The Pioneer Playhouse, located in

Danville, Kentucky Danville is a list of Kentucky cities, home rule-class city and the county seat of Boyle County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 17,236 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Danville is the principal city of the Danville Micr ...

, is the oldest outdoor

theater Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The performers may communi ...

in the state of

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

History

The Pioneer Playhouse was built by Col. Eben C. Henson, who established the outdoor theater in 1950. Notable alumni actors include

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Lee Majors Lee Majors (born Harvey Lee Yeary; April 23, 1939) is an American actor. He portrayed the characters of Heath Barkley on the American television Western series '' The Big Valley'' (1965–1969), Colonel Steve Austin on the American television sc ...

, then known as Harvey Yeary, and

Jim Varney James Albert Varney Jr. (June 15, 1949 – February 10, 2000) was an American actor and comedian. He is best known for his comedic role as Ernest P. Worrell, for which he won an Emmy Award, as well as appearing in films and numerous televis ...

.Profile of Col. Henson. Randy Kennedy, ''New York Times'', 1999
In 1962, Pioneer Playhouse became the first theater in the nation to be accorded the legal status of State Theater by act of Legislation. Since Henson's death in 2004, the theater had been run by Henson's widow, Charlotte, as producer, and her daughter, Holly, who served as

artistic director An artistic director is the executive of an arts organization, particularly in a theatre company or dance company, who handles the organization's artistic direction. They are generally a producer and director, but not in the sense of a mogu ...

until her death in 2012. Robby Henson, Charlotte's son, directs at least one play at the theater every summer. After Holly's death, her siblings, Robby and Heather, returned to the Playhouse full-time to help their mother run the business. Robby took on the role of artistic director, and Heather assumed the duties of managing director. Charlotte, who always selected the plays for each season, died in February 2024, just a few months prior to the start of the Playhouse's 75th Anniversary season.

Productions

*2020 (season curtailed due to COVID-19 pandemic) **Maybe Baby, It's You by Charlie Shanian and Shari Simpson *2019 **Kong's Night Out by Jack Neary **Sherlock Holmes and the Ice Palace Murders by Jeffrey Hatcher, based on the novel by Larry Millett **Breaking Up With Elvis by Robby Henson **Not Now Darling by Ray Cooney and John Chapman **Red, White and Tuna by Ed Howard, Joe Sears, and Jason Williams *2018 **The Return of Tinker Doyle (sequel to 2013's Search for Tinker Doyle) by Elizabeth Orndorff **Drinking Habits 2: Caught in the Act by Tom Smith **Granted (sequel to Grounded and Guarded) by Holly Hepp-Galván and Robby Henson (adapted from the novel by Angela Correll) **Unnecessary Farce by Paul Slade Smith **Living on Love by Joe DiPietro *2017 **Death by Darkness by Elizabeth Orndorff. The production was directed by Anthony Haigh. **Drinking Habits by Tom Smith **Guarded (sequel to 2015's Grounded) by Holly Hepp-Galván and Robby Henson (adapted from the novel by Angela Correll) **Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery by Ken Ludwig **Elvis Has Left the Building by V. Cate and Duke Ernsberger *2016 **One Man, Two Guvnors by Richard Bean **Mom's Gift by Phil Olson **Good Blues Tonight by Robby Henson **The Tell-Tale Farce by Don Zolidis **The Murder Room by Jack Sharkey *2015 **One Slight Hitch by Lewis Black **La Bete (The Beast) by David Herson **Grounded by Chelsea Marcantel (adapted from the novel by Angela Correll) **Sherlock's Secret Life by Will Severin, Ed Lange **Boeing, Boeing! by Marc Camoletti, Beverley Cross, Francis Evans *2014 ** Whodunnit, Darling? by Charles Edward Pogue and Larry Drake **

Is He Dead? ''Is He Dead?'' is a play by Mark Twain based on his earlier 1893 short story. The play, written by Twain in 1898, was first published in print in 2003 after Mark Twain scholar Shelley Fisher Fishkin read the manuscript in the archives of the Ma ...

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, adapted by David Ives ** The Wonder Team by Robby Henson **Walking Across Egypt by Catherine Bush (adapted from the novel by Clyde Edgerton) ** A Visit from Scarface by V. Cate and Duke Ernsberger *2013 ** Deathtrap by Ira Levin **

Tamed A tame animal is an animal that is relatively tolerant of human presence. Tameness may arise naturally (as in the case, for example, of island tameness) or due to the deliberate, human-directed process of animal training, training an animal agai ...

by Holly Hepp-Galvan, adapted from

The Taming of the Shrew ''The Taming of the Shrew'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1590 and 1592. The play begins with a framing device, often referred to as the induction, in which a mischievous nobleman tricks a drunke ...

** The Search for Tinker Doyle by Elizabeth Orndorff ** Moon Over Buffalo by Ken Ludwig **Cockeyed by Samuel French *2012 ** Dracula Bites! by V. Cate and Duke Ernsberger ** Picasso at the Lapin Agile by

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**Bottoms Up! by Gregg Kreutz **High Strangeness by Elizabeth Orndorff ** Tuna Does Vegas by Jaston Williams, Joe Sears and Ed Howard *2011 ** The 39 Steps adapted by Patrick Barlow ** Tartuffe: The Southern Version adapted from

Molière Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (; 15 January 1622 (baptised) – 17 February 1673), known by his stage name Molière (, ; ), was a French playwright, actor, and poet, widely regarded as one of the great writers in the French language and world liter ...

