Theatre Macon was downtown before it was cool thanks to its visionary director

It’s hard to believe it was 23 years ago that Theatre Macon, founded in 1986, moved from the old S&S Cafeteria on Cherry Street into a new “forever home” in the former Ritz Theatre across the street.

While today Macon’s downtown is crowded with restaurants, clubs, concert venues, galleries and lofts, when director Jim Crisp announced the move, many cynics thought he had a screw loose. Today, of course, we realize the decision marked the start of the downtown renaissance. In addition to Theatre Macon, nearby we now have the renovated Grand Opera House and the historic Douglass Theatre, but when Crisp took that first step he was a true pioneer.

This season will be his last, but when he steps down he will be leaving an amazing performance space and an endowment that is planned to ensure the theater’s survival long into the future. If you haven’t read Crisp’s farewell message on the Theatre Macon website, I recommend it. Next season bears the title “Discover Yourself,” and at the annual preview party on April 21, the line-up will be revealed. If you have no worries whether the next season’s selections will please you, season tickets will go on sale April 1. Meanwhile, there are two shows remaining in the current season: “A MidSummer Night’s Dream” (April 6-18) and “Waiting in the Wings” (May 18-27).

This weekend we have the opportunity to see the final performance of “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown,” directed by Sylvia Haynie and Laura Voss and running at Macon Little Theatre through April 1.

There’s also a lot on the calendar at the Douglass Theatre. On Saturday the Douglass will present Mozart’s “Cosi fan tutte” in the Met Live in HD Series. Local opera enthusiast Kenneth Hammond will talk about the production, said to be in a Coney Island-like setting, at 12:30 p.m.

Also at the Douglass, the Macon Film Guild will screen the documentary “Human Flow” (about the global refugee crisis) at 7 p.m. on April 17.

At the Grand Opera House — with its handsome new seating and more improvements to come — the 2014 Tony Award-winner for Best Musical, “A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder,” is due to run April 14 -15.

The Metropolitan Opera is not the only group presenting Mozart’s “Cosi fan tutte” this spring. The Mercer University Opera is presenting a live performance of this opera buffa April 5-8 under the leadership of Martha Malone and Rich Kosowski. The premise behind this romantic comedy is that all lovers can be led into infidelity.

Also at Mercer in April will be “God of Carnage” (April 12-22), a dark comedy ostensibly about two couples at odds over their children.

The big artistic event in April is the Macon Arts Alliance’s “Fired Works,” said to be one of the largest pottery shows in the entire Southeast, drawing visitors to Central City Park from all over the region. Featuring over 6,000 pieces, it will run April 13-22.

I haven’t mentioned music, but there’s plenty, especially at Mercer’s Townsend School of Music. On April 9, students from the McDuffie Center for Strings will perform at the Bell House on College Street at 7 p.m.

If hearing Elizabeth Pridgen and the Atlanta Chamber Players is on your bucket list, you have two more opportunities this season: April 9 at Georgia State University and April 17 at the Atlanta Shakespeare Tavern (one of my favorite venues).

This story was originally published March 27, 2018 at 11:35 AM with the headline "Theatre Macon was downtown before it was cool thanks to its visionary director."