Aug. 3, 2009

Plenty of local talent to supply TheatreCentre

By Scott Wright

CENTRE — For the past five years, a local group of dedicated actors and musicians has been staging original productions right here in Cherokee County, and founders have no plans to fiddle with that successful formula.

Centre residents Joy Perry and Gary Davis have been overseeing TheatreCentre since the first spotlight shined in the summer of 2005. The two sat down with The Post last week to talk about the successes of the past five years, and give a hint of what they hope to accomplish in the years ahead.

Perry said she realized there was a place for a local community theater after working with her daughter's high school class.

“I was really involved in the Cherokee County High School drama program,” she said. “After about 10 plays, I couldn't believe all the talent we had in the county.”

Perry said she and Davis, who teaches drama at CCHS, came across a play called “Godspell” and quickly realized there was no need to publicize the casting call any further than the county line.
“Gary and I realized that we knew 12 people in Cherokee County who could do that play,” Perry said. “So we talked about it and decided to do it.”

Perry and Davis chose the cast, raised money for costumes and set construction, and then staged the production over several nights at the Centre First Methodist Church in June 2005.
“Everybody bragged on it and we could tell the community was very open to having a theater in town,” Perry said. “And that's where it all started.”

Since the beginning, Perry has served as the organization's business manager. Davis oversees production and often directs the shows, which over the years have included dramas, comedies and musicals.

Davis said he believes the Sanders Family series, of which TheatreCentre has performed two, have been the most popular, along with musicals like “Footloose.”
“Yes, and the other plays based on movies,” Perry added. “Like 'Steel Magnolias and 'Driving Miss Daisy.'”
Perry was quick to point out that it takes more than efforts by her and Davis to make TheatreCentre a success.

“We are really blessed to have great volunteers,” Perry said. “We have retired couples, and the ladies are very good artists and their husbands are good builders. Without their help constructing the sets we could not make this work.”


Now showing

The group's latest effort, a two-man comedy called “Greater Tuna,” opens Aug. 13 and runs through Aug. 15. Shows begin at 7 p.m. in the Community Room at the Gadsden State-Cherokee campus in Centre. Tickets are available for $10 each at the Cherokee County Chamber of Commerce office in Centre
Unlike most TheatreCentre performances, there will be no Sunday matinee of "Greater Tuna."

"We usually have shows in the First Methodist Church, but they're doing some construction on that building right now so we're in the Community Room at Gadsden State instead," Davis said. "We can't do the Sunday show this time."

Perry said she can't wait for folks in Cherokee County to learn and laugh about life in fictional Tuna, Texas, when experienced actors Anthony Guffey and Michael Sweetin take the stage.

“These two guys play a total of 20 characters, and they have the costumes and the mannerisms of all the male – and female – characters they'll be playing,” she said. “It's small-town humor and it is going to be hilarious.”

A couple of nights before, TheatreCentre veteran Ronnie Kisor will donate his time and talent to help raise funds for the organization. The two-night benefit concert, scheduled for Aug. 10 and 11 at 6:30 p.m., will be held at the Cherokee Arena on the Gadsden State campus.
“Ronnie was in a musical group called Dixie Grey that was just about to go national, and he is tremendously talented,” Davis said. “He approached us about getting this concert together to raise funds for TheatreCentre.”

Kisor will be joined by local talents David Ashley, Doug Ford, Jamie LeCroy, Jason LeCroy, Jimmy Moon, Barton Perry, Blair Perry, Larry Sanford and Jacob Green.

Tickets are $15 for patrons and the general public, and can be purchased at the Chamber of Commerce.


Coming soon

Perry stressed that whatever funds are raised from the benefit concert and “Greater Tuna” will go right back into the next production.
“No one in the organization is paid,” she said. “We're all volunteers. Of course, we have to make money in order to be able to buy the rights to these plays, which are very expensive.”

“We're talking thousands of dollars,” Davis said.

Perry said that the grander the show and the larger the cast, the more it costs to stage the production.
“Costume rentals can cost into the thousands, too,” she said. “But in order to put on a good show you've got to spend the money. We just try to break even.”

TheatreCentre is in the midst of its annual patrons' drive, which Perry and Davis expect to be as successful as it has been in years past.

“The patron program is our life's blood,” Davis said. “Without them we couldn't have the theater. What they do is they pay a little more every year in order to help the theater, and in exchange they get the best seats.”
Perry said the patrons can sometimes be demanding – in a good way.

“They already want to know what shows we'll be performing next year,” she said with a laugh.

Davis said he believes everyone will approve of the shows the group has scheduled for the next several months.

“Our Christmas show is going to be 'Miracle on 34th Street,' and in March 2010 we are going to do 'Smokey Joe's Café,'” Davis said. “That's a musical featuring music from the 1960s and early '70s.”

Looking further down the road, Perry said she and Davis someday hope to be able to stage productions inside their very own facility right here in town.

“We want our own building,” she said. “We want a stage, and an office with a computer, and a place to hang all our banners. That's our number one long-term goal right now.”