Dan McCarty hadn’t imagined becoming an FBI agent at age 50.

But the mild-mannered chiropractor caught a “bug” last year that has tempted him to take on roles he’d never even daydreamed.

“I’ve got the acting bug,” McCarty said with a hearty chuckle.

Like many people who find themselves volunteering at the Butler Little Theatre, McCarty was lured by a curiosity of the theater and a desire to meet new people.

After being cast in his first show, McCarty discovered a whole new world of like-minded friends to spend time with and activities to give a go.

In the theater’s current production, “Anybody Out There?” by playwright John Patrick, McCarty is cast as FBI agent Bill McSwain.

Although McCarty has no ambition to become a professional actor, he says his newfound hobby allows him to depart from his strictly professional in-office demeanor.

“Acting allows you to be something different,” he said. “It is a blast.”

That’s not to say standing under the lights is the only opportunity for involvement at the theater.

McCarty, for example, has built sets, pulled curtains and even had a try at running some lights.

“There is so much more to theater than just acting,” said Gary Collar, past chairman and a life member at the Butler Little Theatre.

The theater group puts on five major shows a year as well as a summer youth show and a children’s workshop.

Auditions for the theater’s shows are advertised on the organization’s Web site at BLTgroup.org as well as in the Butler Eagle.

There are about 10 or 11 people in each show’s cast, and more people are needed for props, costumes, lights and sound.

Yet the theater, which is a nonprofit organization, has no paid staff.

“We have people who have been there for years and they have never acted,” said Collar, who has had a hand at everything from being onstage to directing.

Although you don’t have to have any particular skills or talents to participate, volunteers must make a commitment to the show and audience.

That commitment can range from a one-day stint helping take tickets or ushering patrons to their seats to cast and crew who will prepare for six weeks to perform an eight-night show.

“People volunteer here because they want to have some fun,” Collar said.

The theater, at 1 Howard St., has 500 members who receive voting rights, a newsletter and ticket consideration depending on their fee level.

The “proscenium” type stage seats 155 people at a time.

The theater’s first season was 1941-42.

Collar has been active in the theater since the fall of 1966.

Then, he thought he’d landed only a bit role when he auditioned for his first show.

But Collar, who was a newcomer to the community then, said he’d actually brushed fate and won over two of his lifetime’s leading roles —- he discovered a lifelong activity at the theater and he’d stumbled across his own leading lady.

Collar and his wife-to-be both were cast in that first show.

Both Collar and McCarty say part of the theater’s draw is meeting new people; everyone from attorneys and doctors to farmers and students participate.

Collar also enjoys jogging, golf, softball and reading.

McCarty has taken flying lessons. He also enjoys scuba diving and skiing.

But McCarty, who found his fiancee prior to his first show, is also excited by the opportunities to try new things, as well as new roles, that has developed from his Little Theatre involvement.

“There’s a whole big world that has developed from the theater,” he said.

<b>Address: </b>1 Howard St., Butler<b>Membership:</b> 500<b>Productions: </b>Five major shows, a summer youth show and a children’s workshop each year<b>Phone:</b> 724-287-6781<b>Web site:</b> www.BLTgroup.org