Corinth Dramatic Society Gets Playhouse Lease From City

The Corinth Dramatic Society playhouse lease is official. The Corinth Board of Mayor and Aldermen on Tuesday evening, Oct. 6, approved a one-year lease that lets the young community theater group move into the city-owned playhouse at 303 South Fulton Drive, the Daily Corinthian reported Thursday. The vote came days after Corinth Theatre-Arts, the building’s tenant for nearly six decades, lost its eviction appeal and announced it was closing for good.

According to the newspaper, the city planned to hand the group the keys to the building’s new locks as soon as Wednesday. The Dramatic Society can also start drawing on the $12,000 the board set aside for it in the city’s new budget.

What the Corinth Dramatic Society playhouse lease means

The agreement gives the Dramatic Society something it has not had since it formed: a home base. When the nonprofit first asked the city for funding, its treasurer, Tyler Freeman, told city leaders the group’s biggest hurdle was not having a location and that members had been rehearsing in churches. The group has rented the historic Corinth Coliseum for its productions so far.

Key points from this week’s decision:

• Term: one year, approved by the Board of Mayor and Aldermen on Oct. 6.
• Building: the city-owned playhouse at 303 South Fulton Drive, the former fairgrounds exhibition building.
• Funding: $12,000 allocated to the group in the city’s new budget.
• Timing: keys to the new locks were expected to change hands as early as Wednesday, Oct. 7.

How the playhouse became available

The South Fulton Drive building was home to Corinth Theatre-Arts (CT-A) from the late 1960s until this fall. The city moved to evict CT-A last year after raising concerns about how the theater was managed and finding there had been no lease in place for some time. The city won in Alcorn County Justice Court, and CT-A appealed to circuit court.

That appeal failed in late September, and the city locked the building. On Oct. 2, the CT-A board announced the organization’s permanent closure, ending a run that began in 1968. The Daily Corinthian described this week’s lease vote as coming now that the dispute between the city and CT-A “has reached its end.”

Who is the Corinth Dramatic Society?

The Dramatic Society is a newer, volunteer-driven nonprofit. Its first production was the musical All Shook Up, and it staged Charlotte’s Web at the Corinth Coliseum in late September. In a Sept. 29 Facebook post, the group thanked the Tri-State Educational Foundation for a $2,400 grant that lowered student ticket prices. The group said more than 900 students from area schools saw the show as a result.

Next up is A Very Mississippi Christmas, an original show written and directed by board member Amy Marsh. It will be a joint production with Tippah County. According to the group’s audition flyer, auditions were held Oct. 6 at First Methodist Church in Corinth, with a second round set for 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 8, at the Dixie Theatre in Ripley. Performances are planned in Ripley Nov. 20-22 and in Corinth in early December.

The group has not yet said when it will hold its first production in the Fulton Drive playhouse. Residents can follow the Corinth Dramatic Society on Facebook for audition, volunteer and ticket information.

For background, read our earlier coverage: Corinth Theatre-Arts Eviction Stands After Appeal Fails and the Oct. 2 Alcorn County roundup.

Source: Daily Corinthian; additional details from the Corinth Dramatic Society on Facebook