Meridian Little Theatre Says Farewell to Artistic Director Tiffany McGehee With Final Production

The curtain closed Sunday afternoon on more than just a show at Meridian Little Theatre. It marked the end of an era, as Artistic Director Tiffany McGehee completed her final production with the company — a teen-led performance of Anything Goes.

McGehee, who has served as artistic director since 2021 and been involved with the theater since 2017, is moving to New York’s Hudson Valley with her family. Her husband will be serving a new parish there, and McGehee plans to continue her work in community theater.

“It’s really sweet that the teen production is my last one because a teen production was my first full production at MLT as a director,” McGehee said. “Very bittersweet, especially because a lot of these kids started with me, way back five summers ago.”

The production — a classic Cole Porter musical comedy first staged in 1934 — featured tap dancing, romantic mix-ups, mistaken identities, and plenty of high-energy musical numbers.

“It’s a lot of tap dancing and glitzy costumes, gangsters and mayhem, and mistaken identity,” McGehee said. “It’s a super funny and fun, fast-paced kind of musical.”

The cast included local teens like Madison Waters, 17, who played the role of Hope Harcourt.

“She’s like classic ingenue kind of vibes,” said Waters. “Her big thing throughout the show is kind of social mask. Who is she to society and who is she to herself and that conflict.”

Waters praised both the show’s fun and its deeper layers. “It has all of those elements for sure, but I think it has a lot of layers to it that a bunch of people don’t really look at initially.”

Also in the cast was 18-year-old Nic Warden, who portrayed comic relief character Moonface Martin.

“‘Friendship’ is one of the dance numbers we do, and it’s one of my favorites because it’s so much energy, so much personality,” Warden said. “I just have a fun time playing him.”

Warden, who has performed in theater since he was 10, emphasized how valuable the experience has been both socially and artistically.

“It teaches you how to learn about all these different stories and be someone that’s not yourself,” he said. “You get to meet a lot of great and talented people. You get to explore a voice that you never knew you had before.”

McGehee said she hopes her legacy at Meridian Little Theatre is one of elevating and honoring local talent.

“I hope that my legacy I leave behind is that community theater doesn’t mean bad theater,” she said. “Local talent is just as good, if not better sometimes, than what people are trying to get for professional productions. We do it because we love it.”

Over her years with MLT, McGehee directed several notable productions, including A Chorus Line, Cabaret, and a previous teen production of Newsies.

“I’ve loved them all and all of them have their own key core memories,” she said. “But I’ve always loved the ones that had a lot of meat and substance to them.”

Though her time in Meridian has come to an end, McGehee said she’s excited to see what opportunities await in New York’s thriving arts community.

Anything Goes ran Saturday and Sunday, August 2 and 3, at Meridian Little Theatre. The production drew large crowds for both performances, capping off McGehee’s final act in Queen City with laughter, applause, and heartfelt goodbyes.