Wise Rooster Theatrics is a brand-new theater troupe with aspirations to mount full-scale musical theater in Eugene. The troupe held its first-ever Rooster’s Roadshow, a survey of popular musical theater selections performed by local singers and musicians, at John Henry’s (881 Willamette), in August.

Jacob Smart, Wise Rooster founder, says Rooster’s Roadshows will become a series held at different venues, with the next one planned for late November at John Henry’s. Smart calls his group’s first foray into public performance a way to test the market and solidify the ensemble. The August event featured tunes from Rent, Jesus Christ Superstar, Waitress and more.

The August John Henry’s Roadshow featured 12 performers, and Smart says the cast and the selections will change each time. He says Wise Rooster hopes to mount three or four roadshows each year until the group is ready to put on a complete show at traditional theaters such as Very Little Theatre in South Eugene, or Cottage Theatre in Cottage Grove.

Smart likens the ultimate vision to a roving professional repertory musical theater company. “I feel like there’s a craving with a lot of artists and audiences to just have something a little bit more refined — somewhere in between community theater and Broadway touring productions that come to the Hult Center,” Smart says.

For more information about Wise Rooster Theatrics and their Rooster’s Roadshow schedule, find Wise Rooster Theatrics on Instagram. The group plans to have a website launched sometime in the fall.