The Story of CLOC
Before CLOC:
Highfield Hall, 1878
In a quiet section of Beebe Woods stands the 1876 Historic Highfield Theatre. However, before this classic Summer Stock Theatre opened its doors to audiences in 1947, it housed a very different patronage. Originally built as a barn and stables, Historic Highfield Theatre was an out building of Highfield Hall, providing the homes for Pierson Beebe's prized horses, Salaam and Ali Baba. In 1947, Arthur Beckhard purchased Highfield Hall, Barn and Tanglewood Estate along with 200 acres of beautiful Beebe Woods with the intention of housing a summer theatre, originally conceived as "Tanglewood Theatre". In 1949, the company eventually went belly-up and the following 10 years saw numerous companies utilize the charming theatre during the summer and off-seasons. It wasn't until 1958 that the Oberlin Gilbert & Sullivan Players from Oberlin College, under the guidance of Dr. W. Hayden Boyers, became steady summer tenants of Highfield Theatre providing Falmouth and Cape audiences with Gilbert and Sullivan Comic Operas and American and European Operetta. Audiences were dazzled by a fine voiced vocal company, a live 30+ instrument orchestra, and fully produced shows with costumes, scenery, and sets. It is to their credit that the Highfield Theatre summer light opera and musical theatre tradition was established.
1969 : A New Beginning
Donald Tull
and Robert Haslun, 1969
In 1969, Oberlin G&S ceased their Cape Cod operations and moved the summer company to Oberlin. Unwilling to let the summer Cape operation demise, former Oberlin G&S members Donald Tull and Robert Haslun founded a new company, based upon the Oberlin players. And so was born the College Light Opera Company! Securing various costumes, props, furniture and a list of 1968 Oberlin G&S patrons, the two founders embarked upon a wild and tumultuous journey to bring Light Opera and Musical Theatre back to Highfield Theatre. The two producers steered the company through that first season, bringing together many former Oberlin company members as well as undergraduates and graduates from other colleges and universities. At the end of the season, the company was able to balance its books and embarked upon another journey into summer stock.
In the next few years, CLOC would begin to establish itself as perennial summer activity of the Cape Community. Fortunately for the company, it was during this time that the Cape was becoming a significant holiday and retirement destination for New England and the Northeast. The company benefited from a wealth of talent, seeking the training and experience CLOC offered. In 1970, a full orchestra was brought back, along with a wider scoped repertoire of both operetta and musical theatre.
In the next few years, CLOC would begin to establish itself as perennial summer activity of the Cape Community. Fortunately for the company, it was during this time that the Cape was becoming a significant holiday and retirement destination for New England and the Northeast. The company benefited from a wealth of talent, seeking the training and experience CLOC offered. In 1970, a full orchestra was brought back, along with a wider scoped repertoire of both operetta and musical theatre.
1974 : Finding A Home
"Princess Ida" (1974)
In 1974, CLOC faced a crucial turning point. Up until now, it had made use of the Tanglewood Estate to house the company members during the season. The former victorian mansion had been converted into a hotel and suited the company quite well. Numerous bedrooms, bathrooms, dining rooms, and a rehearsal barn provided all the basic amenities needed to produce musical theatre.
However, at the end of the 1974 season it was made aware that Tanglewood would be slated for demolition. Fortunately for CLOC, it secured housing at the recently closed "West Falmouth Inn" on Chapoquoit Road. No sooner had the Company moved over to its new West Falmouth Campus that provided 4 cottages, a huge industrial kitchen, separate costume shop, and rehearsal space, that it was notified than the campus was due to be sold and converted to a public park.
Once again, the Company rose to the challenge and appealed to its many supporters and donors and in 1979, the company was able to purchase the entire estate from its landlords, thus securing its footing for future generations.
The decade rounded off with a production of Gilbert & Sullivan's The Grand Duke in the 1979 season, completing the G&S canon.
However, at the end of the 1974 season it was made aware that Tanglewood would be slated for demolition. Fortunately for CLOC, it secured housing at the recently closed "West Falmouth Inn" on Chapoquoit Road. No sooner had the Company moved over to its new West Falmouth Campus that provided 4 cottages, a huge industrial kitchen, separate costume shop, and rehearsal space, that it was notified than the campus was due to be sold and converted to a public park.
Once again, the Company rose to the challenge and appealed to its many supporters and donors and in 1979, the company was able to purchase the entire estate from its landlords, thus securing its footing for future generations.
The decade rounded off with a production of Gilbert & Sullivan's The Grand Duke in the 1979 season, completing the G&S canon.
