About Us
The Center Theatre is a 501(c)3 non-profit with a mission to make arts, education, and entertainment accessible to our rural communities to engage and inspire. Our home is a historic movie theater and local landmark in downtown Dover-Foxcroft, the County Seat of Piscataquis County, Maine. The theater was built in 1940 and enjoyed a long run as the area’s cultural hub. With the rise of television and regional economic decline, the Center Theatre closed in 1971. While the lobby area was used for various businesses and storefronts, the auditorium was abandoned and in danger of being forgotten.
In 1998, a group of Piscataquis County residents formed a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization called Center Theatre, Inc. to begin the work of renovating the historic landmark and once again making it the center of the downtown. After 8 years and 2 Million dollars raised, the Center Theatre for the Performing Arts held its grand opening in August of 2006. Since then, it has provided a year-round schedule of affordable arts, education, and entertainment programming. Our community theater group, The Slightly Off-Center Players produces several shows every year along with a variety of educational programming including the Center Theatre Children's Summer Drama Camp and After School Theater program.
In 2009, the Center Theatre hosted the first ever Maine Whoopie Pie Festival. That first festival drew 600 people to the parking lot behind the Center Theatre. Now the largest one-day festival in Piscataquis County, the annual festival draws over 8,000 to downtown Dover-Foxcroft. Visitors celebrate the taste of Maine's Official State Treat, enjoy a wide variety of other food vendors, artists, and crafters, listen to live music and children enjoy bounce houses, rides, and activities.
Center Theatre Staff:
Patrick Myers
Executive Director
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Patrick Myers grew up in the Dover-Foxcroft area, went to school at Foxcroft Academy, earned a Bachelor's Degree in English Literature from the University of Maine in Orono, and then had to get out of the state for awhile.
After travelling around the country and the world for 10 years he realized that it was time to head home. He and his wife bought the house in Sebec that he grew up in and settled down. A year later, in 2005, he was hired as the Center Theatre's founding Executive Director.
Aside from his work as Executive Director of the Center Theatre, Patrick is on the Board of Directors of the Piscataquis Regional Food Center and Central hall Commons. He also volunteers with the Slightly Off-Center Players Community Theater group.
Tammy Parker
Office Manager
Tammy Parker is a familiar face around the Center Theatre. While never getting on stage herself, her daughter Rebeclyn has been in many shows and Tammy has helped out backstage and as Secretary of the Slightly Off-Center Players.
She has worked part-time at the Center Theatre in various capacities over the years. In 2017 she became an Americorps Vista member through a partnership with Goodwill of Northern New England. In 2020, Tammy was hired as a projectionist, she also handles Center Theatre memberships.
Derrick Buschmann
Afterschool Theater and
Theatrical Director
Derrick has directed and acted in many shows at the Center Theatre over the years. As the former head of the Foxcroft Academy Theater and Film Department he brings a wealth of knowledge to our after school program that he is excited to share with students.
David Murray
Drama Camp Director and Projectionist
David Murray is a second-grade teacher who has worked in theatre either onstage or directing for most of his life. He has been directing kids' shows for over 10 years and is in charge of Stageworks, Jr., the Sedomocha Elementary School's drama program. He also directs the Center Theatre's drama camps and in his spare time, he is a projectionist for the Theatre.
Michelle Fagan
Afterschool Arts
Art and creativity has been a big part of Michelle's life. She has done dance, theater, set design, fiber arts, and more. She still does fiber arts, especially painting and dying silk scarves when she finds the time. She has lived in the Dover-Foxcroft area for 18 years and has been at the Thompson Free Library as the Youth Services Librarian for half of those years. She is excited to spend time engaging with teens and exploring art with them.
Center Theatre Board of Directors:
The Center Theatre Board of Directors meets quarterly, with monthly committee meetings and various ad-hoc projects. The Board charts the long-term vision and strategy for the Center Theatre and ensures that it is fulfilling its mission for the community.
President: Cynthia Freeman-Cyr
Vice President: Kristen Gilbert
Treasurer: Alicia Stone
Secretary: Marie Miller
Dan Bouthot
Emma Calnan
Derek Carroll
Natasha Colbry
David Dean
Sheila Grant
Andrew Lizotte
Greta Schroeder
Standing Committees
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Executive Committee
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Finance Committee
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Fundraising Committee
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Governance Committee
If you are interested in volunteering on a Center Theatre Committee or want to talk about board membership, please contact Patrick Myers at pmyers@centertheatre.org, or call the Theatre at (207)564-8943.