History:
Our history occurs in two different eras, with two very distinct and dedicated groups of people. Our first era begins just after the Great Depression and runs until just before the end of the Second War to End All Wars.
This first troupe of thespians actually started in 1932 at the old Odeon Theater on Second Avenue downtown. If they weren’t performing at the Odeon then they were at the Marshalltown High School auditorium, now known as Miller Middle School. Their very first production was THE QUEEN'S HUSBAND and starred local favorites, including Carol Dodd Hollingsworth, Ed Wright, Evelyn Bowman Kennehan, and Alice Van Law Blue. According to historians, this first group of thespians also had a summer theatre that played at the Iowa Soldiers Home chapel. A program from that era is shown to the left, from a 1940 production of Family Portrait by Lenore Coffee and William Joyce Cowen. The photo is from an unknown production of that era, as well.
Although the plays were well attended and they provided a means for the townsfolk to escape their troubles of the time for a few hours, the real draw was the Community Theatre’s 20-piece orchestra. The orchestra played before every performance and at each intermission, adding to the much needed entertainment. The plays and music offered a respite from this time of material shortages and high unemployment.
During this era, one of the more serious items the theatre had to face was a heating fuel shortage. Not directly, (keep in mind at this time they used “borrowed” venues), but rather at one of their productions. The best remembered was at the high school. The School District could not afford to heat the high school auditorium during non-school hours, so when school was out, so was the heat. It is told that the auditorium would get so cold in the winter that theatre patrons could see their breath! The actors solved their problem by offering an optional admission price at the high school to be a bucket of coal. This brought in enough fuel to keep everyone warm for the performance and may have even helped a few students stay warm the next day.
The Theatre was truly a business of the time. With a yearly budget of less than a thousand dollars and membership dues of $1.00 per person, they were able to do a lot with a little. It was summed up nicely on every program for every play. “It is first, last, and foremost - OUR Community Theatre.”
