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JONESBOROUGH REPERTORY THEATRE |
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Highlighted by a mosaic of broken glass featuring the symbolic happy and sad performing arts masks, renovations are slated to be completed just before tonight’s opening act.
“They will be done Friday,” said a confident Kathleen Buttolph, JRT director. “The whole show is supposed to indicate the newness of the entrance area.”
Both the town of Jonesborough and the JRT took on the cost to renovate the theater’s entrance, dressing room area and box office, which was transformed into a women’s restroom.
Still, Buttolph said the number of items donated made up much of the cost.
“Dockery Floorcovering in Johnson City donated all of the carpeting that is in the entranceway,” she said. “And all the bathroom tile in the new women’s bathroom was donated by Winco Inc. of Johnson City.
“This has all been done in the past two months.”
Thus the break in performances at the JRT as Buttolph and her staff of actors and actresses took a short respite from performances to leave the theater in the hands of town work crews.
During that time though, carpet wasn’t the only covering being laid down — dressing room and entranceway walls were all covered with a fresh coat of paint.
“The theater itself has been here for 30-plus years,” Buttolph said. “It was due time for some renovations, especially the box office. We’d have to send women over to the Methodist Church to use the restroom.
“Dressing rooms were also outfitted with sinks and other fixtures that weren’t there before.”
Not only were things renovated, parts were also taken out, repaired and knocked down in the process.
“Three walls were either changed or knocked down,” Buttolph said. “There was a chimney that was taken out, and a ceiling in one of the dressing rooms that was caving in was repaired.”
Once November came around, Buttolph and her staff began auditioning for this weekend’s show, holding rehearsals at Wesley Memorial United Methodist Church in Johnson City and basically any place that would provide their cast space.
“This is a family show that’s like the USO show we did for Jonesborough Days,” she said. “The lighting and the technical aspect of the show is going to be great, and about one-third of the cast is new, so it will be an entirely different show.
“It’s a Christmas show, yet still patriotic.”
Article courtesy of johnsoncitypress.com
125 1/2 West Main Street
Jonesborough, Tennessee 37659