ROANOKE, Va. – A long storied history of Mill Mountain Theatre is being culminated into a performance of music celebrating 60 years of business.
The show running Friday and Saturday is the highlight of six decades of performances and shows.
Ginger Poole, Mill Mountain Theatre’s producing artistic director, is directing and choreographing the concert which she summarized as, “Just a perfect little night of music and the theater.” She also recognizes the role the theatre has played in the star city and region.
“We have been part of the fabric that makes up Roanoke, especially in that arts and cultural community. We’re really proud to be part of it,” Poole said.
The show also provides Mill Mountain with an opportunity to showcase in-house talent.
Most shows take two to four weeks of rehearsal, but the weekend performance comes together in less than a week. Matthew Carter is one of the vocalists looking to have a party to celebrate 60 years.
”It’s so unheard of, especially in the regional theatre. I know many theatres who have big celebrations for even their 10 years going on but 60 years is such an incredible amount of time,” Carter said.
The songs featured are from time periods important to the theatre’s history.
Some of those dates include:
1964: Then known as Mill Mountain Playhouse, the theater opens in the Rockledge Inn atop Mill Mountain.
1976: Rockledge burns to the ground, a case of suspected arson that was never solved. Mill Mountain Theatre performances resume at the Grandin Theatre the following summer.
1983: The theater moves to downtown Roanoke, taking up residence inside Center in the Square.
1985: A severe Roanoke Valley flood damages many homes and businesses, including Mill Mountain Theatre, where the first-floor stage was under 13 feet of water.
2009: Debt problems nearly shutter Mill Mountain for good. Through a plan, community goodwill and Ginger Poole’s leadership...the theater grows back to full flower.
2023: The Christmas production “Elf, the Musical” sets an all-time MMT box office record.
“We do recognize that we have survived fire, flood, a pandemic, a recession...all of those things that some theatres our size and even larger have not,” Poole said.
You can still purchase tickets to the shows by visiting the Mill Mountain Theatre website.