A typical Saturday at the Roxy is already jam-packed but this particular Saturday was a little more packed than usual. The day began with our Saturday School of the Arts at 10am. We are fortunate to have close to 60 young people takes the acting portion of the program with our Artistic Director, John McDonald. They are working on a “workshop in-formance” of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream coming up in December.

Mary Nell Wooten hands out candy for the Roxy Regional Theatre at Fright on Franklin Street

After acting class, Travis Kendrick took over as 25 young people stay on to take dance class where they are learning the techniques of musical theatre dance and have just begun their choreography projects. If the Roxy does not have a matinée on Saturday, those 25 young people would then stay on for voice class currently taught by Lisa Conklin-Bishop, faculty at Austin Peay State University.

While the School of the Arts program took place inside, preparations were being made outside for the Roxy’s participation in the annual Fright on Franklin. Old Christmas Carol sets, draped with dyed tobacco close and some muslin from Hodgepodge gave a spooky feel. Ghost luminaries made out of recycled milk jugs lit the path around the table.

As dance class let out at 1:30pm, the audience for the matinée began to shuffle in to the Roxy for the afternoon performance of The War of the Worlds. After Martians attacked the earth…again…and the bow was taken, the cast quickly shifted gears into A Tale of Two Cities rehearsal for the next three hours.

I, however, was absent from that afternoons rehearsal, as I was committed to Fright on Franklin. Myself, along with Roxy board members Mary Nell Wooten, Judi Sinks, Nancye Britton and Walter Marczak manned the tent throughout the evening, handing out candy to thousands of little goblins lining the streets of Historic Downtown Clarksville. I must applaud the Parks and Recreation Department, Niki Crowe and Planters Bank for a successful event. We, at the Roxy, were able to reach a lot of people that day just because of interest in the old 1947 building that stands on the corner of First and Franklin.

At the time when most people are ready to close up shop and go home and put their feet up, the Roxy continued it’s long Saturday with the final public performance of The War of the Worlds, presented to a packed house Saturday evening. Are you tired yet?

When you look back on a jam-packed day like that Saturday you know that all the hard work and long hours are worth it. We get to reach 60 plus young people every Saturday, molding and teaching them in the arts. We were able to reach close to 250 audience members coming into the Roxy and supporting live theatre. But most importantly, on that particular Saturday, we were able to reach thousands of ‘Clarksvillians’ through Fright on Franklin and bring awareness to the live-professional theatre that has been on the corner of First and Franklin for the last 29 years. It makes it all worth it.

This week A Tale of Two Cities continues performances on Friday, November 11 at 8pm and Saturday, November 12 at 2pm and 8pm. Performances continue that following week on Friday and Saturday at 8pm.

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See you at the theatre!

The Roxy Regional Theatre is currently staging the Tennessee Williams play “A Streetcar Named Desire.”

To fully understand the intricacies of this masterpiece play, in this writers opinion you just have to come from the south. Otherwise it is all too easy to miss the subtle interplay of these delicious personalities as they intertwine in a tapestry that is as old as, well the south.

You have Blanche DuBois the socialite (Alicia Kelly); the submissive wife Stella (Chase Kamata); Stanley the abuser (Justin Barnum); the dotting son Harold (Brenden Cataldo); among others. The acting was tight, performers seamlessly melding into their roles as if they had been born to them.

Blanche DuBois played by Alicia Kelly (Photo by Tom Thayer)

Stanley and Stella in their kitchen (Photo by Tom Thayer)

The subtly lit multi-level set was a vision of the working class side of New Orleans. Stella’s home was austere to say the least. Patches of bare bricks poked through the walls. An unshielded bulb hangs in the master bedroom. The Roxy Regional Theatre has always exceeded expectations with their sets.

Adding to the enjoyment of the performance was the soft musical score. While I could not name any specific tunes they felt right in place with the action on stage. In some shows the volume of the background track can overwhelm the performance, with this show it was just about perfect.

You still have time to catch this powerful theatrical experience, indeed I highly recommend it. The show runs until November 21st.

Harold "Mitch" Mitchell and Blanche DuBois (Photo by Tom Thayer)