As I write this, we are about to go into dress rehearsals for Godspell, the first production of Market House Theatre’s 50th Anniversary Season. On August 24th, we celebrated the beginning of our 50th year of operations with a family-friendly Community Street Fair. We thought this was fitting, as MHT is a community theatre that has, since its founding, relied on a community of people to keep its doors open, the lights on, and the stage filled with talent.
I must admit that before I came to MHT, I wasn’t sure about working in community theatre. April and I came from Kansas City where we had been working in “professional” theatre. We both had received our Actors Equity Card and been accepted in the Professional Actors union. When I first came to Paducah for an interview with the Board of Directors, the theatre was just starting the second show of its 20th Anniversary Season. I looked at the Market House building and wondered where they put a theatre in that little space. I walked in the backstage door that Saturday and found the cast of The Rainmaker doing a technical rehearsal. The entire cast was standing in place on the stage while the lighting designer aimed and focused the lights, then set the light cues on a little board with sliding controls that had to be reset for every scene in the play. The actors stood in their places and slowly walked through the scenes for several hours that day. I remember thinking, “Paid professional actors would never do that!” You couldn’t afford it, and the actors would revolt if told to stand around for hours, even if they were paid. (The first thing I did after MHT hired me was to stop that practice. We set light cues while the stage manager walks the stage instead of the actors, because a volunteer’s time is extremely valuable.) I learned something from that first day, though, that has stuck with me over the years. The people who create community theatre have a deep well of dedication, passion, and commitment far beyond what the theatre could pay them for. That passion is present not only in the arts in our community, but in business and education, too. There is a sense of community pride in the people who attend MHT. That community pride and that ownership by the people of Paducah made this theatre something very special since its founding in 1963, and it made me a firm believer in the power of community theatre to change lives.
As we went through the old minutes of the first three meetings in preparation for the Street Fair, I learned that it wasn’t until the second meeting that the theatre group officially took on the name, “Market House Theatre.” In the third meeting, the bank balance stood at $250, and the group got a report from the architectural firm that had done a cost analysis for turning the old Market House building into a theatre.
The cost estimate was $125,000. They decided to go forward with the project and raise the funds from donations of money, labor, and materials. The sense of optimism and determination that began the theatre is still present in today’s Board of Directors. It wasn’t an easy task to raise the funds, and the theatre did it over time while utilizing the space to create theatre productions before it was “finished.” (It wasn’t until some 15 years later that actual dressing rooms were built backstage to replace the pieces of canvas hanging from ropes that created “dressing” spaces.) As I read the minutes from those early meetings, I learned that thank-you cards were sent out after each production to all the businesses and individuals who donated items so that the play could move forward. To this day at each board meeting, donors’ names are shared and thank-you cards are written to the generous community of people who support Market House Theatre. MHT has grown from those first days, but it still has that community spirit of hard work and gratitude.
The Street Fair is another example of a community of people coming together to do something incredible. MHT Public Relations and Marketing staff member Kathy McHaney, Past President Melisa Mast, and a committee including Rachael Jaenichen, Kathryn Joyner, Maurie McGarvey, Susan Ybarzabal, and April Cochran helped to create a wonderful celebration of our 50th anniversary. What made it even more incredible was that several groups came out to partner with us that day, with each group providing interactive arts experiences as well. The event was a huge success, with throngs of children and adults coming to tie-dye tee shirts, do theatre activities, draw, craft, dance, dress up, and listen to music--to mention but a few of the wide variety of activities.
At the Street Fair, I chatted with Wally and Gerry Montgomery. They have been long-time donors to Market House Theatre, and Wally came up and talked to me about how strongly they feel about their support of Market House Theatre. The Montgomerys serve on the MHT Trustee Advisory Committee, and they were both instrumental in helping the theatre become one of the first organizations to create an endowment with the Community Foundation of Western Kentucky. They are long-time season ticket holders, and it is always a delight when they make it a point to find me after a production to tell me how much they enjoy the theatre. They both loved Les Misérables, but Gerry told me that Annie still ranks up there pretty high on their list of favorite shows MHT has done. Gerry’s leadership in the community as Mayor helped begin the transformation of downtown Paducah into the beautiful streets and sidewalks that we take for granted today. That happened at the same time that MHT undertook a $1.1 million expansion, restoring and repurposing three dilapidated buildings donated by Petter Supply in the mid ‘90s. The Montgomerys were integral supporters of that project, and they continue to be a source of inspiration for Market House Theatre and for many other civic organizations, lending their valuable time and passion for making Paducah a better place to live and work.
People are constantly amazed when they come to Paducah and experience what a dedicated and passionate community we are.
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