1980s and 1990s: A Firm FootingDuring the 80s and 90s, CLOC saw the greatest growth in its repertory and increase in both applications and patronage. While the 70s had been a decade of establishing the company's reputation and membership, the next two would carve out the company's sound, vision, and mission. Notable productions that premiered during this time were The Dollar Princess (Fall), Plain and Fancy, Man of La Mancha, George M!, West Side Story, Robert and Elizabeth, Fiddler on the Roof, and the smash hit A Funny thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.
2000s : The MillenniumAs CLOC entered the 21st century, it continued to produce high quality productions and provide intensive training to its 32 member vocal company, 18 piece orchestra, and 12 member technical and costume crew. While the number of CLOC premieres began to decline during this time, due only to the fact that the company had exhausted most of the suitable repertory, the company continued to revive classic musicals and breathe new life into European and American Operetta.
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The West Falmouth Inn, CLOC's current home
2008 Production of "Show Boat"
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2015 to Present (2026) : A New Chapter
Following the retirement of Robert and Ursula Haslun after the 2015 season, Mark A. Pearson assumed leadership of the College Light Opera Company as Executive and Artistic Director. A CLOC alumnus who had first joined the company in 2003, Pearson had previously worked at CLOC as a costume designer, scenic designer, technical director, and stage director. His appointment began a new chapter in the company’s history, one that has combined the preservation of CLOC’s distinctive summer repertory tradition with an expanded commitment to education, community engagement, institutional sustainability, and the development of new works for the musical stage.
One of the greatest challenges in CLOC’s history arrived when the COVID-19 pandemic made it impossible to assemble the company in Falmouth or present a traditional season at Highfield Theatre in 2020. Although live performances were suspended, CLOC did not abandon the central educational purpose of its mission. The students who had already been accepted into the company were invited to participate in a fully remote summer program that paired them with CLOC alumni and other working professionals from across the theatre industry. Through virtual classes, coaching sessions, interviews, discussions, concerts, and collaborative projects, CLOC produced many hours of original online programming and maintained a meaningful connection among students, alumni, audiences, and supporters during an unprecedented period of separation.
The temporary absence of a resident company also allowed a long-planned transformation of CLOC’s West Falmouth campus to move forward. Supported by a capital campaign of approximately $4 million, the project included the construction of Lucas Hall, a new rehearsal, performance, administrative, and educational facility. The campus also received a state-of-the-art denitrification septic system, an important investment in the long-term sustainability of CLOC’s historic property and the environmental health of the surrounding West Falmouth Harbor. Lucas Hall provided CLOC with dedicated rehearsal and office space for the first time, greatly expanding the organization’s ability to serve its company members and the wider Cape Cod community.
CLOC returned to live performance in 2021 with renewed energy and an expanding artistic vision. The ninth and final production of that season was the world premiere of Georgia Stitt’s The Danger Year, directed by Hunter Foster. The production marked an important new direction for the company. In addition to preserving and reexamining the established repertoire of operetta and musical theatre, CLOC began to embrace a role in the development of new work and to give its young artists direct experience with the collaborative process through which new musicals are created.
That commitment continued beyond CLOC’s traditional nine-show season. In 2024, CLOC partnered with Art Lab Productions and Red Bull Theater of New York to present a staged reading of Robert Sella’s new musical Man Among Men. The reading brought professional artists and developing material to Falmouth and demonstrated the potential of CLOC’s campus and artistic community to support work at an earlier stage of its development.
In 2025, CLOC further expanded this work by hosting staged readings of two new musicals. Silk, by Chilina Kennedy, Eric Holmes, and Daniel Edmonds, was presented in Lucas Hall. The King’s Critique, with music and lyrics by Nat Zegree and book and lyrics by Eric Holmes, was presented at Highfield Theatre in partnership with Art Lab Productions. Following additional development and industry presentations, The King’s Critique is scheduled to receive its Off-Broadway premiere in the fall of 2026. These projects have created opportunities for CLOC company members to observe and participate in the creation of new musical theatre while connecting CLOC’s work in Falmouth with the professional theatre industry in New York.
CLOC’s educational mission has also grown to include younger members of the local community. In 2023, the company established Footlights, a summer internship program for Cape Cod high school students. Overseen by CLOC alumna and Falmouth educator Liz Liles, the program introduces participants to the many artistic, technical, and administrative disciplines required to operate a theatre company. Footlights interns learn alongside CLOC’s resident company, assist with productions and campus activities, and receive practical experience in a collaborative professional environment. The program has grown each summer and has already provided enriching educational opportunities for dozens of local teenagers.
