The president of Greenwood Little Theatre says the change in venue for the community theater has gone well.
“We are extremely excited about the move,” Walker Sturdivant told the Greenwood Rotary Club Tuesday.
Little Theatre, which had been holding its productions at the W.M. Whittington Jr. Playhouse since 1967, shifted to the auditorium of Davis Elementary School last year. It will be putting on its second production in those new surroundings later this month, with the Neil Simon comedy “The Odd Couple” set to run March 24-27.
Sturdivant said the reason for the move was twofold: There were just 25 years left on the 16th Section lease for the land on which the Whittington Playhouse sits, and major problems with the facility, including a badly leaking roof and mold, would have required a heavy investment to address.
“We were going to have to spend a tremendous amount of money to take some corrective action,” he said.
Sturdivant said the Greenwood Leflore Consolidated School District, which includes Davis School, has been extremely cooperative in working with GLT.
“I look at it not as a lease but a partnership,” he said.
Among the advantages to the Davis auditorium, he said, is its proximity to downtown, ample parking, much larger stage and backstage areas, as well as seating that can accommodate up to 1,200, which is six times the capacity of the Whittington Playhouse.
Still, he acknowledged, there have been a few bumps. Little Theatre is in the process of installing, with the school district’s permission, separate men’s and women’s bathrooms/dressing rooms in the staging area. The lack of those facilities would make it currently impractical to try to put on a large production, especially those involving children, he said.
It is also working toward addressing two complaints aired during Little Theatre’s inaugural production at Davis in October: namely, that some in the audience had a difficult time hearing the dialogue and that the wooden seats were uncomfortable.
Sturdivant said that an unidentified patron has offered to help financially with upgrading the sound system and that Little Theatre is looking into providing seat cushions to patrons by the time the 2022-2023 season kicks off next fall. In the meantime, he said, theatergoers are welcome to bring their own cushions for performances. “If you all will just be patient with us, we will end up addressing all of these problems that we faced and are presented with.”
Sturdivant said Greenwood is blessed with an abundance of musical and acting talent that has sustained the Little Theatre, the second-oldest active community theater in Mississippi.
“We are fortunate in Greenwood, beyond measure I believe, to have a little theater in a small community with so much talent,” he said. “As you know, our movie theater is closed. Yet we have got live productions that, in my opinion, are as good as you can find anywhere.”
Little Theatre hopes to expand its reach in the community, including by getting students and faculty members at Mississippi Valley State University more involved. Sturdivant said the partnership is still being worked out, but the idea would be for the two organizations to collaborate on plays, musicals and even radio performances.
“We would love to see students at Valley produce and put on plays there at Davis,” he said.
For more information about Greenwood Little Theatre, season memberships or tickets to individual performances, go to greenwoodlittletheatre.com.
- Contact Tim Kalich at 662-581-7243 or tkalich@gwcommonwealth.com.
