Whether you are an experienced thespian or a new convert to theater, whether you are interested in being on stage or working back stage, the Alleghany Community Theatre invites you to join our crew. Click join ACT. You can complete your membership application online. The following is a brief history of the organization.
The Alleghany Community Theatre was incorporated in the fall of 1999, but its roots go back almost 30 years. In the mid-1970's, two Alleghany High School English teachers with an interest in theater, Mrs. Pearl Reeves and Mr. David Reynolds, began a drama program at that school which evolved into a group known as "Trojan Playmakers." Numerous plays were produced using high school students as well as participants from the community, such as "Fiddler on the Roof", "Our Town", and "Godspell."
Reynolds left Sparta in 1976 to become a drama instructor at Campbell University and later moved to New York City where he worked in Broadway productions. Debbie Brady, a speech therapist who had theater experience in college and who had performed in local theater productions, stepped into the lead for the Playmakers. "The Diary of Anne Frank" and many other well-received productions occurred under her leadership. Debbie frequently shared production and direction duties with the multi-talented Lura Myers for such community-wide endeavors such as "Brigadoon", "Flowers for Algernon" and "Dark of the Moon". However, over time interest in community theater waned and by the late 1980s, the Trojan Playmakers was no longer active.
Paula Joines had been an "Alpha" member of the Trojan Playmakers. During the lean years, she traveled to neighboring Wilkes County to participate with the Wilkes Playmakers. Wearying of the long drive to rehearsals, Paula began talking to her daughter, Kelaiya Davis, also a Wilkes Playmaker member, about the possibility of re-vitalizing a community theater group in Alleghany County.
Following the example of Wilkes Playmakers and relying heavily upon support from Debbie Brady and David Reynolds, who had returned to the area as a Wilkes Community College theater instructor, Paula and Kelaiya took the initial steps to form the non-profit organization that is now ACT. Local attorney, Bynum Marshall, a strong supporter of theater, donated his services to begin the process.
In February 2000, an organizational meeting was held at Sparta School. A wonderful mix of former Trojan Playmakers, folks with theatre and film experience from elsewhere and newcomers to the theatre began making plans for a production. Joines was elected as ACT's first president, Robbie Presnell as vice president, Davis as treasurer and Jean Sparks as secretary.
The newly revitalized ACT tested the waters by presenting several scenes during a local talent show. The efforts were well received and interest continued. ACT's first full-length play, "Where the Lilies Bloom" was presented in the summer of 2000. The effort has grown since. Subsequent plays are listed in the order they were performed in the scrapbook.
ACT is still a young organization, but it is striving to provide a variety of theater offerings each season, as well as other programs on the performing arts. These have included an acting workshop, September 8, 2001, led by Aaron Lewis, a theater veteran from Catawba County, and a lighting workshop, led by Reynolds, on March 23, 2002.
© 2002 Alleghany Community Theatre
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