Southern Indiana Living SeptOct 2012

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Hayswood Theatre: Acting out and selling tickets (Above) Detective Harry Heartstone (Tom Gudding) planting a juicy one on Sheriff Willie Lovelace (Elizabeth Whittinghill) in “Blazing Guns.” (Right) Nellie (Laura Von Fossen) and Emile (Gary Crockett) swear their undying love for each other in “South Paci¿c.” Story // Lee Cable September/October <strong>2012</strong> • 42 Blazing Guns at Roaring Gulch Photo by Jack Sweeney Photo by Kathy Norton Photo by Randy West The building, which stands along Capitol Avenue in Corydon, doesn’t seem large enough to house a theatre, but the old sayings that “looks can be deceiving” and “don’t judge a book by its cover” surely apply when it comes to the Hayswood Theatre. Although not a large structure, every inch of the former telephone company building is used when there’s a play on stage and an audience in the seats, and its size could be a factor in its success. Overhead is low and ticket prices are aordable. Many of the shows, which usually run for three weekends, are sold out. Its small size also makes it a place where everyone must exercise a little imagination, including the directors, actors, stage managers, costume designers, choreographers and yes, even the audience. Creativity is almost always entertaining, and the creativeness that is used to make a play come to life on the small, Hayswood stage, with limited props, backdrops and set changes is often almost as entertaining as the play itself. The seed was planted for a community theater in Corydon over forty years ago when the Woman’s Literary Club set out to Ànd ways to help the local economy and provide a means of “reviving and promoting the cultural growth of all of us.” The following year, they recruited a group of student actors to help, got permission to use the old state capitol building in Corydon’s downtown square for performances and performed re-enactments of actual trials that had been held in the State Capitol in the 1820s. The group, calling themselves the Hayswood Players, performed the re-enactments without scripts, so each actor had to respond as they thought appropriate. According to Hayswood history, the “Old Trials” were quite successful and people “came from all over” to watch the reenactments. But after about a year the group changed course and their name. They decided to perform actual plays utilizing the Harrison Grange Hall, tackling such favorites as “Never Too Late,” “The Fantasticks” and “Diary of Anne Frank,” and changed their name to “The Hayswood Little Theatre Group.” In 1971, the Fiesta Discount House, located in a building on South Capitol Avenue owned by the Eureka Telephone Company, went out of business and the phone company oered the building to the theatrical group. After extensive renovation, the building was made into the current Hayswood Theatre. “At the time, the audience sat in chairs,” said Linda Ray who with her husband, Macon, became involved with the group in the early 1970s. “There were no bathrooms up front and no outside entrance for the actors. The pipes froze on a regular basis and sometimes we had heat and sometimes we didn’t. But we did some outstanding shows there like ‘Tobacco Road’ and ‘Oklahoma.’ Macon and I were involved in the Stephen Foster Story in Bardstown for 15 years and were o during the winters, which is when we did plays at the Hayswood. Macon won the theatre’s best actor of the year award for playing the leading role in ‘Tobacco Road,’ and during that play, we had the cab of an old truck right on stage. It was great.” Besides musicals, the group also began performing plays for a younger audience. Plays like “You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown” and “Snoopy” were such big hits for the theatre that the actors took
37th ANNUAL LANESVILLE HERITAGE WEEKEND SEPTEMBER 14, 15 & 16, <strong>2012</strong> “Thinking of the past, looking toward the future.” HWY. 62 LANESVILLE, IN 10 Miles West of New Albany From I-64 Take Exit 118 - or Exit 113 Thursday September 13th ANTIQUE TRACTOR PULL ONLY! FREE PARKING & ADMISSION FEATURING: Minneapolis Moline/Avery Tractors Waterloo Boy Gas Engines Case Steam Engines Antique Farm Machinery Display & Tractor Pulls FOOD ENTERTAINMENT MIDWAY RIDES VENDOR BOOTHS TRUCK & TRACTOR PULLS PARADE ANTIQUE TRACTORS HELICOPTER RIDES FARM TOY SHOW/DEMONSTRATION QUEEN/PRINCESS PAGEANT AMATEUR FIDDLERS CONTEST HOT AIR BALLOON GLOW/RACE ANTIQUE TRACTOR PULL/GAMES HORSESHOE PITCHING LOG SAWING CONTEST PEDLA TRACTOR PULL ANTIQUE FARM MACHINERY PARADE DEMONSTRATIONS: Basket Making, Blacksmith, Broom Making, Cider Mill, Pottery, Stain Glass, Quilting, Sawmill, Shaker Boxes, Shingle Making, Shredding, Stationary Baling-Threshing, Weaving, Wood Turning, ETC. AND MUCH MORE!!! The MONARCHS CONCERT Sept. 16, Sunday, 3:00-5:00pm The MONARCHS VISIT: http://www.lanesvilleheritageweekend.org silivingmag.com • 43
Page 1 and 2: Freshen up your home this Fall •t
Page 4 and 5: SOUTHERN INDIANA Living in THIS iss
Page 6 and 7: For nearly a year, I had the privil
Page 8 and 9: Top 10: Easy, InExpEnsIvE HomE Impr
Page 10 and 11: THE PERFECT SETTING For over 125 ye
Page 12 and 13: snapshots Earlier in the year, Corp
Page 14 and 15: The next thing I know I’m standin
Page 16 and 17: Helen Smith holds the name tags of
Page 18 and 19: Treasures and Simple Pleasures The
Page 20 and 21: lowing that. Tom taught industrial
Page 22 and 23: Nothing CHILLY about it Chillers’
Page 24 and 25: “Give people more than what they
Page 26 and 27: September/October 2012 • 26
Page 28 and 29: Making a splash at Great Wolf Lodge
Page 30 and 31: memory together that takes them awa
Page 32 and 33: Dining Car or Woman Jasper Train De
Page 34 and 35: Once upon a farm... Defying the nor
Page 36 and 37: “Years ago a dollar would buy som
Page 38 and 39: Classic Oldies FM 102.7 AM 1550 Ori
Page 40 and 41: Above: Roni works on a piece featur
Page 44 and 45: ® the shows on the road and perfor
Page 46 and 47: e-opening the venue.” The new gro
Page 48 and 49: Flashback Photo 1984 Rothrock’s M
Page 50 and 51: everyday adventures Missing Mayberr
Page 52: PICK UP RIGHT WHERE YOU LEFT OFF. H

Southern Indiana Living SeptOct 2012

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