American Magic-Lantern Theater

America's Only Authentic 1890's Magic-Lantern Shows

The American Magic-Lantern Theater is a two-person troupe of international theatre performers, drawn from the following:

Terry Borton

Terry Borton, producer of our international theatre, and its lead performer, is a fourth-generation lanternist who grew up watching magic-lantern shows as a child. He has been performing lantern shows professionally for more than 25 years.

"My great-grandfather had an 1869 kerosene magic lantern. My father had vivid memories of his neighborhood shows at the turn of the century. When I was a kid, my father used that same lantern to put on shows for us, telling the old stories in great-grandpa's dramatic style -- the style I use in our shows now." (See Borton Family Magic-Lantern History. )

After ten years of giving amateur magic-lantern productions, Borton formed a professional troupe, The American Magic-Lantern Theater, in 1992.

Before devoting full-time to the magic lantern, Borton had a wide background in the modern media. For fifteen years he was Editor in Chief of the children's newspaper, Weekly Reader, which, with a circulation at that time of eight million, was the largest newspaper in the world. As company spokesman he appeared regularly on network TV news programs and radio talk shows.

He is the author of two books and hundreds of articles, is the lead performer on two records of poetry readings, has written scores of radio scripts, and is executive producer of "KIDS-TV," a children's TV show. Borton holds a doctorate in education from Harvard, and has published, with his wife, a scholarly reference book on the magic-lantern and America's foremost magic-lantern artist, Joseph Boggs Beale, whose slides are featured in our international theatre shows. A second book for the general public is in draft. (See Before the Movies and Cinema Before Film.)

Charlotte Paulsen

Charlotte Paulsen, mezzo-soprano, has performed on many concert and opera stages in the United States and abroad, including Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center. A graduate of Peabody Conservatory of Music, Temple University, and West Chester University, she has been described as “an intense performer with an unusual and distinctive voice, compelling and enormous in its lower register.”

Elizabeth Kelly

Elizabeth Joy Kelly, soprano and pianist, graduated from Temple University with a Masters in Vocal Performance in 2010 and has been working as a freelance teacher and performing artist since then. She has been a stage director, costume designer, conductor, accompanist, and her favorite, an opera singer. Currently, Elizabeth is teaching at 3rd-5th grade art at the Tatnall School, and directing two neighborhood choirs with Opera Delaware.

Nancy Stewart

Nancy V. Stewart, pianist and soprano, has been performing with AMLT for more than 25 years. She has been a soloist in almost every state in the United States as well as in Europe, Asia, and Australia, performing at both Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall. For the past fifteen years she has been the Director of The Greater Hartford Opera Ensemble, and for eighteen years Director of the Greater Meriden Concert Chorale. She has also served as Professor of Voice and Piano at St. Joseph University in West Hartford for twenty years.

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