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London Frontier has acquired the historic WPA Gym in Magdalena, NM. Donations to help with maintenance and renovations of the venue are most welcomed. For more
information on how you can help, click here or contact Donna Todd at londonfrontier@gilanet.com.
History of London Frontier Theatre Company
LFTC made Magdalena its home in 1996, opening (for Magdalena’s Old Timers Days) with STAGECOACH TO DECAMERON
, an adaptation of Boccaccio’s classic 14th-C. Italian Decameron Tales to the 1870’s West. The stories, romantic to madly farcical, played to enthusiastic response, & LFTC has since presented over 40 productions from original scripts, ensemble work, history, legend, & adaptations of literary classics & contemporary writings.
LONG ROAD, FREE WIND
(Nov., ‘96) dramatized lives of frontier women, while the Feb., ‘97 show left the West to recreate Dorothy Parker’s urbane, witty 1920’s New York in YOU
MIGHT AS WELL LIVE. THE TREASURE OF MAGDALENA MOUNTAIN
(July ‘97) wove legends of treasure & its seekers with Magdalena’s Lady on the Mountain. THAT DAMNED POE
was an eerie blend of Poe’s life/writings, & ‘97 ended with THE LONG RIDE OF ST. NICK, (reviewed as) “a darkly different comedy with
hauntingly sincere performances.” ONE WAGON WEST OF NOWHERE
- the adventures, romances, & hilarious mis-conceptions of two women joining forces to come West - was Old Timers ‘98 fare, & was revived by popular demand in March, 2000. COME HOME FOR CHRISTMAS, JESSEE was ‘98’s nostalgic holiday play.
An entertainment with music, THE LADY THAT’S KNOWN LOU
(from R. Service poem) was part of Magdalena’s Spring Arts Festival; WHO SHOT SCOTT?
(July, ‘99) was a farcical play-within-a-play; & 1999’s seasonal play, AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT!
combined legends of Christmas, Chanukah, Winter Solstice, & Navajo dancers in a wildly-funny yet touching re-telling of the Great Story.
Stories by Mark Twain, Bret Harte, & Owen Wister were staged in LEGENDS OF THE LOST FRONTIER
(July, 2000). THE DEVIL RODE WEST
offered ghostly tales from New Mexico’s Hispanic/Anglo/Navajo lore. November’s dramatization of local author P. V. Ford’s story, IN THE LURCH
, received rave reviews; & LONG RIDE returned, with music, as holiday fare.
Serial theatre began in March, 2001, when the Aragons & Trotters came to life in THE LUCK OF LOST WIFE CREEK, set in
1930’s rural NM. Roosevelt’s New Deal has begun; dreams of lost gold, stardom in “talkies” & a Spanish land-grant vie with reality of
drought, a n’er-do-well son, & a decrepit old flivver, all rollicking along to bluegrass banjo. LUCK was also Old Timers fare, with added
“previews” of upcoming episodes. TREASURE returned in Oct.; a review called it “a witty & imaginative piece...well worthy of
constant revival.”
THE TRAIL OF LONESOME TREE: A Lost Wife Creek Christmas, was (review)
“A lovely play...acting was straight & true....set & lighting excellent & evocative.” LOVE COMES TO LOST WIFE CREEK (Feb, 2002), was
followed by DON QUIXOTE OF LWC & MAY DAY! ON LWC. July’s play was a satirical Historical Epic, ENCHANTMENT!
The series continued in October with DARK MOON OVER LWC , & December’s WANDERING STAR & LITTLE GLORY
.
An expanded version, with ballads, of LONG ROAD, FREE WIND opened the 2003 season &
toured, including a benefit for the Lincoln Co. Historical Society. For Old Timers, A LAND WITHOUT FENCES
mixed tales of the Old West, the lives of a boy & his grandmother in modern NM. LUCK reappeared in Sept., followed by FIDDLERS HARVEST ON LWC , & a new version of GOOD NIGHT!
gave a NM slant -Saint, Shepherd, Outlaw, La Llorona, Jewish Elf, & Dancehall Christmas Fair -to the season. LOVE COMES TO LWC
opened the 2004 season, followed by the nostalgic LWC MEMORIES.
STAGECOACH returned in July, to acclaim: “What an incredible performance ...Wow!” (Gwen Roath, Ed., STEPPIN' OUT.) The
Dias de los Muertos/Halloween show, FULL WAGON FROM ETERNITY, resurrected NM’s restless ghosts: Coronado to Carson,
O’Keefe to Mabel Dodge Luhan, La Llorona to tribal spirits of the Enchanted Land. Of ALL SHONE ‘ROUND ABOUT, 10th in the Lost
Wife Creek series, a reviewer said: “I almost felt I was coming home for Christmas...and what a pleasant homecoming it was.”
2005 began with A LITTLE BIT OF MYSTERY, created from ensemble
improvisation, & reviewed as “A humorous tour de force with three excellent performers playing seven parts.” For Old Timers Days, DOGS!
offered a humorous view of small-town NM life, canine & human. RACING THE MOON (Oct.), premier of LFTC’s
“Westering” series, was a wild & witty observation on an era, as Eastern Society & Art adopt the Wild West; & THE LONG RIDE OF ST. NICK
again celebrated the return of the Light to the world.
2006 opened with GIVE ME YOUR ANSWER, DO!, second in the Westering series; continued
with July’s Old Timers Days presentation, the gloriously-irreverent (and wildly-popular) historical epic, ENCHANTMENT!
; and was followed, at Halloween/Dias de Lost Muertos, by THE LONG TRAIL HOME
, a chilling tale of psychic investigation in a NM ghost town. The Christmas offering - ON! DONDER & BLITZEN - was the 11th in the LWC series.
NEW LIFE ON LWC opened our 2007 season. In April, LFTC sponsored FORTY YEARS OF EXPERIMENTAL FILM & VIDEO, a retrospective of LFTC videographer Michael Mideke’s
work. Innovative blending of stage/video/live music created July’s DOWN & OUT DIARY, a saga of frontier tragedy & triumph. DARK MOON OVER LWC (Oct.) revealed the haunting story of the “Lost Wife”; & COME HOME FOR CHRISTMAS, JESSEE
, reviewed as “tender & evocative”, opened with a video by Mideke.
LFTC, now in its historic WPA venue, & starting its 13th season in Magdalena, continues to present a
wide variety of plays, incorporating our vivid multi-culture for exciting, entertaining theatre.
May 2008 included a Special Showing at the NM Filmmakers Festival The Guild Cinema, 3405 Central Avenue, NE, Albuquerque, NM THE LUCK OF LOST WIFE CREEK
For further information/Reservations, contact: Donna Todd Artistic Director
P.O. Box 1126 Magdalena, NM 87825 (575) 854-2519 E-mail: londonfrontier@gilanet.com

Major funding for this project by the McCune Charitable Foundation of Santa Fe. Additional
funding by New Mexico Department of Tourism.
London Frontier Theatre Company a Non-Profit Arts Corporation.
All donations are tax-deductible.

or email us at LondonFrontier@gilanet.com or mail to the address above.
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