‘Stages’ recalls theater chaos

AMANA — While Iowa cornfields and cattle farms don’t evoke images of movie production, the state is no stranger to film or live theater.

Jonesy McElroy grew up on a dairy farm between Belle Plaine and Marengo, equally as far from the stage of Broadway as from the lights and cameras of Hollywood, yet for 10 years McElroy learned the business in Iowa County.

Old Creamery Theatre brought shows to local audiences for 50 years, first in Garrison in Benton County and then in Amana, before closing in early 2022 due to financial difficulties caused by pandemic shutdowns.

McElroy spent about 10 years in various roles there from the time he was 16.

Old Creamery awarded McElroy a scholarship to the University of Northern Iowa where he studied theater. He transferred to the University of Iowa and earned a degree in cinema.

“I worked in L.A. for nearly 20 years doing a lot of photography,” said McElroy.

He worked for ABC and Disney most of that time. His team took photos for all the pilots aired on the network during those years, McElroy said. He handled lighting for “Dancing With the Stars,” “The Bachelor” and “The Bachelorette” and directed videos for AT&T, United Airlines and Samsung.

McElroy tried writing for movies and television. “Nothing was really clicking for me,” he said.

McElroy decided he needed to write something more personal, and Old Creamery Theatre came to mind. McElroy remembered all of the people involved in creating productions and how people come and go and their lives change along the way.

“I kind of took that as the beginning,” said McElroy. He started writing the show “Stages” about five years ago.

McElroy plans to produce four episodes over the course of a year. Spaced three months apart, the episodes will show the changes in the characters over the course of the year, saying goodbye to characters that move on and welcoming new ones in their place.

“That’s kind of how my experience of theater has been,” McElroy said.

“One of my favorite shows was “The Office,’” McElroy said. “I love that idea of a camera coming in and experiencing the workplace. You just get a sneak peek of the workers. It’s all about the people putting it together.”

The chaos and emotion behind the scenes of a flawless show will be evident in his series, McElroy said. “It’s something people don’t think about. It’s sort of a day-in-the-life. A day of the camera person following one person around.”

After the Old Creamery closed, Iowa County residents formed Amana Colonies Performing Arts Council to oversee the theater space under the name Amana Performing Arts Center. The building is still owned by Amana Society Inc.

McElroy tired of LA and the grind of working for ABC and Disney. He thought he’d be happier doing his own thing, and he wanted to be closer to his parents, Glenn and Linda McElroy, who still live on the family farm, so he returned to Iowa in August.

When McElroy moved back to the area, he met with TKM Theatrical Productions, a nonprofit production company co-founded by Tom Milligan and Deb Kennedy that uses Amana Performing Arts Center as the venue for its productions, for summer camps and life enrichment projects.

McElroy performed in a show with them last year.

McElroy told Milligan and Kennedy about his idea for a fictional documentary about the theater. They liked the idea and are helping produce it.

The theater space was stripped when Old Creamery left, McElroy said “I had to get time to dress it back up and make it look like a theater space.” TKM has helped him find actors.

McElory also reconnected with Tom Johnson, a founding member of Old Creamery Theatre.

McElroy started working with Old Creamery in 1995 or 1996. “I was doing a lot of acting,” he said, and Johnson gave him a job working lighting. McElroy worked there through college and returned periodically after moving to LA in 2004.

“I was able to take those memories and kind of create a show around that.”

McElroy is keeping the project as local as possible, shooting at locations in Iowa and hiring actors in the state.

Rob Merritt, a well-known actor and writer in Iowa, plays the artistic producing director for Old Barn Theatre in McElroy’s film.

“He’s just a lovable goof,” said McElroy of the character. “He doesn’t always make the right decision, but he’s got a heart of gold. He’s really holding everyone together.”

Marquetta Senters plays the woman working the box office, and Sedona Helmke is the personal assistant. “It’s a great character because, in the company meeting, she doesn’t get a seat at the table, but she has a lot of authority and has to manage a lot of things. So we end up following her a lot of the story and seeing the ups and downs she goes through.”

The project is a lot of work, said McElroy, “and a lot of work I have to do myself.” He’s the writer, director, cameraman and editor.

“My plan was to do a total of four. It really kind of depends on how this first one is received,” he said.

McElroy will see if he can get a screening in Iowa City or Cedar Rapids, and he’ll put “Stages” online after the showing in Amana, he said.

McElroy hopes to generate funding for the project. Right now all his actors are working for free.

“I’m hoping that it leads to new relationships with local people,” he said. “I really want it to be a homegrown production.”

“Stages: An Original Miniseries about Theatre” premieres Saturday, April 20 at the Amana Performing Arts Center, 39 38th Ave. in Amana.

Tickets are $25 and include the show, a snack reception catered by the Ox Yoke Inn at 6 p.m. and a quick backstage tour before the movie begins at 7:30 p.m.