In 1996, James Gooden, a popular local comic actor, founded Live Theatre Workshop as a venue for himself to perform. He served as the artistic director. The theatre was performance based, with little focus on youth education. 

However, in the early 2000s, two local teaching artists started offering classes at LTW. Michael Martinez, fresh out of college, started as a piano player and teacher at the theatre in 2002. 

In 2005, Gooden, the founder, realized that the theatre was in decline. “I don't think he saw a future for the company,” said Michael Martinez, the now-executive artistic director of the organization. 

Gooden turned the company over to a financially conservative and well-organized executive director, Kristi Loera. Loera managed to save the company and brought Martinez in as her assistant, helping with the educational side of the theatre.

“I got super interested in all of the nonprofit business elements. I was so interested that I went back to grad school and studied nonprofit business, got my master's degree in that and was kind of able to be learning about all of that stuff while also being able to experiment at the theatre,” reflected Martinez.

Loera stayed with the organization until 2012. When she left, members of the organization trusted Martinez to take over as interim executive director. He passed his educational duties to Amanda Gremel. 

“I think culturally in that time from when I got in and when Amanda got in, we really leaned into the mission of the organization which is to entertain, educate and enlighten a group of diverse adults and children and families… theatre is and should be for everyone.”

One of Martinez’s goals when he took over in 2012 was to find a more suitable location for the theatre, which had, up to that point, been located in a strip mall in midtown Tucson. Six years after Martinez took the helm, LTW began a capital campaign to fund a new building. They purchased their new location on Fort Lowell Road in December of 2019. The new building is large enough for two stages, one for children’s theatre productions, the other for main stage productions, as well as storage and additional classroom space. 

They have also started hosting events through Pima’s Joint Technical Education District (JTED) for high school students enrolled in Career and Technical Education courses, as well as hosting events like the high school Shakespeare competition, in collaboration with the Tucson English-Speaking Union.

As per Martinez, the Board of Directors’ new strategic plan for the theatre “has a goal of reaching out to new audiences and bringing in new authors.”

Last year, Martinez, Gremel, and Stephen Frankenfield became an “artistic team,” after the theatre’s previous artistic director left the organization. This has allowed them to continue expanding their goals of reaching new audiences through theatre.

“It's a great community effort to kind of find the stories that are going to be exciting, and interesting, and valuable to the people we serve,” Martinez said. He added, “we think that the arts is just a piece of the puzzle that makes the whole community work and thrive.”

Martinez emphasized that the benefits of theatre can be seen throughout social cohesion, the connectedness of a society. “...while there are a lot of intrinsic benefits to theatre; it should be part of our lives, it's important, theatre education makes our cities, our communities, our persons better, there are also a lot of amazing external benefits.”

As an organization, one of their primary goals is to better the lives of Tucsonans, and to build a theatre community that emphasizes equality and connectedness. Former students of the organization have become prominent figures among the local theatre community in both performing arts and technical theatre, reaffirming the missions of the theatre.

“I think we feel like we live in a time where we are hyper connected via technology, but way less connected on a deeper human level, and what I see happening in the education department kind of feels like a correction to that,” Martinez said.

Martinez compares the goals for the future of Live Theatre Workshop to the story of Doctor Who.

“We imagine ourselves going in the TARDIS and going well into the future and opening the door and looking at what the world looks like as a result of what we do… we see that theater is a valued and cherished art form that is widespread. It feels accessible and is part of community culture in Tucson and beyond.”

Live Theatre Workshop’s next production is the 2025 Young Playwrights of Tucson showcase, held on May 31 and June 1, which will be followed by Ranked, A Musical in July. Tickets and more information on their current season and their newly released 2025-26 season are available at livetheatreworkshop.org. LTW is also on Instagram and Facebook. 

Martinez would like to say "thank you" to Gooden, LTW's founder. “I would just want him to say the same thing back. I guess like, ‘wow, you took my creation and just ran with it. And I am proud of what it has become.’”