Theatre Museum of Repertoire Americana to host 50th anniversary celebration

MOUNT PLEASANT — Only P.T. Barnum had a bigger tent.

The Ringling Brothers said he taught them how to run a circus.

In 1851, Fayette "Yankee" Robinson, the first man in America to tour a traveling tent show, built a 1,000-seat tent theatre in Davenport, hired a cast and toured Iowa, Illinois, and Missouri.

The troupe passed through different hands before Neil Schaffner of the Schaffner Players acquired full ownership in 1925, a peak time for tent shows.

in 1962. Schaffner sold the company to his star, Jimmie Davis, who bought the Toby & Susie Tent Show, featuring Toby Tolliver, a red-headed, freckle-faced country bumpkin who thrilled mid-America's small towns, as its folk hero.

Jimmie and his wife, Grace, were the company's final Toby and Susie, performing the last time on Feb. 18, 1998, at a school assembly, two days before Davis died of a heart attack at age 61.

Davis had played every year at Midwest Old Threshers Reunion in Mount Pleasant, and there, he helped establish the Museum of Repertoire of American and Folk Theater and served as its president for 20 years.

Grace Davis hopes people will come and revisit the traveling theater era when the Theatre Museum of Repertoire Americana at Old Threshers has its grand re-opening ribbon cutting and 50th groundbreaking anniversary celebration at 4:30 p.m. Friday.

"Come and enjoy us and get a free guided tour of the new renovations. We will then be open all summer," said Davis, vice president of the National Theatre Society for the Preservation of Tent, Folk and Repertoire Theatre.

Refreshments will be served.

Tent shows became very popular when, during the summer months, the opera houses would get so hot that audiences would rather stay home than go and be in the blazing heat of the summer with no ventilation.

Grace Davis' grandfather had a tent show company, which the museum features in a display.

To the small heartland communities, proprietors brought amusements like medicine shows, moving picture shows, vaudeville shows, circuses, musicals, concert companies, and any number of one-night stand dramatic troupes.

Many famous actors such as Clark Gable started in tent shows.

Memories of those days thrive in the more than 900,000-square-foot, two-story museum, the only one of its kind, which celebrates popular live entertainment from the middle of the 19th century through the middle of the 20th century.

Museum visitors can see what a tent show must have looked like.

"We have a tent with chairs and a stage. The tent (designed by Edwards Creative Services of the Quad Cities) is new," said Davis.

The Theatre Museum displays vintage stage scenery — sets, drops, tormentors, and sketches — and has the largest collection of opera house curtains in the country.

Much of the museum's contents come from artists who donated articles from their own personal collections from when they were on the circuit.

Visitors can see rare actress glass (glassware that depicted images of actresses of the day), scripts, photos, and show posters, including two original Alphonse Mucha Art Nouveau posters, newly restored by a Chicago company.

A 1906 lithograph depicts the famous French actress Sara Bernhardt, who is connected to the the success of Mucha, whose work she helped to publicize.

"The other one is of Mrs. Leslie Carter, an American actress. The posters are incredibly gorgeous," said Davis.

The museum also houses a research library, the 200-seat James V. Davis Performance Center, and videotaped interviews with theatre members.

The painted backdrops collection is extensive, and there is a Toby Tolliver Hall of Fame, research library of scripts, photos, and other memorabilia.

Davis' tent theater company, the last of its kind, finally closed the curtain at an auction in 1998 in Mount Pleasant, which drew 500 people and sold trucks, trailers, posters, chairs, costumes, and the big tent itself, which Jimmie Davis knew how to fill.

"Give the theatre audience what it wants to see and the audience will never stop supporting the theatre," said Davis.

Following the reopening, the museum will host the Annual Theatre History Convention on Saturday and Sunday.

Every summer, one of the "Toby and Susie" plays has traditionally been resurrected for the Mount Pleasant Theatre Museum stage.

This year, "The Old Grouch" will be presented at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 19 and 20, and 2:30 p.m. Aug. 21, and again at 5:30 p.m. Sept. 1-4 during Midwest Old Threshers Reunion.

Tickets are on sale now.

Ticket prices are $10 for adults and $5 for kids 11 and under. Call (319) 385-8937 or (319) 385-9432 for more information or to purchase tickets.

To learn more about the Theatre Museum, visit the museum’s website at thetheatremuseum.com.

The museum is open Thursday-Saturday Memorial Day through Labor Day and by appointment throughout the year. Group tours are available.

This article originally appeared on The Hawk Eye: Theatre Museum will offer free tours at grand re-opening Friday