A couple of weeks ago, I was driving down South Market Street in Pascagoula, and saw a very un-pretty sight. Bulldozers and other heavy equipment were demolishing the historic Pas-Point Little Theatre building. For me, it was definitely a “say it ain’t so, Joe” moment.
A little history lesson is required here. The PasPoint Little Theatre was created in 1946 by a group of performing-arts aficionados in Pascagoula and Moss Point. A nice small theatre was soon erected on South market Street across from the American Legion, and from then until the mid- 1980s, the PPLT thrived and prospered as an organization which presented a venue and forum for local actors to show their wares. In its heyday, the Little Theatre was considered one of the best community theatres in the entire Gulf Coast area and Mississippi.
My first introduction to the PPLT was in the late 1950s when my parents would take me to productions there. I was immediately hooked, even at a young age, fascinated by watching live performances of gripping dramas and hilarious comedies.
Soon after, my love of the acting/theatre world got another boost when Mrs. Mary Alice Miner (yes, the same “Bubs” Miner who was the godmother of swimming lessons locally)started the Pas-Point Little Theatre Junior Players. This would have been I think, 1959 or 1960, and afforded local students the opportunity to learn about acting and putting on plays.
This robust group of young thespians, mostly age 11-16 or so, included the likes of Annie Beery , Ann Riser, Dick Ingwersen, Dickie Scruggs, David Miner, Libba Fairleigh, Cindy Cunningham, Alan Bush ,Vickie and Celie Drake, Jo Ellen Good, yours truly, and many others We learned the ins and outs of performing on the stage, and what it took to put on a production (props, sets, and so on).
Then, regularly, we would stage performances, which were well attended by the community. Much of our fare was light hearted, such as “The Ghost of Green Mansion”, “Cave Man, Brave Man”, and “The Frustrated Corpse”, .in which I played a guy who had been murdered and was laid out on the stage making observations about what had happened to him. We also took on some heavy material as well, like the classic “The Importance of Being Earnest”. The Junior Players experience was very enjoyable and tremendously educational.
When I returned to Pascagoula after college to start my career, I eventually decided to try out for one of the PasPoint Little Theatre’s upcoming productions. The PPLT by then had a paid director named Tommy Jackson, who was outstanding. Tommy was a real “theatre person”—classically trained, shoulder-length hair, demanding but brilliant.
Walking into my first audition, for “Arsenic and Old Lace”, I thought, having acted in numerous plays at Pascagoula High—not to mention my Junior Players resume’—that I would just grab a lead role and immediately become a headliner. Not so fast, Tommy said, you have to prove yourself and work your way up, and gave me a minor supporting part as one of the guys that got poisoned.
For the next several years—this would have been the mid- to late seventies—I was aregular cast member in many PPLT productions. My favorite roles would probably be Elwood P. Dowd in “Harvey” and Luther Billis in “South Pacific”. (In the latter, I even had to perform a duet of the classic “Honey Bun”—to say that the great Clare Hans (superbly talented actress in our troupe) carried me in that endeavor would be an understatement.)
For all of us who trod the boards in the PasPoint Little Theatre back then, it was a wonderful experience. A stellar talent pool of local performers, Tommy’s astute direction, sell-out crowds—it was pretty golden.
Then, in the 80s, hard times arrived. Tommy left, funding dried up, and the Little Theatre had to be shuttered. We all hated it, but, at that time, the core group of actors and supporters were pretty much all getting into our careers, raising families, and so on and didn’t have time to fight the good fight to keep things going. Plus, we all thought that , sooner or later, community theatre would return to Pascagoula/Moss Point in some form or fashion.
Well, it did, but it took almost 40 years. The Pascagoula Senior Players, created by the late Mac Nelson about ten years ago, had a wonderful run for a while. This group of seasoned actors, led by the talented Betty St. Amant and others, presented a steady diet of outstanding palys, ranging from several Neil Simons (“Plaza Suite”, “The Odd Couple”) to the Tennessee Williams classic “The Glass Menagerie”, and many others at the Pascagoula Senior Center. The Senior Players are on hiatus right now, but hope to open the curtains again one day.
Then, wonderfully, a couple of years ago, a new community theatre, the Singing River Little Theatre, was created, thanks to the efforts of Chris Wiggins, Jill Sullivan, the late Liz Ford, and many more. I was honored to be in the SRLT’s first production of “Blithe Spirit”, and this young, energetic group of actors, directors, and set designers have continued on with a regular schedule of entertaining presentations. In fact, their most recent offering was “Harvey”, so that was somewhat of a full circle moment for me to know that Elwood P. came back to town.
Now, during the four decades mentioned above, the PasPoint Little Theatre building had lain fallow. I will tell you that we on the Singing River Little Theatre board of directors tried for over a year to purchase the PPLT building from the current property owners in hopes of renovating it to be the SRLT’s home. However, negotiations never were able to be worked out, so the city was treated to the demolition scene in early July.
So, yes, seeing that neat little 120-seat playhouse taken to the ground was sad and somewhat unfathomable, given its history. Let’s be clear, though: the PasPoint Little Theatre’s legacy is quite secure. Generations of local supporters of the fine arts will always have strong, fond recollections of an entity that brought so much joy to our community. The theatre building itself may be dark, but the memories of the PasPoint Little Theatre will live forever.
-Richard Lucas may be contacted at [email protected].
