Continuing the history of theatre in Huntington, originally written in 2006 and updated. Yesterday we looked at Marshall University's history (it's the longest-running continuous theatre company in the area).
The Musical Arts Guild (MAG) is the second-longest-running (and still active) community theater group in the Huntington area. The group got its start in 1965 when several area churches combined their choirs to provide music for a preaching mission.
Those early missions were presented for a while at the Keith-Albee Theater, and when that ended, the group continued doing concerts and finally “regular” stage shows at the original Huntington High School auditorium.
Over the years since, the group has produced some terrific shows and given stage time to some local talent, including Broadway stars Michael Cerveris and Mark and Beth McVey.
The group produced a couple of shows every year, covering everything from Mame to Fiddler on the Roof, Oklahoma, Sound of Music and many others. Almost every other theatre group in Huntington has connections that go back to MAG.
Unfortunately, it’s been a while since MAG tackled a stage show - their last stage show was The King and I, directed by the dearly departed Danny Ray and staged at the old Huntington East High School auditorium in 2003. The group is still active, but has gone back to its roots and presents shows in concert form only.
MAG annually holds a fundraising concert for the scholarships the group awards every year to Marshall students.
They’ve carried the torch of community theatre for almost 50 years - and hopefully they’ll continue to bring the gift of music to the area for many more years to come.
MAG was also directly responsible for the next-oldest local community theatre group - the one devoted to local children. Our next post will look at the group that provides many young performers their First Stage show.
1 comment:
Chuck and Jon, Thanks for your history and your support of the arts. Jerry and I have been involved with 6 of the organizations through the years-acting, directing, costuming, producing, and cooking. Jerry first performed with Community Players in 1964. Our longest affiliation is, of course, First Church Dinner Theater, which has raised over $60,000 from 27 productions in 27 years.This would not have been possible without generous publicity from Chuck Minsker, Dave Lavender, and Bob Withers. I cannot safely name all the community actors who joined us through the years, but I must mention Mike Murdock, Loretta Hetzer, and Jenn and Mike Naglee. Our First Church family is priceless-acting,cooking, serving and countless other jobs. But, the smartest thing I did was ask Jonathan Joy to write a little comedy suitable for church. And so were born Bitsy and Boots and all their wacky friends. Folks have returned for years just to see what they will do next. Bitsy
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