With Beatty Cold, the show always gos on

“We’ve invested in making every show better,” Las Cruces Community Theatre board member Janet Beatty Cold said, and that’s why “the last few seasons, everything has sold out.”

Beatty-Cold moved to Las Cruces in 1996 and got active with LCCT in 1997; she will celebrate her 30th year in local theatre next year. Now 55, she is also celebrating her 50th year as a performer.

Beatty Cold has acted, directed, music-directed, choreographed and costumed dozens of shows – often taking on multiple roles in a single production – at LCCT and nearby Black Box Theatre. She has performed in fundraisers for the American Southwest Theatre Company and A Children’s Theatre of the Mesilla Valley nonprofits to extend her stage credits to New Mexico State University and Rio Grande Theatre.

Beatty Cold spent almost 13 years as president of the LCCT Board of Directors, stepping down from the top spot earlier this year, but staying on as treasurer.

When Beatty Cold joined the LCCT Board as secretary in 2011, “We weren’t doing well,” she said. The theatre was “barely making enough money to pay the bills. I was really worried we weren’t going to make it,” she said.

Things began to pick up as LCCT celebrated its 50th season in 2012-13 with a lineup of “shows that couldn’t lose,” Beatty Cold said. “Thriving” and on track “to exist for another 50 years,” is how she describes the theatre today, as it continues with the 2026-27 season (its 64th, preparing for a blockbuster holiday production that is now in rehearsal.

‘I feel like I’ve watched the baby grow into an adult,” she said.

 As one example of its success, Beatty Cold said, LCCT had 240 season-ticket holders last year, and has 390 this year in a season that opened with the musical “Come from Away,” followed by “Dracula.” Upcoming shows are “Miracle on 34th Street” (Dec. 4-20), the musical “Little Women” (Feb. 5-21, 2027), “Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead” (April 2-18) and the musical “Into the Heights” (June 4-20).

LCCT went dark for more than a year and a-half during COVID, Beatty Cold said, and with no money coming in, “we were close to closing our doors,” she said. But thanks to an anonymous donor, the theatre held on and got back on its feet.

Along with more popular shows and more experienced directors, including mentoring for first-time directors, Beatty Cold said, LCCT has recently added a new sound system (all actors now have body mics for every show), a new lighting system, an upgraded online ticketing system and a brand-new hearing assistance program.

LCCT’s back-stage dressing rooms and lobby have also undergone recent renovations, Beatty Cold said.

Part of the reason for LCCT’s success is the support of the theatre building’s long-time owner, Jose Coronado of Las Cruces, she said.

There are 17 people on the LCCT board, including Philip Spillman, who became board president last May.

Spillman is an excellent choice as president, Beatty Cold said, because he is “someone who loves the theatre the way it needs to be loved.” Spillman has “a technology vision” that will mean even more upgrades and improvements at LCCT, she said.

The board also includes Vice President Amanda “Mandy” Wyatt, who is in charge of public relations and the theatre website; Kristan Hodgkins, vice president of development; Barbara Hall, vice president of membership; secretary Chelsey Juenemann; and board members Tom Warren (a long-time LCCT musician and actor who is returning to the board) and “Come from Away” director Katalina Hadfield and “Dracula” director Jason Wyatt.

“I love my (new) role as treasurer,” Beatty Cold said. “I’m willing to do whatever it takes.”

LCCT is an all-volunteer nonprofit, she said, with cast, crew and a growing number of volunteers coming together “to do an exhaustive amount of work” to produce every show.

Beatty Cold, a retired speech-language pathologist who has a minor in theatre from Southern Illinois University, has played 40 lead roles in college, St. Louis community theatre, Missouri and in Las Cruces.

Her first performance in Las Cruces was in “Bells Are Ringing,” at LCCT in 1997. Beatty Cold directed her first show, the musical “Dames at Sea,” for community theatre in 2013, and has directed 10 holiday musicals at LCCT since then, including “White Christmas” and “A Christmas Story.” She was costumer for “The Sound of Music,” directed by Norman Lewis in 2023, which added six performances to community theatre’s usual run of nine shows, and sold out all 15.

Beatty Cold said she finds as much satisfaction in watching a good show as performing or directing.

“I feel just as much pride because of what we’ve all created together,” she said.

Part of Beatty Cold’s motivation in theatre has been her special-needs son, Spencer, 24.

With Christmas shows and musicals like “Shrek,” “The Wizard of Oz” and “Annie,” she said, “I’ve been on a personal mission to help Spencer participate in theatre. He loves coming to rehearsals with me and singing along. That’s been really special for me.”

Beatty Cold has also been an advocate for children to perform in Las Cruces theatre, and “help kids have a great experience on stage.” Helping bring up young performers in Las Cruces “feeds into high-quality productions at LCCT,” she said.

Beatty Cold’s performances as Dolly Levi in “Hello, Dolly” and Mama Rose in “Gypsy,” were her two “dream roles,” she said. She played the Dolly Parton roles in both the musicals “Best Little Whorehouse in Texas” and “Steel Magnolias.” Her performance as Roz Keith (she also did the costumes) in this year’s production of “9-5,” directed by Luis Castro, “was my favorite show I’ve ever done,” she said. “I’ve never been so grateful to be cast. It was all I dreamed community theatre could be. That’s what keeps people coming back – the way we’ve grown.”

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