LiFT was created in 2012 by Angela Harris and Matt Powers. Angela wrote the play Strike Story addressing the textile strikes of 1912 in which Little Falls played a major role. We held multiple performances in 2012 & 2013 in Little Falls & Ilion.
     In 2013, LiFT staged As You Like It, by William Shakespeare, for the Little Falls Canal Celebration, and due to its surprising popularity, Matt created an annual “Shakespeare in Park” style program for LiFT. We have gone on to produce Twelfth Night, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (with the generous support of a decentralization grant from CNY Arts), and Much Ado About Nothing. Each year we’ve added more performances and locations, and now perform at Caroga Lake, the Utica Zoo, and the Herkimer Elks.
     Throughout the year we have other events to enrich our growing theater community. Some of which are:
  • Performances at “Story Hour for Grown-ups events” in Little Falls
  • An original adaptation of “Gift of the Magi” for Christmas in Little Falls – 2014
  • Scenes from Doctor Faustus for Oktoberfest in Little Falls – 2015
  • New Play November (short original plays performed in Little Falls)
    • “At The Park” & “The Pizza Guy” in 2014, by Matt Powers
    • “Decent People” & “Un(der)cover” in 2015, by Matt Powers
  • Little Falls Cheese Festival plays (original plays written by Angela Harris  for the festival) – 2015 & 2016
  •  An Afternoon of Mystery, two original plays written by Angela Harris – 2016
  • Live Shakespeare performed at Little Falls Middle School in 2016
  • Live Shakespeare performed for Utica Academy of Science Charter School in 2017

LiFT is a community group wherein the performers, musicians, publicity, etc. is strictly volunteer-based.  It’s amazing to see so many people year over year dedicate their time and energy to a project of this scale,  especially for summer Shakespeare where auditions occur in April and rehearsals begin in May with shows taking place in August. So many give so much to make LiFT a great, vibrant community asset.