Berea Arena Theater: A Twelve-Season Tribute

2007–2019

A history of the people, productions, and community that brought year-round theater to Berea.

Berea Arena Theater was more than a room where plays happened. It was a community-built theater: a place where local people performed, directed, designed scenery, built sets, ran lights and sound, sold tickets, welcomed audiences, and kept showing up for the next production.

For approximately twelve seasons, Berea Arena Theater gave Berea a regular year-round community stage. Its home was the former U.S. Forestry Service building at 1835 Big Hill Road. Its final production was Paul Power’s Noel and Reb, with the final performance on June 9, 2019.

The record of BAT survives in newspaper stories, archived theater webpages, radio interviews, photographs and captions, institutional collections, programs, and the memories of the people who made the theater work. This page is a living history and will continue to grow.

A Berea Theater Tradition

Berea Arena Theater did not appear out of nowhere. It grew from a long local tradition that moved between Berea College, the schools, and the wider community.

Berea College theater reaches back at least to a staged reading of Shakespeare’s Hamlet in the Red Parlor of Ladies Hall on November 28, 1892. Later generations built formal dramatic clubs, campus performance spaces, and the Summer Arena Theater. The college’s theater history also includes Wilderness Road, the large outdoor drama created for Berea College’s centennial in 1955 and later revived under Paul Power.

Power became an important mentor to Eddie Kennedy. His work in repertory theater, Summer Arena Theater, and Wilderness Road showed that Berea could support ambitious live performance while bringing together students, professionals, teachers, and community members. Kennedy later described Power as one of the most creative forces in his theater life.

Berea Community Theater was another important part of that story. Eddie Kennedy and Fred Kolloff had already worked together there by approximately 1973. After a long pause, Kennedy called Kolloff when he began considering a new theater. BAT was a new organization, but it carried forward relationships and habits formed through earlier Berea theater.

The Founding of Berea Arena Theater

In 2007, Berea Mayor Steve Connolly and members of the Berea City Council approached Eddie Kennedy about restoring year-round theater to the community. Kennedy agreed to develop the idea and organize the work.

Kennedy’s first call was to Fred Kolloff. Kennedy told WEKU that he was not willing to begin the physical work until he knew Kolloff was on board. Their partnership became one of the defining relationships in BAT’s history.

Then-Berea College President Larry D. Shinn supported the project and made the former U.S. Forestry Service building available for the theater. The building already housed nonprofit organizations, and Berea Arena Theater joined that community of organizations.

Eddie and Norma Kennedy organized the theater’s leadership and day-to-day operation. Kennedy served as managing producer and artistic director. Norma handled box-office and production work that audiences rarely saw but depended on for every performance.

Building a Theater Inside an Unusual Space

The building was not a conventional theater waiting for a company to move in. It had to be transformed. The work included removing a large concrete wall, jackhammering floors, pouring concrete, installing theatrical lighting, building portable risers, creating dressing rooms and work areas, and installing sound equipment.

The room’s arena layout created its own demands. The stage was wide rather than tall and did not offer the simple sightlines of a traditional proscenium theater. Kolloff and Kennedy had to invent scenery and set arrangements that worked from multiple sides and could be maintained during a performance.

In the WEKU interview, Kennedy and Kolloff remembered the practical problems with affection: doors that went out of alignment, quick entrances and exits that had to be rehearsed carefully, and repairs caused by the normal energy of live performance. They could laugh about those problems because they had solved them together for years.

That physical labor is part of BAT’s history. The theater was not simply programmed. It was built, rebuilt, repaired, painted, lit, dressed, struck, and prepared again by the people who worked there.

The Twelve-Season History

The following quick-glance chronology is based primarily on archived Berea Arena Theater webpages, newspaper coverage, and confirmed production records. Dates are included where documented.

Season 1 — 2007–2008

Mainstage:

  • The Odd Couple — BAT’s first documented production
  • Arsenic and Old Lace
  • Noel and Reb
  • Night of January 16th
  • You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown
  • The Belle of Amherst
  • Two additional productions reported by the Berea Citizen (season total: eight plays, 37 performances)

Special events:

  • A Christmas Carol — Kennedy’s adaptation, run every year

Season 2 — 2008–2009

Mainstage:

  • Story Theatre
  • Faces
  • Nunsense
  • On Broadway!

