Judy Luxton always considered herself to be a singer first. “I always felt good about acting when there was music behind me,” she explained. “That was my crutch. It kind of filled in the gaps for me in terms of emotional intent and inflections. It was built in. You didn’t have to think about it.”

In 2013, a new challenge changed her perception of her own abilities and opened new opportunities as a performer. Springfield Little Theatre won a grant from the American Association of Community Theatre (AACT) to have first rights to premiere a brand-new work. Director Chuck Rogers chose the riotous and tender comedy EXIT LAUGHING.

Luxton was hesitant to audition for the non-musical, but the rich characters and female camaraderie drew her in after Rogers encouraged her to read for a part. Luxton nabbed the role of Connie and is forever listed in the script as part of the world premiere cast.

“I didn’t really trust my acting chops because if there’s not music to go along with it, I didn’t trust myself. I didn’t have that experience,” she admitted. “EXIT LAUGHING is what really gave me my confidence that I can do that. I got cast and it was an amazing experience. Of course we are all aged out of those roles this time around, so we’re all going to go together and watch. It’s been exciting to see another generation of people doing that show.”

Some roles are timeless and Luxton recently had the opportunity to revisit a favorite character. At the age of 25, she played Pippin’s high-flying stepmother, Bertha on the Landers stage. Decades later, she reprised the role at SLT.

“It was fun to get to do it again last year,” she smiled. “I loved Bertha and getting to do two iterations of her.”

Early in her music career, Luxton was living at Lake of the Ozarks, working at Lodge of the Four Seasons and driving to Springfield weekly to perform with the Mid-America Singers. Eventually, the commute pushed her to move.

She first worked on props for YOU’RE A GOOD MAN, CHARLIE BROWN at SLT then performed in shows like CARNIVAL and 110 IN THE SHADE until she moved to California with a friend. In Los Angeles, she was cast in the original production of the Christian musical RABBONI.

“It started with Creation and went through the whole Old Testament into the birth of Jesus and ended with the Resurrection. It was long. There was a lot to it,” Luxton laughed. “We performed in churches and all over the LA area.”

Luxton eventually returned to Springfield to help a friend raise her daughters and jumped back into SLT productions. Her first lead role after moving back was particularly unexpected.

“The next show where I had a role was MAME and I played Vera. That was a hoot,” she remembered. “I really didn’t think of myself as a ‘Vera’, but [director] Mick [Denniston] made a big point of, ‘If you don’t say you will take a role, I won’t consider you for it.’ So, I just said I will do anything, and then I got Vera and it made me laugh. It was a lot of fun.”

In fact, Luxton was so unlike her famously tipsy character that she developed an unusual ritual to get into character.

“That was during a period where I didn’t drink, and Vera has to be drunk often,” she recalled. “I would sit backstage and make myself dizzy so I could walk onstage and stumble. They would make fun of me because I would be backstage flipping my head around and I would do it just in time to go on.”

Since then, Luxton has appeared in iconic roles including Cinderella’s stepmother. “I got to do Mother Superior in SOUND OF MUSIC the first time they did it. I always said I loved it because I did no dancing, one costume, and had the best song in the show,” she joked. “I got to be Mother Superior again when they did SISTER ACT. Then I got to be the Bird Lady in MARY POPPINS in a scene with Kim [Crosby]. That was really fabulous, and we got to do ‘Feed the Birds’. That was a really great experience.”

Luxton earned her teaching degree in college and taught for one year before switching tracks. She didn’t return to the classroom until 22 years later when fellow educator Alberta Smith put her name in for a job at Pipkin Middle School.

As a teacher, Luxton began bridging the gap between her students and community theater. When SLT held auditions for ANNIE in 2001, Luxton arranged to take a group of pupils downtown.

“They made this announcement that they wanted all these little girls to come and sing ‘Tomorrow,’” she explained. “So, I got a bunch of my little sixth graders and we all learned ‘Tomorrow’. I took them all to the theater. Back then I actually would take them down and get them ready for their auditions.”

For many, it was their first SLT audition and many of them continued participating through adulthood. Today, Luxton said, kids can find casting calls online for themselves, but she helped introduce a generation to SLT.

She taught voice lessons through for many years and jumped in as musical director on occasion. She remembers that the job had its challenges.

“Especially back then, some of the really little shows, the score would come just with the choral music, and I would handwrite out the parts,” she explained. “We’d have four or five pieces in the orchestra, and I would write out their parts. I remember sitting there with my pencil and paper.”

As the community and interest has grown, so have the theatre’s offerings. Luxton praised SLT for opportunities beyond the mainstage season.

“One of the things I think has always been so great that Landers had was those School’s Out Workshops. Kids have something they can do on [days there is no school]. I always thought that was really important,” she applauded. “It has just exponentially exploded with the opportunities at the Judy and the more shows. You almost can’t keep up with how many shows there are.”

Luxton was even married on the Landers stage to her late husband Terry Luxton. The couple would be celebrating their 20^th anniversary this summer. “[SLT has] been a wonderful part of my life,” she reflected. “I don’t think I would be who I am now had that not been part of my life.”

After a rich history with SLT, Luxton is focused on the future and new roles she looks forward to.

“As I age, a lot of the roles, you have to let go of that you can’t do anymore. I always wanted to do Lizzie (110 IN THE SHADE), but I’m too old to be considered an old maid at this point,” she joked. “That was one that I had to grieve the loss of. There are some roles that no matter how old I get, it’ll still be okay. I’m hoping that at some point they do THE NOTEBOOK. I got to see that on Broadway and that’s a role I can do no matter how old I get.”

Tickets are available now for a reprisal of EXIT LAUGHING.