|
This winter the Road Less Traveled
Theatre had just nicely found a home at
the DuBois Center on North Franklin
Street and put together a cast for its
first production, “Oliver!,” when the
center’s executive director resigned and
there was controversy about the center’s
direction.
Although the theater group
from Creedmoor was assured by Lawrence
Perry, president of the National DuBois
Alumni Association that owns the center,
that they could continue to rehearse and
stage shows in the combined gym and
stage, the group decided to remove
themselves entirely.
“It made more sense for us
to step back and get away from it,”
Kevin Holmes, the RLLT’s executive
director, said this week.
Happily, they have found
friends and support in Wake Forest, and
“Oliver!” is still set to be staged the
last two weekends in May.
Holmes said Bob and
Elizabeth Johnson, who own The Cotton
Company and several other buildings in
the downtown area, are allowing the
group to use the warehouse space behind
Operation Harvest on South White Street
(once a Holding cotton warehouse) for
rehearsals.
A final decision has not
been made, but it is likely the
production in May will be on the stage
of the Franklin Academy high school
building on Chalk Road. The auditorium
at the charter school holds 200 people,
Holmes said.
There have been some
setbacks. “We lost a few kids [from the
cast] and a few principals like Fagin,
but we’re managed to put it together and
make it work,” Holmes said.
The RLTT’s plans for several
plays in Wake Forest each year mesh with
the Johnson’s. In honor of their son,
who died earlier this year, they have
established the Graham Johnson Cultural
Arts Endowment Fund at Franklin Academy.
Bob has promoted the concept of the
historic downtown as an arts and
entertainment center that pulls
strength, ideas and artists from local
schools, the seminary, the birthplace
and the growing numbers of art studios
and artists in and around Wake Forest.
“The ideal scenario in the
long-term, and Bob is on the same page,
is it would be nice to see some kind of
cultural arts center that would have a
stage, studios for dance and music and a
recording studio,” Holmes said. There
are several bands in the area, he said,
that now have to drive to Raleigh or
some other place to lay down tracks and
record.
“Wake Forest is such a prime
area for that, location-wise,” Holmes
said.
He knows there is an
eagerness on the part of local adults to
participate in theater. Usually, he
said, many more children than adults
show up for auditions, but for “Oliver!”
he was surprised to see more adults than
children. Many of them, he said, had
experience with other amateur and
professional theater groups such as
Theater in the Park. “They were just
ecstatic to have something in their
backyard.”
Also, he learned that
parents are driving many local children
to Raleigh or Chapel Hill on weekends
for theater workshops. “I’m working
right now on putting together some
workshops we could have in Wake Forest.”
Holmes also said he was
surprised and pleased at the warm
reception he received from the downtown
business community. After they asked
about the DuBois Center, he said, and he
began telling them about the RLTT plans,
“I’ve been getting a whole lot of real
positive reaction and response.”
Holmes and the others in
RLTT plan to raise funds for the
upcoming musical and for operating
capital. If you want to contribute or if
you want more information, you can call
the office at 919-529-1169 or go to
http://www.roadlesstraveledtheatre.com. |
