About Half Moon Theatre

Mission Statement

Half Moon Theatre was founded by an ensemble of Hudson Valley residents and theatre professionals. We believe in the power of the spoken word. We strive to ignite imaginations, provoke thought, and entertain. We promise live performance that is exuberant, relevant and affordable.  Half Moon Theatre intends to become a central gathering place for the exchange of ideas and the communion of our diverse community.  Through performances, youth education and outreach, we will enrich the lives of Hudson Valley residents and visitors.  Join us!

Half Moon Story

The original Half Moon (Halve Maen) was commissioned on March 25, 1609, for the Dutch East India Company. She was a ship of exploration and the spaceship of her age, designed to take Henry Hudson and his crew of twenty into unknown and uncharted waters.

A river runs through us - so we decided to honor that heritage and that thread that weaves our various Hudson River communities together.

Half Moon Theatre was founded by five Hudson Valley residents in 2005: Molly Renfroe Katz, Bill Salzmann, Stefanie Salzmann, Margo Whitcomb, and Neil Worden.  For some years, we’d been talking about our love of theatre, our commitment to the region and the dearth of professional theatre offerings.  At the same time, we discovered the incredible wealth of talented artists in the area.  Many bottles of wine later, we took the leap and committed to forming a company. On October 24, 2005 we finally said, “okay let’s do it.”

We are now Half Moon Theatre, a 501(c)(3) not-for- profit arts organization with a commitment to a nine month season of sensational theatre, September to June along with classes and outreach initiatives.  We are dedicated to performance, education, and cultural enrichment and featuring the artistry of Hudson Valley professionals.  Local and regional artists will join us for our productions.  For now, our mainstage projects will be produced in the city of Poughkeepsie with satellite productions and outreach in Kingston and throughout the greater Hudson Valley region.

Hudson Valley professional artists featured in all our work.

Unique actor/audience dynamic –an intimate and transformative theatre experience.

Diversity, affordability, access, and youth –a commitment to each of these aspects and building a new audience for the future of theatre.

Sensational acting, directing, and design –every time!

Original theatrical aesthetics: ensemble acting, music, rich language, relevant themes, and imaginative storytelling.

Noteworthy productions of new and rarely produced plays from the national theatre scene as well as adaptations of literature and poetry.
                                                                                                                                  
Initially, you’ll have to follow us around.  We don’t hold any real estate and aren’t building a physical theatre (though we’d gladly accept the donation of a building, or almost anything else for that matter).  But, we don’t see this as a handicap.  In fact, we’ve found that some of the best theatre is made thinking outside the box, forcing the boundless imagination into overdrive.  After all, what’s really essential to the theatre experience is the actor, an audience, a space, and a fantastic story to tell! We’ve got the actors, the space, and the stories!  Won’t you be our audience?