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Washington Evening Journal
111 North Marion Avenue
Washington, IA 52353
319-653-2191
Local woman honors the memory of the Tent Players
A look at the Theatre Museum of Repertoire Americana
Southeast Iowa Union offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
MT. PLEASANT - Grace Davis works at the Theatre Museum of Repertoire Americana in Mt. Pleasant. She is Vice-President of The National Society for the Preservation of Tent Folk and Repertoire Theatre, a historical society which operates the Museum. The Museum, founded in the 1970s as part of Old Threshers, pays tribute to a forgotten staple of Midwest life: the Tent and Theater Troops which entertained thousands in days gone by.
In the days when the railroads were king, before the movies monopolized the world’s attention, theater troops roamed the Midwest, putting on plays, vaudeville skits, and musical performances. In Spring and Summer, they pitched great tents, performing in fields to sold-out crowds. Come October, they began playing theaters- or, rather, “opera houses,” as, to some, the term “Theater” brought to mind cheap, dirty, immoral entertainment in those days.
Some had railroad cars. Some had trucks. Come the days of motor homes, the tent folk found them quite agreeable. Through photographs and artifacts, visitors may see how these performers lived. Hila Morgan, an Iowan actress and showrunner in her own right, owned two railroad cars that carried her show throughout the country. One photo of the train bears Morgan’s writing: “This is my home. Oh, happy days.”
As times changed, so did the shows. Many troops sold their shows to others. Some had other plans. The Dubinsky Brothers of Kansas City bought a theater. Edward, the youngest brother, changed his name to Durwood, and would buy other theaters in Missouri and Kansas. After the Second World War, they began constructing drive-ins. Nowadays, the Durwood enterprise, only recently sold by that family, is known as AMC, one of the largest movie theater chains in the world.
The museum possesses, according to Davis, the largest collection of opera house curtains in the world. These are not just dividers. They are beautifully-painted landscapes, used as backdrops. Pre-show curtains would often feature squares for advertisements, sold to local businesses.
To Davis, this subject is personal. Between 1917 and 1938, her grandparents ran the Lew Henderson Players, their own company. Even after the end of the company, the family remained in show business. Her husband, Mr. James Davis, owned the last professional tent theater company in the United States of America. This enterprise only closed in 1997.
The museum has an extensive archive of promotional materials, scripts, and even interviews with old-timers long passed. Therein, the public can catch a glimpse of this bygone era, and help keep these memories alive.
Call Marilyn Higgins at 319-368-8895 or email her at marilyn.higgins@southeastiowaunion.com