Special events:

  • A Christmas Carol

Season 3 — 2009–2010

Mainstage:

  • Twelve Angry Jurors — Jun 2009
  • Pure as the Driven Snow — Jul–Aug 2009
  • A Thurber Carnival — Nov 2009
  • Nunsense II — Feb 2010
  • The Sunshine Boys — Mar 2010

Special events:

  • Pythonesque: Sketches of Monty Python — Aug 2009
  • Tom Hubbard: Master Magician — Sep 2009
  • Money Blues (KY Women Playwrights) — Sep 2009
  • The Gong Show! — Sep 2009
  • A Christmas Carol — Dec 2009
  • Hee Haw! — May 2010
  • Concert series

Season 4 — 2010–2011

Mainstage:

  • We Got Talent — Jan 2011
  • Remaining season lineup not documented in surviving archives

Season 5 — 2011–2012

Mainstage:

  • California Suite — Oct 2011
  • The Kitchen Witches — Feb 2012
  • Greater Tuna — Feb–Mar 2012
  • Hee Haw (all new show) — May 2012
  • Rumors — Jun 2012

Special events:

  • A Christmas Carol — Dec 2011
  • Holiday Musical Special — Dec 2011
  • A Kennedy Evening — Apr 2012
  • Nine Characters in Search of an Audience (KY Women Playwrights) — Jul 2012
  • Concerts

Season 6 — 2012–2013

Mainstage:

  • The Odd Couple (Female Version) — Oct 2012
  • Rehearsal for Murder — Feb 2013
  • Berea’s Hee Haw — May 2013
  • Nunsensations! Vegas Revue — Jun 2013
  • The Prisoner of Second Avenue — Jul 2013

Special events:

  • A Christmas Carol — Dec 2012
  • Beauty Parade — Jan 2013
  • We Got Talent! — Mar 2013
  • Concerts

Season 7 — 2013–2014

Mainstage:

  • Last of the Red Hot Lovers — Sep 2013
  • The Crucible — Feb 2014
  • Berea’s Hee Haw — May 2014
  • Barefoot in the Park — Sep 2014 (postponed from earlier in the season)

Special events:

  • The Gong Show — Nov 2013
  • A Christmas Carol — Dec 2013
  • Back to Broadway! — Mar 2014
  • Concerts

Season 8 — 2014–2015

Mainstage:

  • Steel Magnolias — Sep 2014
  • Agnes of God — Feb 2015
  • Berea’s Hee Haw — May 2015
  • Noel and Reb — Jun 2015
  • Sweet Simon Suite Night — Jul 2015

Special events:

  • We Got Talent! — Oct 2014
  • A Christmas Carol — Dec 2014
  • Holiday Musical Special — Dec 2014
  • C.A.R.E. Concert — Jan 2015
  • Broadway, Oh What a Night! — Mar 2015
  • Andy Blythe Concert — Apr 2015

Season 9 — 2015–2016

Mainstage:

  • We Got Talent! — Sep 2015
  • Natalie Needs a Nightie — Oct 2015
  • A Christmas Carol — Dec 2015
  • Cabaret Tonight! — Mar 2016
  • Berea’s Country Jamboree — May 2016
  • Harvey — Jun 2016

Special events:

  • Holiday Musical Special — Dec 2015
  • Concerts

Season 10 — 2016–2017

Mainstage:

  • Showcase! — Sep 2016
  • Murder Takes the Stage — Oct 2016
  • A Christmas Carol — Dec 2016
  • Pop, Rock, Do-Wop! — Mar 2017
  • Berea’s Country Jamboree — May 2017
  • The Prisoner of Second Avenue — Jun 2017
  • A Kennedy Evening — Spring 2017

Special events:

  • Holiday Musical Special — Dec 2016
  • Kentucky Women Playwrights New Plays — Apr 2017
  • Concerts and one-man shows

Season 11 — 2017–2018

Mainstage:

  • We Got Talent — Sep 2017
  • An Evening of Culture — Oct 2017
  • A Christmas Carol — Nov–Dec 2017
  • Pythonesque — Feb 2018
  • Music of the Night: Classics — Mar 2018
  • Berea’s Country Jamboree — May 2018
  • The Owl and the Pussycat — Jun 2018

Special events:

  • Confessions of a Scaredy Cat — Nov 2017
  • Holiday Musical Special — Dec 2017
  • Concerts

Season 12 — 2018–2019

Mainstage:

  • We Got Talent — Sep 2018
  • Twelve Angry Jurors — Nov 2018
  • A Christmas Carol — Nov–Dec 2018
  • Showcase! — Mar 2019
  • Berea’s Country Jamboree — May 2019
  • Noel and Reb — Jun 6–9, 2019 (final production; final performance Sunday, Jun 9)

Special events:

  • Holiday Musical Special — Dec 2018
  • C.A.R.E. Benefit Concert — Jan 2019
  • Concerts

The Christmas Carol Tradition

One of BAT’s most important traditions began before BAT existed. Eddie Kennedy taught in the Berea Community Schools for 33 years. During the final 22 years of that career, his students presented his adaptation of Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol. The annual school production featured hundreds of student performers, many of whom returned to see the show in later years.

Kennedy described that school tradition as glorious and said that Berea Arena Theater continued it annually. The figures sometimes repeated in later coverage therefore have a specific meaning: 33 years refers to Kennedy’s teaching career, while 22 years refers to the student Christmas Carol tradition. Neither figure describes the age of BAT.

The BAT Carol also developed its own company history. Darrell Harrison played Scrooge in earlier BAT productions, according to participant recollection. Chuck Morgan played Scrooge in a documented later production.

