Wade McGlamery lives for the stage, performing, directing and everything in between, and has dedicated nearly his entire life to the art. He began by helping backstage during his sixth-grade performances, and worked his way onstage after much observation from afar.

  At Ola High School, McGlamery’s performance repertoire included musicals, one act plays, and acting as a student director, gaining the experience he would need for his future ventures. Following his graduation in 2015, he began studying Psychology at Southern New Hampshire University.

  In 2016, McGlamery was one of the founding members of the Henry Youth Performance Ensemble or ‘HYPE’ in McDonough, a program that fosters a love for the arts through involvement in theatre. McGlamery currently works full-time at the Henry County Police Department as an Equipment Technician, where he assists officers by providing actors for their SWAT training.

  MP Theatre Group was co-founded in 2018 by McGlamery and Deb Salter, who is the current Managing Director. “We started out because we wanted to put on a production just ourselves. We had both worked at The Henry Players before and I served on their Board of Directors for two years,” said McGlamery. “We just kind of wanted to go out on our own and do a show by ourselves.”

  With this non-profit traveling theatre group, McGlamery hopes to bring new ideas and inspiration to the area by staging top-quality productions. “Our mission is to give artists of all types the opportunity to create, explore, grow, learn and teach in a supportive environment where innovation and imaginative risks are encouraged and rewarded.”

  MP Theatre Group made their debut in June of 2019 with their first production, “5 Lesbians Eating a Quiche,” at the Story on the Square event space.

  McGlamery said  the work pushed the envelope on what has traditionally been performed in the area, which is a main focus of MP Theatre Group and its productions. 

   “It’s not something that is typically done in Henry County or, really, south of Atlanta, so we wanted to be able to take those risks and start producing work that this audience hasn’t seen before,” said McGlamery. “We want to reach as broad of an audience as possible.”

  MP Theatre Group will start its 2020 season with “The Arkansaw Bear” by Aurand Harris, a family friendly performance described as being “a story that people of all ages can learn from.” Casting for the show was completed by the end of December of 2019, and features Melissa Robinson as ‘Star Bright,’ Mary Jane Lockhart as ‘Tish,’ Chara Prevatt as the ‘Mime,’ Graham Parker as the ‘Ringmaster,’ Chris Lockhart as the ‘World’s Greatest Dancing Bear,’ and Ciara Devane as ‘Little Bear.’

  Although the entire cast has prior acting experience, this will be each member’s first performance with MP Theatre Group. 

  “These are all people that I’ve worked with before,” said McGlamery. “They have really taken to their characters and created some really great chemistry together onstage.” With the chemistry of the cast and the subject matter of “The Arkansaw Bear,” McGlamery expressed that there is a lot for the public to look forward to in the upcoming show.

  “‘The Arkansaw Bear’ is appealing to a wide audience, so I hope that the community comes out and sees what we have to offer. I hope that even though it is a children’s show, a lot of people who aren’t children can learn something from it. It’s got some very important messages,” said McGlamery. “It is a show about grief for others but also about grief for oneself. I would hope that they walk away feeling lighter and more at peace than when they walked in. Expect fun as well as tears.”

  “The Arkansaw Bear” will be performed in McDonough on March 1 at 7:30 p.m. at the Hood Street Theater, located at 136 Hood Street.

  MP Theatre Group plans to announce additional shows for their 2020 season in the coming months. For more information about MP Theatre Group or to purchase tickets, visit www.mptheatre.org.