A large wooden door at the University of Florida’s Fletcher Library separates the outside world from Cooper LaMontagne’s world of imagination.
Inside the library, the third-year theater student works alongside a small group of actors and production crew. They run lines, troubleshoot lights, and calibrate themselves for a performance unlike any other.
“We have a mission,” LaMontagne said. “Creating opportunities for young emerging artists for students, where there wouldn't otherwise be an opportunity.”
LaMontagne balances his classload with a separate project: running his own nonprofit theater company, The Mountain Productions. He said he started his company with only one rule in mind.
“Don’t wait for permission to start creating,” LaMontagne said.
As the company approached the final show of the 2025-26 season, the group decided to channel their experiences as students into a production of “Prodigal Son” by John Patrick Shanley. The play, which runs until April 13, follows Jim Quinn, a gifted yet troublemaking teenager, who faces indecision and the perils of adolescence at an all-boys Catholic school.
“I feel like as college kids, we have a lot of pressure on ourselves, from ourselves and from the world where it's like, well, what's the next thing,” LaMontagne said. “I passed this class, but now I've got this next class, or I need an internship this summer. Our careers are now, as young people, are having to get started before we've done anything before we graduate.”
The concept of discovering oneself isn’t new for LaMontagne. His journey to the stage didn’t start with a microphone in hand, but rather on the field.
“I actually grew up playing football and basketball,” LaMontagne said.
But LaMontagne couldn’t resist the acting bug. He joined UF’s School of Theatre and Dance, and immersed himself in the world of on-stage performance.
“This whole Mountain Productions thing got started because after my freshman year of college, I was like, I want to do this show called ‘Spring Awakening’ really bad,” LaMontagne said. “I always told my high school drama teacher, 'I'm gonna come back from college one day, and I'm going to do this show.'”
And thus, a dream was born.
Since that initial show, the company has put on productions of “Hedwig and the Angry Inch,” and now, “Prodigal Son.” To put on productions of such caliber, LaMontagne has gotten a firsthand look into producing and the business behind managing projects.
“I think my skill is just like getting people together that are really talented in lighting, sound, whatever their respective thing,” LaMontagne said. “Then I can just facilitate the conversation. I'll be the producer, and then I also get to perform in it too.”
LaMontagne’s acting professor Tim Altmeyer, who is directing the production of "Prodigal Son," said The Mountain Productions has elevated what a student project could look like.
“To be quite honest, this is probably the most realized student initiative I've seen in my 18 years here,” Altmeyer said.
And LaMontagne continues to be a driving factor.
“I would like to think that he's the product of an environment that encourages it,” Altmeyer said.
LaMontagne’s company, a 501(c)(3) organization, has a commitment to philanthropy.
The group fundraised over $30,000 for projects all through grassroots means, and allocates funds from the productions to support organizations that align with the current play’s themes.
“With ‘Spring Awakening,’ the first one, we donated to WAYS For Life and to To Write Love on Our Arms, nonprofits that are about mental health, suicide prevention. WAYS For Life is a really, really cool organization if you dig into them,” LaMontagne said. “My mom actually works for them now, after we donated from that show. They're a boots-on-the-ground organization for kids in our foster system.”
This spirit of community is crucial to every production The Mountain puts on.
First-year MFA acting student Mitch Gray joined the production and is starring as teacher Mr. Hoffman. Gray said he’s impressed with the standard the company’s group of actors, including LaMontagne, has set in only a few weeks time.
“Oftentimes because of the type of work, you have to reach a level of comfort and vulnerability and connectedness to your partners in order to make it something real and believable, to make it look like these people have relationships,” Gray said.
Gray has acted professionally for nine years and has used his veteran presence to enhance student-led initiative.
“Getting to explore a character that is the teacher that has a really positive influence on his students was something I found really admirable in the work I'm doing in real life as well,” Gray said.
Ultimately, LaMontagne said the heart of “Prodigal Son” comes from the investment the entire crew has made to make this vision a reality.
“Everyone comes in so positively, so ready to work so hard with such grit and willingness,” LaMontagne said. "I feel like going into a room, being open with an idea. Like, there's nothing better than that.”
LaMontagne said he hopes to inspire other students looking to make their mark in the creative arts.
“It's been cool to watch the ripples of the people that are now inspired by this,” LaMontagne said. “At the end of the day, the whole purpose of making art is sharing stuff with people, stuff we think is cool, that we're proud of.”
“Prodigal Son” will run at the Fletcher Library inside UF’s Fletcher Hall until Monday, April 13. For more information on showtimes, visit cooperlamontagne.com/themountainproductions or the “Prodigal Son” social media page.
