Burning the bright lights in this little city

BY EILEEN BRADY
THE NEWS JOURNAL OF WILMINGTON, OHIO

Just a few weeks earlier, I had been sitting in the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, tears of appreciation streaming down my face during “Nabucco,” the opera that made Giuseppe Verdi famous.
Far from the living memorial to President John F. Kennedy, I found myself in a grand performing arts venue once more, appreciative tears flowing anew. The production wasn’t an epic Italian opera — just kids strumming harps and creating rhythm with buckets — but I was filled with gratitude that my daughter would feel so comfortable on a stage as beautiful as any in the nation.
Tucked into downtown Wilmington is another living memorial — this one to Charles Webb Murphy’s mother — that is truly one of the most beautiful theaters anywhere. For a city our size, it is an anomaly.
The marquee can illuminate the entire block and wake up a sleepy little town, but the building’s true beauty lies within. The intricate interior ...

creates a show-before-the-show, from golden details to shiny chandeliers to deep red curtains and seating.

As I waited for Barry Campbell’s Big Band to start playing last Saturday night, I enjoyed the pre-concert feast for the eyes.
Country music singer Eric Huff put it this way in a promotional video for his “Clean Cut Country” show at the Murphy last year: “You can’t tell what lies behind them doors until you come through, and it’s nothin’ but a pleasant surprise.”
Many of us grew up watching movies in the Murphy Theatre, from “Gone With the Wind” in 1939 to “E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial” in 1982, when patrons crammed the balcony on Buck Night. 
Grant Peelle created a beautiful video about local memories of the theater, which can be seen on themurphytheatre.org.
Thanks to dedicated citizens who didn’t let it rot away, the Murphy Theatre now regularly throws open its doors for concerts, plays, movies, stand-up comedians and the town’s annual Christmas show. Phil Dirt and the Dozers still pack the house each time they play.
East Clinton High School brings in wall-to-wall patrons for its productions, and the March 1-2 performances of “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” will likely be the next sold-out crowd. An April 13 Roots Band show will feature various local talent as well.
Saturday’s headliner, Lisa Biales, is part of the New Lyceum Circuit, and it’s a shame the affordable show isn’t already sold out. 
Executive director Tanya Snarr, who grew up in Clinton County and can remember, as I can, watching “E.T.” at the Murphy, wants the theater to be as accessible as possible. She is quick to pass along credit for its busy schedule to other folks, saying, “There is no way I could be doing this alone!” 
Last summer’s “Exploring Art on the Stage of the Murphy” was my daughter’s introduction to the Murphy. She told me then that the Murphy Theatre was way better than the Kennedy Center. The affordable program, which also included free family movies on Saturdays, introduced kids to various art media and culminated with a show on the stage. (Which culminated in me crying in the audience.)
Tanya also has allowed my daughter to occasionally help in the concession area. I tagged along last week and completed my own childhood goal of filling tubs with freshly popped movie-theater popcorn. Another time, Tanya gave my family a tour of the dressing rooms and the complex rigging high above. As big as the auditorium is, the backstage area is nearly as impressive.
I have long loved the Murphy Theatre, and I am delighted that my daughter can grow up appreciating it as well, although she may have had a soft spot for it anyway. Her father and I were married on the stage of the Murphy Theatre, 20 years ago this September. 
Our parents sat in the box seats flanking each side, and the wedding party stood on the stage. Hal Allen created a beautiful slideshow that was shown before the ceremony. The backdrops of our wedding photos include its amazing architecture. Our out-of-town guests fell in love with the theater as well as the General Denver, where many stayed.
Although Wilmington’s arts patrons have been generous, theaters of the Murphy’s age and size are expensive to maintain. I joked with Tanya Snarr about asking celebrities Nick and Drew Lachey, who raised money last week on “The Price is Right” for Camp Joy, to hold a benefit concert. Drew Lachey, a “Dancing with the Stars” champion, could bring that incredibly popular reality-show brand to Wilmington. 
Tanya even jokingly offered up her own family, saying it could be called “Dancing with the Snarrs.”