A Community Stage

BAT’s importance was not limited to its mainstage titles. It offered accessible ticket prices, season tickets, concerts, benefits, talent shows, musical revues, holiday programs, and opportunities for people who wanted to act, direct, build, play music, run technical elements, or help from the front of house.

The theater worked with local writers and Kentucky Women Playwrights. It connected adult performers with students and carried older Berea theater relationships into new productions. The audience came from nearby roads and communities, but the Berea Citizen also reported patrons from as far away as Seattle.

In the 2019 WEKU interview, Eddie Kennedy estimated that approximately 34,000 patrons had attended Berea Arena Theater over twelve years. That number represents more than ticket sales. It represents twelve years of people choosing to make room in their lives for community theater.

The Final Season and Closing

In February 2019, Berea College notified Kennedy that the former U.S. Forestry Service building would be closed. Kennedy later described the notice as a Valentine’s Day present that was neither sugary nor sweet. The decision ended BAT’s access to the facility that had made the theater possible.

The closing came as Kennedy was already thinking about a gradual transition, with other directors taking on portions of future seasons. He had not expected the transition to be forced by the loss of the building.

BAT completed its final production, Noel and Reb, with performances June 6 through June 9, 2019. After the Sunday matinee, Kennedy invited people connected to the theater to gather in the Tropicana Room, the theater’s lobby. The gathering marked the end of the facility, but not the end of the relationships created there.

Kennedy and Kolloff talked about other venues and future projects. Kennedy intended to keep the Berea Arena Theater name and retain lighting equipment, basic sets, chairs, and other materials. The theater’s building closed, but its work continued through the people who had learned, performed, built, and served there.

Known Participants and Documented Roles

This is a selected list, not a complete company roster. It combines published evidence with participant information supplied during the preparation of this history. Roles are listed only where they are confirmed.

ParticipantConfirmed connection or role
Eddie KennedyFounder, managing producer, artistic director, playwright, teacher, and performer; Charlie Brown in You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown.
Norma KennedyCo-founder and box-office and production leader.
Fred KolloffSet designer, builder, and Eddie Kennedy’s long-term theater partner.
Paul PowerKennedy’s mentor and author of Noel and Reb.
Chad HembreeParticipant in Pure as the Driven Snow, multiple Hee Haw productions, multiple talent shows, and Rehearsal for Murder.
Todd KingPerformer and director, including California Suite and later BAT solo work.
Diane KerbyGert in California Suite; participant in Noel and Reb.
Rebecca Ansary PettysParticipant in 12 Angry Jurors and Noel and Reb.
John StaufferParticipant in BAT productions including California Suite, Natalie Needs a Nightie, 12 Angry Jurors, and Noel and Reb; participant recollection identifies him as a recurring company member.
Darrell HarrisonJonathan in Season 1’s Arsenic and Old Lace; Scrooge in earlier BAT Christmas Carol productions, according to participant recollection.
Chuck MorganScrooge in a documented later Christmas Carol production; participant in 12 Angry Jurors and Noel and Reb.
Angela Bailey DavisBerea Arena Theater participant; her biography connects her to Eddie Kennedy’s productions and to A Thurber Carnival.
Tara BellandoMother Miriam Ruth in Agnes of God.
Wendy BarnettKaren Andre in Night of January 16th; later WEKU interviewer.
Patty BoyceAttorney in Night of January 16th.
Nancy MaremaMusical director for You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown.
Suzy MartinFlute for You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown.
Christie TateLucy in You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown.
Jan TateEarlier Berea community-theater Lucy and participant in BAT’s Hee Haw programming.
Richard BellandoGhost performer in BAT Christmas Carol productions and holiday musical programming.
Sebastian RoseGhost performer in BAT Christmas Carol productions and participant in 12 Angry Jurors.
Tommy RuthGhost of Christmas Present in a documented BAT Christmas Carol production.
Anna HomaParticipant in California Suite and a documented Christmas Carol rehearsal.
Teri ThompsonParticipant in California Suite and holiday musical programming.
Steve GowlerParticipant in California Suite.
Gary McCormickDirector and participant in multiple BAT productions.
Allison EstesParticipant in Noel and Reb.
Barbara BakerParticipant in 12 Angry Jurors and Noel and Reb.

Sources and Contributions Welcome

This history draws on the Berea Citizen, Richmond Register, Eastern Progress, archived Berea Arena Theater webpages, WEKU interviews with Eddie Kennedy and Fred Kolloff, Berea College Digital Collections, Berea College theater history, and the historical material maintained by The Spotlight Playhouse.

Can you help expand this history?

We welcome memories, programs, playbills, newspaper clippings, schedules, cast information, backstage stories, corrections, and additional names connected to Berea Arena Theater. If you acted, directed, built sets, worked lights or sound, played music, volunteered, sold tickets, or attended a show, we would be glad to hear from you.

Some details in this history come from participants’ firsthand recollections and from surviving materials that are not currently available in searchable online archives. Contributions may be incorporated into future revisions, with contributors credited where appropriate. Please contact The Spotlight Playhouse through the contact information on this site.