Step Right Up!

 Welcome to the Theatre Museum of Repertoire Americana

   We are located at the crossroads of Highways 34 & 218 in Mount Pleasant, Iowa.

   The museum has now closed for the season. Regular visitor hours will resume after Memorial Day 2027.  

   Contact us to schedule a private tour at 319-385-9432 or theatremuseum@yahoo.com. There is a $5 admission charge per person for nonmembers. Members get in free.  Ample parking is available.

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What is a Tent Theatre?

Grace Davis showing model of a Tent Theatre
Grace Davis showing model of a Tent Theatre

A National Phenomenon on the Move

   In the 1920s, professional theatre was on the move. Instead of waiting for audiences to come to the city, the city came to them. At the height of the tent show era in 1927, more than 400 traveling companies toured across America’s heartland, visiting over 16,000 communities. Together, they performed for an astonishing 78 million people each year—an audience larger than all the theatres in New York and Chicago combined.

   These traveling troupes brought fully staged productions to towns that often had no theatres of their own. Within hours, a vacant lot could be transformed into a vibrant performance space, complete with lights, scenery, and orchestra. The tent show movement brought the magic of live theatre directly to rural America, creating a cultural phenomenon that defined a generation of entertainment
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WELCOME

Welcome To The Theatre MuseumTake a 3-D TourFive Books on Tent Shows