A Couple Discovers Love and Professional Theater
Winter 2023
A Couple Discovers Love and Professional Theater at The Opera House Players
Cromwell, Connecticut’s Reilly-Thomas family, has a remarkable tale to tell.
Their commitment to the Enfield, Connecticut, Opera House Players (OHP) theater community and their ties to their families set their story apart.
Like many other parents, they have a busy schedule. Work, child care, and hobbies are all things they try to balance.
Both Lindsay and Tim work full-time. Lindsay works remotely for META as a privacy program manager, and Tim works in New Haven as a legal assistant for Susman, Duffy, & Segaloff, P.C.
Their only child is Maeve, a daughter who is two years old.
Maeve was enthusiastic, giggly, and ecstatic to be with her parents throughout the interview.
As they start their bedtime routine, a relay race begins.
The evening routine of bathing Maeve, dressing her in pajamas, and having a snack before bed was completed without missing a beat.
Her Love for Music and Theater Wins Her Heart
While still a high school student, Lindsay relocated from Old Lyme, Connecticut, to Norwich, Connecticut.
Both of her parents were professional performers and classical musicians. Lindsay thought her family was in the music and theater business.
Throughout middle and high school, she participated in several musical theater performances.
When she initially enrolled in the college program at SUNY, she majored in vocal performance. During her second year, she relocated to UMASS Amherst and later changed her major to legal studies.
She worked part-time as a legal assistant for an organization in Springfield, Massachusetts.
Due to several factors, Lindsay had to work a full-time job in addition to going to law school at night.
She continued singing, but because of her demanding course load and inexperience as a new lawyer, it took her a while to perform on stage again.
She discovered OHP ten years after leaving the stage.
She was thrilled to discover a local theater in Northern Connecticut.
She participated in her first Les Misérables role audition in 2014.
Even though she did not get the part, she was eager to learn about upcoming productions.
All He Knew Was Professional Theater
Tim was born and raised in Merriam, Kansas, and later studied theater at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska. He grew up in a musical family, just like Lindsay. He moved to Connecticut in 2005.
In 2010, Tim stopped working as a professional actor. He attended an OHP audition in the evening for the Tony Award-winning musical thriller Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street. During the day, he had a full-time job.
Tim received several honors for his work in the OHP production of Monty Python’s Spamalot, including the Massachusetts Critics Circle Award for Best Featured Actor in 2015.
OHP and Theater Connect the Two Actors
Their characters in the 2016 OHP production of Into the Woods brought Tim and Lindsay’s worlds together.
They were cast in several OHP musicals over the next two years.
In The Robber Bridegroom, Lindsay portrayed Salome, the second wife of wealthy and fortunate planter Clement Musgrove, and Tim portrayed him.
OHP’s final performance at the Broad Brook Opera House in 2018 featured Parade.
A Pandemic, a Wedding, a Baby, and More Theater!
Tim and Lindsay struggled and spent much time with OHP's other physical and emotional performers.
Lindsay said, “The audience can enjoy top-notch theatrical productions thanks to this intensity. We all perform in the shows, create the sets and costumes, design the costumes, and practice for hours.”
Lindsay and Tim began making a lot of new connections at OHP.
“Our love of theater and music brought us to the Opera House Players, but the OHP team keeps us coming back as actors. OHP works with the community, which premieres high-quality performances with professional artists,” Lindsay explained.
Since Maeve has arrived, they spend less time on stage.
On the other hand, when Lindsay was expecting, her mother agreed to pay for childcare for a performance once a year.
They were finally allowed to accept that offer when they were chosen as the leads in OHP’s upcoming Bridges of Madison County production, which premiered in February 2023.
“These are dream parts! I put my mom on notice as soon as I heard Bridges was in OHP’s season lineup,” Lindsay said.
A Commitment to the OHP Capital Campaign
The OHP Capital Campaign to make 100 High Street a permanent residence excites Tim and Lindsay.
A new sound system and numerous upgrades are part of the campaign.
Tim said, “We are excited about OHP’s goal of constructing a forever home here in Enfield. We have dedicated talent and require a theater with high-quality technical equipment. The OHP Capital Campaign will help us meet this challenge.”
