NEW ORLEANS’ PROFESSIONAL THEATRE

Theatre That Stays With You.

CCS brings Equity-caliber storytelling to New Orleans — built on the belief that great art starts with paying artists what they're worth.

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60%+

of every budget goes directly to artists — not overhead

8,000+

audience members in 3 years — New Orleans was ready

#1 in NOLA

most Equity contracts of any theatre company in New Orleans

COMING UP

SPECIAL EVENT · LADIES’ NIGHT

Bard @ the Batture

Excerpts from Shakespeare — outdoors on the Mississippi

Shakespeare, wine, and the river. An intimate evening of scenes and sonnets performed at the water's edge — reimagined for a New Orleans night.

Dates  September 22–23, 2026
Venue  The Batture, Mississippi Riverfront
Format  Outdoor · Evening · Ladies night

FUNDRAISER

Behind-the-Scenes

An evening at The Josephine

Join us for an intimate fundraising evening — behind-the-scenes access, cocktails, and a conversation about what CCS is building in New Orleans.

Date  October 6, 2026
Venue  The Josephine
Format  Intimate · Ticketed fundraiser

CCS STUDIO

Summer Theatre Camp

Week 2 — 2 spots remaining

Two weeks of professional-level theatre training for young artists. Led by the same teaching artists who perform on our stage.

Dates  July 27 – August 7, 2026
Who  Youth artists
Status Week 2: 2 spots left

WHAT MAKES US DIFFERENT

The CCS model

The traditional nonprofit theatre model puts 70% toward administration.
We flip it.

Artist first

Every person on and behind the stage is paid. No volunteers. No stipends. No working for exposure. The art is better because the artists are valued.

We pay Equity wages

Plenty of New Orleans theatres call themselves professional. We're one of the few that will actually hire you if you have your Equity card — because we pay what professional actors are owed.

Real business

Theatre isn't precious. It's an economic engine. When artists are paid well, they stay, they give back, and the city gets something worth being proud of.

OUR STORY

Between us: a BFA from NYU Tisch, an MFA from UCSD, and 30+ credits at top regional theatres across the country. We came home to New Orleans and couldn’t get cast. Not because we weren’t good enough. Because we were Equity.

So we built a theatre that didn't ask professional artists to work for free. That was 2020. Since then: 14 productions, 8,000+ audience members, and more Equity contracts than any other company in the city. That's what happens when you stop apologizing for having standards.

Michael A. Newcomer

Executive Director

Top Regional Theatres Nationally
First Equity Card: Ford’s Theatre, 1998

Elizabeth Newcomer

Artistic Director

NYU BFA · UCSD MFA
First Equity Card: Atlantic Theater Co, 2004

What People Are Saying

“Precisely the kind of theatrical experience New Orleans audiences deserve.”

Tara Bennett, Broadway World

“Raising the bar for theatre in NOLA. A wake-up call for a vibrant future!”

Bryan Batt

“A theatrical experience I will not ever forget.”

Audience Member

HELP US MAKE NEW ORLEANS A THEATRE TOWN

Your donation pays
an artist's rent.

When you give to CCS, you're not giving to a building fund or an endowment. You're paying a professional artist — who then pays their groceries, their utilities, their life — in New Orleans. That's the model. That's what's at stake.