When Lynne Raymond was approached by the minister of the Hertford United Methodist Church who said he had an idea for the town, she really wasn’t ready or interested.  But, she and her friend, Mary Lou Soper, went to meet with him to see what his idea was, all the time thinking they would be polite but say “no thank you.”  Larry Bowden, the minister, told them about a “folk theater” his parents had started in a small town in Alabama.  They were sold on the idea so Lynne formed a small committee, most knowing nothing about theater, but the Pastor said, “you can put the right people together.”  

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Ray Sawyer wrote the first play, “A Time to Remember”, performed in 2013 at the American Legion building on Academy Street.  The play was about life in Herford before, during, and after WW II.  It was a big hit and sold out in 36 hours! The public loved the local story with universal themes of community history, war, tragedy and love.  No one on the committee thought this idea would be a success, but here we are many years later still performing plays twice a year.  

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Ray wrote a second play, “Times are Changing”, but after that we bought licensed plays.  The theater needed a name so we decided in honor of the song, “Carolina Moon,” we would call ourselves the Carolina Moon Theater Group. We began performing in the old Senior Center building on Grubb Street after many renovations and in 2019 we moved to the old library on W. Academy Street, almost full circle as our theater is now across from the American Legion where it all started. 

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All the renovations in the building were done by volunteers, funded by individual donations and grants.  All our performers are volunteers as is everyone else involved in the theater.  We perform comedic plays, and most performances are sold out.  Lynne is the theater President and Ray is on the board. 

Carolina Moon Theater is the only live performing theater in the area, except for the colleges in Elizabeth City.  We are also now “home” of the Albemarle Community Orchestra that performs twice a year as a service to the community.  In 2023 a long-term goal of the theater was achieved when we were able to start a children’s theater component, Academy for Children’s Theater (ACT), under the direction of All About Improv. The theater was incorporated as a 501c3 non-profit in 2023.  

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We welcome all newcomers who want to fulfill their dreams of being on stage or working behind the scenes!  Be sure to follow us on Facebook and here our website at carolinamoontheater.org.