More than half a century after its founding, CLOC continues to evolve while remaining grounded in the principles that have always defined the company. Young artists still live and work together in residence, rehearing one production while performing another and learning through the extraordinary experience of creating a complete season of musical theatre for a live audience. At the same time, the company has invested in its historic campus, expanded its service to local students, developed new partnerships, and taken an increasingly active role in shaping new works for the musical stage.
This period has reaffirmed CLOC’s dual identity. It is both a cherished Cape Cod cultural institution and a nationally significant training ground for emerging theatre professionals. By preserving the rigor and communal spirit of the traditional summer-stock model while responding to the changing needs of artists, audiences, and the industry, CLOC continues to educate, entertain, and enrich, ensuring that the traditions of music theatre remain connected to its future.
One of the greatest challenges in CLOC’s history arrived when the COVID-19 pandemic made it impossible to assemble the company in Falmouth or present a traditional season at Highfield Theatre in 2020. Although live performances were suspended, CLOC did not abandon the central educational purpose of its mission. The students who had already been accepted into the company were invited to participate in a fully remote summer program that paired them with CLOC alumni and other working professionals from across the theatre industry. Through virtual classes, coaching sessions, interviews, discussions, concerts, and collaborative projects, CLOC produced many hours of original online programming and maintained a meaningful connection among students, alumni, audiences, and supporters during an unprecedented period of separation.
The temporary absence of a resident company also allowed a long-planned transformation of CLOC’s West Falmouth campus to move forward. Supported by a capital campaign of approximately $4 million, the project included the construction of Lucas Hall, a new rehearsal, performance, administrative, and educational facility. The campus also received a state-of-the-art denitrification septic system, an important investment in the long-term sustainability of CLOC’s historic property and the environmental health of the surrounding West Falmouth Harbor. Lucas Hall provided CLOC with dedicated rehearsal and office space for the first time, greatly expanding the organization’s ability to serve its company members and the wider Cape Cod community.
CLOC returned to live performance in 2021 with renewed energy and an expanding artistic vision. The ninth and final production of that season was the world premiere of Georgia Stitt’s The Danger Year, directed by Hunter Foster. The production marked an important new direction for the company. In addition to preserving and reexamining the established repertoire of operetta and musical theatre, CLOC began to embrace a role in the development of new work and to give its young artists direct experience with the collaborative process through which new musicals are created.
That commitment continued beyond CLOC’s traditional nine-show season. In 2024, CLOC partnered with Art Lab Productions and Red Bull Theater of New York to present a staged reading of Robert Sella’s new musical Man Among Men. The reading brought professional artists and developing material to Falmouth and demonstrated the potential of CLOC’s campus and artistic community to support work at an earlier stage of its development.
In 2025, CLOC further expanded this work by hosting staged readings of two new musicals. Silk, by Chilina Kennedy, Eric Holmes, and Daniel Edmonds, was presented in Lucas Hall. The King’s Critique, with music and lyrics by Nat Zegree and book and lyrics by Eric Holmes, was presented at Highfield Theatre in partnership with Art Lab Productions. Following additional development and industry presentations, The King’s Critique is scheduled to receive its Off-Broadway premiere in the fall of 2026. These projects have created opportunities for CLOC company members to observe and participate in the creation of new musical theatre while connecting CLOC’s work in Falmouth with the professional theatre industry in New York.
CLOC’s educational mission has also grown to include younger members of the local community. In 2023, the company established Footlights, a summer internship program for Cape Cod high school students. Overseen by CLOC alumna and Falmouth educator Liz Liles, the program introduces participants to the many artistic, technical, and administrative disciplines required to operate a theatre company. Footlights interns learn alongside CLOC’s resident company, assist with productions and campus activities, and receive practical experience in a collaborative professional environment. The program has grown each summer and has already provided enriching educational opportunities for dozens of local teenagers.
More than half a century after its founding, CLOC continues to evolve while remaining grounded in the principles that have always defined the company. Young artists still live and work together in residence, rehearing one production while performing another and learning through the extraordinary experience of creating a complete season of musical theatre for a live audience. At the same time, the company has invested in its historic campus, expanded its service to local students, developed new partnerships, and taken an increasingly active role in shaping new works for the musical stage.
This period has reaffirmed CLOC’s dual identity. It is both a cherished Cape Cod cultural institution and a nationally significant training ground for emerging theatre professionals. By preserving the rigor and communal spirit of the traditional summer-stock model while responding to the changing needs of artists, audiences, and the industry, CLOC continues to educate, entertain, and enrich, ensuring that the traditions of music theatre remain connected to its future.