The Winters Opera House is home to the Winters Theatre Company, a staple of the Winters community for over 40 years.

The Winters Theater Company has experienced tremendous growth since the 1980s. In December 2023, they took over the lease for the Historic Winters Opera House, providing the organization with the opportunity to share more productions with the community and serve as a venue for other performing arts groups and artists.

Constructed in 1876, the Winters Opera House has long been a vital venue for the performing arts in the Winters community. Before moving to the Opera House, most of the productions put on by the theater company were held at the Winters Community Center.

Linda Glick, president of the Winters Theater Company, has been involved with the company since its inception and is one of its founding members. The nonprofit organization is run entirely by unpaid volunteers and has established itself as a gathering place for community members to enjoy each other’s company and the arts.

“As president, we’re making sure that our main goal is to, now that we have a home at the Winter Opera House, create a season of plays,” Glick said. “That’s always been a main goal, and it’s kind of been a struggle over the years. We typically would perform four or five plays. But in terms of, let’s say, planning for the year, as a number of theater companies often do, that has been kind of a struggle for us, just because our directors and the way we did performances was always a little bit difficult to predict.”

Glick shared that this year marked the first time the company was able to produce an entire season.

Additionally, Glick says that the company advertised for new directors and received many responses. She says that one of the company’s biggest strengths is that it consistently attracts new talent and allows new people to try out and take risks.

“Our effort this year has been to figure out how to incorporate new directors into our system and process of how we do things now that we have a theater that’s ours and that we have control over,” Glick says.

“One of our biggest strengths is that we’re always looking for new actors, and looking for people who’ve always, at some point in their lives, wanted to be on stage but never really took the leap or thought about it,” Glick said. “We pride ourselves in attracting new people and finding those who are surprised that they have talent, or surprised that they really like doing stage work or being on stage as a part of production. It can be very relaxing.”

Glick mentioned that the company is also hosting numerous fundraisers, including one featuring live music. Starting in March, the Opera House began partnering with Preserve to bring live musical performances and a menu of snacks and drinks for all to enjoy.

Recently, the Winters Theater Company hosted its event, “Songs In Solidarity,” a benefit concert to support the people of Los Angeles devastated by the January fires. Headlining the show were Yolo County’s own The Big Poppies— Rock ‘n Roll Powerhouse with Danceable Bops, Ballads and Psychedelic Jams, with Putah Creek Crawdads and Island Crew, opening the show.

The Theater Company also held its 4th Annual 10-Minute Play Festival in February and March, marking its second production of the year.

“It was very successful, it always surprises me,” Glick said. “This year, there were over 400 submissions throughout the country and internationally, and we chose eight plays to be produced. Somehow, the word got out, I’m not sure what happened, but there were just a plethora of people who wanted to have their short plays produced.”

“Doubt: A Parable” by John Patrick Shanley, directed by Ally Heatherly, was the company’s first production of the year and was also very well received.

“The first production we put on in the season was the production of ‘Doubt,’ and I had my doubts about it,” Glick said. “It was a new director, but also because it was the beginning of the year, and it’s such a heavy subject that I was hesitant about putting it on to open our season. But I have to say, they did such a phenomenal job. It was so, so amazing. It was a truly beautiful show, and it was incredibly well-received. I loved being proved wrong.”

Upcoming productions for the Theater Company include:

“Almost Maine: Love, Uncertainty and Spring in a Maine Dream” by John Cariani, directed by Karen Fox (May 2-4, 9-11)“Murder on the Nile” by Agatha Christie, directed by Shane Robert (Aug. 1-3, 8-10)

“Phantom of the Opera House” by Germaine Hupe, directed by Linda Glick (Oct. 10-12, 17-19)

“Greetings” by Tom Dudzick, directed by Jim Hewlett (Nov. 21-23, 28-30)

To learn more about the plays or for tickets, visit https://www.winterstheatre.org/2025-season-directors.

Glick says that the company is always seeking new volunteers to assist with events. The volunteers are “extremely important” to the Winters Theatre Company, serving as the backbone to all of its success. Many of the volunteer board members have committed time to the theater company for anywhere between 15 and over 40 years.

She also shares that they are currently meeting and working with new directors to put together their 2026 production season and hopes that the company can work more with children to give them the opportunity to perform at the Opera House.

For more information about the Winters Opera House and how to support them, visit https://www.winterstheatre.org/.