Perfection was a decade in the making.
In the fall semester of 1998, the Livingston Theatre Company held its first meeting, which led to its first theatrical production, "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat." Now, in its 10th year anniversary, Managing Director Matthew J. Young, a Livingston College junior, said the company continues to grow and has become a more unified group.
"We've become more company oriented," Young said. "Everyone keeps coming back for another show."
Jason Goldstein founded the theater company when he was a first-year student at Livingston College. He said he started the company to serve as a creative outlet for himself and others interested in theater since there were no theater companies available for students who were not involved with the Mason Gross School of the Arts at the time.
"The theater scene at Rutgers was very different in the fall of [1998]," Goldstein said, who now runs his own production company.
For the company's 10th anniversary season, they will be putting on "The Full Monty," "Sweet Charity" and "Seussical the Musical."
This year, they will be holding their production of "Seussical the Musical" in the Crossroads Theatre in New Brunswick. They will also be marking their anniversary with a gala in May.
But instead of doing a special production for this season, the producers decided to let their reputation speak for itself.
"We didn't think it was necessary in the 10th season to prove ourselves," Young said.
Young said the theme for this year, which was determined after the plays were selected, is "overcoming insecurities."
Artistic Director Katie Gallagher, a Rutgers College senior, said she wants the productions to show the progress the company has made over the past 10 years while setting the bar for their future endeavors.
Campus Dean of Students Timothy Grimm, the LTC's faculty advisor since its inception, said in the beginning, it was more difficult to find actors and money for productions costs. Young said there has been greater participation because of a change in rehearsal style, which has led to company members becoming less fatigued.
They have also experimented with different staging practices to find which would work best, Grimm said.
"We've simply learned how to do it better every year," he said.
The LTC continues to be student-run, led by four producers who control everything from the budget to what goes on stage.
In accordance with new University rules, the company also has a faculty adviser and an administrative adviser who help the organization behind the scenes.
"The vision is the students' vision," said Administrative Adviser Kerri A. Wilson.
New University regulations have also affected the way the LTC can spend their money and how long student center employees can work for them, Young said.
He said the reorganization has changed the company's relationship with the University as a whole.
"We're trying to find our place, I guess, in the University," he said.
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