**That Madcap Moon by Janet Henson Dow ** Don't Cry for Me, Margaret Mitchell by V. Cate and Duke Ernsberger ** Kosher Lutherans by William Missouri Downs *2010 ** A Nice Family Gathering by Phil Olson ** Miranda: The Catch of the Day ( Adapted from Miranda, by Peter Blackmore) ** The Dillinger Dilemma ( World Premiere by Elizabeth Orndorff) ** For Better by Eric Coble The production was directed by Katherine M. Carter ** Run for Your Wife by

Ray Cooney Raymond George Alfred Cooney Order of the British Empire, OBE (born 30 May 1932) is an English playwright, actor, and director. His biggest success, ''Run for Your Wife (play), Run for Your Wife'' (1983), ran for nine years in London's West E ...

The production was directed by Lawrence Lesher *2009 ** M is for Million by Jack Sharkey ** The Infamous Ephraim by Holly Henson ** Lend Me a Tenor by Ken Ludwig **

Girl Crazy ''Girl Crazy'' is a 1930 musical by George Gershwin with lyrics by Ira Gershwin and book by Guy Bolton and John McGowan. Co-leads Ginger Rogers and Ethel Merman made their stage debuts in the first production and Rogers became an overnight sta ...

by Guy Bolton & John McGowan ** Be My Baby by Ken Ludwig *2008 ** Leading Ladies by Ken Ludwig **

Morning's at Seven ''Morning's at Seven'' is a play by Paul Osborn. Its plot focuses on four aging sisters living in a small Midwestern United States, Midwestern town in 1928, and it deals with ramifications within the family when two of them begin to question the ...

by Paul Osborn. ** Death by Darkness by Elizabeth Orndorff. The production was directed by Lawrence Lesher. ** Love, Sex and the IRS by Billy Van Zandt and Jane Milmore. The production was directed by Synge Maher. ** Cookin' with Gus by Jim Brochu. The production was directed by Lawrence Lesher. *2007 ** Babe, The Sheep Pig by David Wood. The production was directed by Robby Henson. ** The Servant of Two Masters by

Carlo Goldoni Carlo Osvaldo Goldoni (, also , ; 25 February 1707 – 6 February 1793) was an Italian playwright and librettist from the Republic of Venice. His works include some of Italy's most famous and best-loved plays. Audiences have admired the plays ...

. The production was directed by Lawrence Lesher. ** The Odd Couple by

Neil Simon Marvin Neil Simon (July 4, 1927 – August 26, 2018) was an American playwright, screenwriter and author. He wrote more than 30 plays and nearly the same number of movie screenplays, mostly film adaptations of his plays. He received three ...

. The production was directed by Lawrence Lesher. ** A Jarful of Fireflies by Catherine Bush. The production was directed by Robby Henson. ** Greater Tuna by Jaston Williams, Joe Sears, & Ed Howard *2006 ** My Sister Eileen by Joseph A. Fields &

Jerome Chodorov Jerome Chodorov (August 10, 1911 – September 12, 2004) was an American playwright, librettist, and screenwriter. He co-wrote the book with Joseph A. Fields for the original Broadway musical '' Wonderful Town'' starring Rosalind Russell. The mu ...

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** Shakespeare in Hollywood by Ken Ludwig ** Wait Until Dark by Frederick Knott **

Social Security Welfare spending is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifically to social insurance ...

by Andrew Bergman *2005 ** On the Razzle by

Tom Stoppard Sir Tom Stoppard (; born , 3 July 1937) is a Czech-born British playwright and screenwriter. He has written for film, radio, stage, and television, finding prominence with plays. His work covers the themes of human rights, censorship, and politi ...

** Squabbles by Marshall Karp ** The Man Who Came to Dinner by Moss Hart & George S. Kaufman ** The Last of Jane Austen by Shirl Hendryx ** Death by Golf by Gregg Kreutz *2004 ** Mr. Shaw Goes to Hollywood by

Mark Saltzman Mark Saltzman is an American script writer who has written films, plays and musicals and for TV. He worked for several years for ''Sesame Street''. He has been given seven Emmy Awards for Best Writing for a Children's Show. TV and film work He g ...

** Cactus Flower by Abe Burrows **The Village Wooing by George Bernard Shaw **Sherlock's Secret Life by Will Severin, Ed Lange ** Biloxi Blues by

*2003 ** Impossible Marriage by Beth Henley **A Little Family Business by Jay Presson Allen **Fiddler on the Roof **

Proposals Proposal(s) or The Proposal may refer to: * Proposal (business) * Research proposal * Marriage proposal * Proposition, a proposal in logic and philosophy Arts, entertainment, and media * ''The Proposal'' (album), an album by Ransom & Statik Se ...

** Sylvia by A.R. Gurney * 1997 ** Moon Over Buffalo ** The Liar ** Summer and Smoke ** A Flea in Her Ear ** Cookin' with Gus * 1996 ** King of Hearts ** That Madcap Moon ** Sylvia ** Spider's Web ** Crossing Delancey *1995 **The Nerd ** Tom Jones **Any Given Day ** Harvey by Mary Chase ** My Fat Friend by Charles Laurence * 1994 ** Boy Meets Girl ** Look Howard, Angel ** The Man Who Came to Dinner ** Scapino! ** Social Security * 1993 ** Lend Me A Tenor ** Murder on the Nile ** The Traveling Lady ** Arsenic and Old Lace ** Beau Jest * 1992 ** The Matchmaker ** Will Heal This Land ** Born Yesterday ** And A Nightingale Sang ** I Hate Hamlet * 1991 ** Noises Off ** The Front Page ** My Three Angels ** Postmortem ** Alone Together

References

External links

{{Commons, Danville, Kentucky, Pioneer Playhouse
The Pioneer Playhouse official web site
Theatres in Kentucky Buildings and structures in Danville, Kentucky Tourist attractions in Boyle County, Kentucky