become a traveling troupe performing shows across the country, including the Edgar Allen Poe tour, Nevermore. But they continue to put on shows in their native Broome County including “As You Like It,” scheduled for July 16…