Theater manager takes his final bow after weathering the storm for 10 years

Jan. 6—After roughly a decade as the general manager of Theatre West Virginia, Scott Hill said he is ready for his final curtain call.

Having wrapped on all shows for the 2022 season, Hill said he will be retiring from his position with the local troupe.

"In my 20s, I worked for other people. In my 30s, I owned my own business. I was lucky enough to work for the American Red Cross in my 40s. And then I spent a decade with the theater," Hill said. "I think that my work cycle has been basically about a decade in each, and it's time to let someone else carry the flag for Theatre West Virginia for a while."

Over the years, Hill said there's not much he hasn't seen when it comes to putting on a production outdoors and in the middle of a forest at Grandview Park's Cliffside Amphitheater.

From actual bears taking the stage (though not during a performance) to raccoons in the dumpster and snakes in the back of refrigerators as well as a constant array of surprises from Mother Nature, Hill said the job was not what he expected but he wouldn't have had it any other way.

"Working in the arts is a hard way to earn a living," Hill said. "Doing it outside is somewhat ridiculous ... but it's been exciting," he said.

"Truly every day of the last 10 years has been completely different from the previous day. And I guess as a job, that's really lucky to have," Hill said.

"If your every day is completely different than the day before, that either makes you extremely happy or on the edge and I've been both. I've been extremely happy on the edge."

Hill took over as the general manager of TWV in 2014, a year after the TWV Board of Directors voted to close the theater company.

Although TWV had a history that spanned more than five decades, Hill said his task of making TWV profitable while also attracting the attention of the community was no easy feat.

"In 2014, every single thing had to go right. And really, there's no reason to believe that it could," he said. "But I didn't have enough knowledge, not to know how difficult it was going to be. So we went and did it."

Hill's history with TWV began in the mid-2000s as a member at the TWV Board of Directors. After serving as a a board member for a few years, Hill left but told the board, "If they ever needed help, call me."

"Well, they called me," he said.

Despite having very little theater experience, Hill accepted the challenge.

"That 2014 season, we did 'Hatfields and McCoys' and that was the only year that we did not have a rain day — the only year we were not rained out," Hill said. "It was like God said, 'OK, y'all don't know what you're doing, but I'll cut you some slack on some weather.' So we put 17 shows up of 'Hatfields and McCoys' and then we grew that into three shows the next year, and then we had three shows and a concert the year after that ... Last year, we had five concerts and three shows."

Hill said he's proud of the shows TWV has been able to produce over the years including "Wizard of Oz," "Annie," "Jungle Book" and others.

"We've had the historical drama, which is 'Hatfields and McCoys,' but then we've also had, kind of, Broadway type shows and of course we're really proud of Homer Hickam and the 'Rocket Boys: The Musical,'" Hill said. "We were one of the first places in the country to put that on, and Homer has been very supportive. He shows up in the audience, and he's been a big part of these last 10 years."

When asked whether he could pick out a favorite show, cast or performance, Hill said that would be nearly impossible as each one is unique in its own way.

But he did add that the Landau Eugene Murphy Jr. concert at Grandview two years ago stands out.

"When we had Landau Eugene Murphy come and do a special concert for us — we had a full house," Hill said. "Landau was wonderful, everything went perfect and even the weather held off. It lightninged once and that was it."

In the past decade, Hill said TWV has faced financial challenges that could have closed its doors for good including most recently when Covid caused businesses to be shuttered nationwide.

"2020 was tough," he said. "(Covid) shut everybody down."

But because he had learned to work on his improvisation skills over the years, TWV pivoted to radio in order to keep its shows alive.

Through it all, Hill said TWV would be nothing without the support of the community.

"I am so proud of the people that come to see our shows. We've got people from all over the country and from multiple different countries outside of ours, but the local folks who have embraced TWV kept me going," he said.

"If it wasn't for the local folks that would show up and say, 'Hey, Scott, you're doing a good job.' And I know they've seen 'Hatfields and McCoys' 20 times at least ... but they're still out supporting TWV, and that's the reason we've been around since 1961 and hopefully be around for another multiple years."

In terms of what is next, Hill said he's not sure just yet.

"I don't know what I'm gonna do," he said. "People ask me, 'Well, what are you gonna do?' and I tell them, 'I'm stepping into the dark.' And they say, 'Well, aren't you afraid?' and I say, 'Well, sometimes really fun things happen in the dark, and sometimes they're scary, but let's go.' So I'm figuring it out as I go and I think that's how life should be."

Hill said he's also leaving TWV with full confidence the board will select a worthy successor who will be able to carry on the traditions of TWV.

"I have no doubt that they'll be able to find someone that will be competent and really help TWV into the next decade," he said. "Now I don't know where that person is at right now, but they're out there. We just gotta find them."