Apr. 12—Theatre West Virginia General Manager Scott Hill will be asking Beckley Common Council to help build a theater version of Coalwood as it appeared in 196 as it, as he say, the company embarks "on a summer like no other seen in its 62-year history."
Hill plans to make the request during the regular Council meeting at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday.
"TWV is working hard to stay in stride with the improvements the municipality has made over the past years," Hill wrote in a recent letter to the City of Beckley. "I believe our city is on the edge of greatness once again and will soon lead southern West Virginia to new heights never seen in this part of the state."
Hill said TWV is taking strides to improve the organization's facilities at the Paw-Paw Tree Building and a video studio at the City National Bank location. It is planning to add office space at United Bank and at the Grandview State Park Cliffside Amphitheater location later this year.
TWV will be staging events throughout the community at Historic Black Knight Municipal Park, Raleigh Playhouse, Tamarack and Grandview.
"Staging events throughout the community...helps make all of Beckley more appealing as an arts community," he noted.
TWV is partnering with other arts organizations, including Beckley Children's Theater Ministry, Beckley Arts Center, and the dance studio at Rhythms of Grace.
"The city should have a thriving arts community as part of its building blocks for progress as Beckley builds and grows," said Hill. "With those ideas in mind, TWV is embarking on a summer like no other seen in its 62-year history."
TWV will employ over 100 different actors and stage techs and will produce four different musicals and five concerts.
He said plans are also underway to revamp the Cliffside Amphitheater towers at the stage and top of the house.
Central to the summer plan is building of the town of Coalwood for "Rocket Boys: The Musical" by celebrated author and McDowell County native Homer Hickam, who is actively involved with the production of the musical.
The plan is called "Project Coalwood" and will be a series of fundraisers.
The set will feature life-like replicas of Hickam's boyhood home, OLGA Coal Company, his classroom at Big Creek High School and his mother Elsie Hickam's famed rose garden fence.
"Funding will be vital to our efforts this summer," Hill penned, adding that TWV will also plan to add period piece costumes.
Hill is scheduled to give an interview to National Public Radio on Tuesday about the upcoming events.