A Little Rock theater mainstay turns 50 this year.
It was started by a former state attorney general and unsuccessful gubernatorial candidate who had also brought the state its first pizza restaurant. Opened in June 1967 as the Olde West Dinner Theatre and part of a national chain, it became what it is known as today, Murry's Dinner Playhouse, in 1977.
The very first production was the William Inge drama Bus Stop. Over the years, the theater at 6323 Col. Glenn Road in southwest Little Rock has seen stars like Veronica Lake, Lee Meredith, soap opera actor Nat Polen and others perform on its stage.
From 1977, when it became Murry's, through 2016, the theater's records say it has hosted 2.6 million guests, produced 385 shows and presented 60 specialty concerts. And don't forget about all the meals served there.
The dinner theater has been a launching pad for local actors. Little Rock's Wes Bentley, who appeared in films like The Hunger Games, American Beauty, and Pete's Dragon, made his professional debut as the Artful Dodger in a 1995 Murry's production of Oliver! Russellville's Natalie Canerday, who was in the films Sling Blade, Walk the Line, One False Move and others, has regularly been cast at Murry's. Candyce Hinkle, who was in Joel and Ethan Coen's 2010 remake of True Grit, is a Murry's veteran and even Amy Lee of rock band Evanescence has appeared on the Murry's stage.
While many dinner theaters across the country have shuttered, Murry's endures, providing 10 productions a year of family friendly entertainment and special musical performances. It has even survived four floods from nearby Rock Creek.
For its golden anniversary, which started earlier this month with the comedy The Nerd (running through Feb. 18), the theater has undergone a few upgrades, including replacement of old lights with a new LED lighting system.
What follows are comments from Murry's actors, directors, members of the Murry family, the current chef, a longtime office worker and a faithful patron about the venerable theater's 50 years of dinner and a show.
MR. MURRY
Ike Murry McEntire, owner, producer and grandson of original owner Ike Murry
"My grandfather was Arkansas' attorney general for two terms and then he ran for governor in 1952. He was a lawyer, but he opened Murry's up as a business. He also opened up Arkansas' first pizza parlor, Shakey's Pizza.
"He sold the theater in 1970 and they continued as the Olde West Dinner Theatre. It shut down for a year and someone opened the place up as an art gallery and a restaurant. That folded and my grandfather took it back over in September of 1977.
"In 1990, my grandfather got cancer. The doctor said it could be two weeks or a couple of months. I quit what I was doing and learned the business. It was a crash course. I had a legal pad and I would come in every day and at night I would think of 1,000 questions to ask him."
Lawanna Machycek, bookkeeper, office worker
"[Murry] was a neat fella. He was the classic Southern gentleman. He was just a nice man. He acted like an old bear, but he was really just a teddy bear."
Ginger Murry, daughter of Ike Murry and mother of McEntire
"My father was a really hard-working person and my son is also a hard worker."
Natalie Canerday, actress
"I had dropped out of Hendrix [College] and I thought, I'm going to be an actor, I don't need a degree. I went to Mr. Ike Murry and I had the smallest resume. I had my two high school plays and two college plays. I thought you started as a waiter and worked your way up to being onstage at Murry's. So I went to see Mr. Murry, who was sitting behind this massive desk smoking a cigar, which was kind of cool. I gave him my resume and he said, 'Why aren't you going back to school?' And I said, 'I want to be a professional actress.' He said, 'Well, you're a pretty little thing and you've got talent,' and he slid my resume back across the desk at me and said, 'You go back to school and see me once you graduate.'"
AN ACTOR'S LIFE
Glen Gilbert, actor, director, artistic director
"I started there as an actor in 1983 when they brought me down from New York. They invited me back in the fall of '84. Finally, I came down in 1985 and spent a lot of time down here and in 1986, I got rid of my apartment in New York and came down here permanently. In 1986, I asked Mr. Murry if I could direct a show. My first show was Pajama Tops, the Christmas show. My active run ran through the end of August 2012. I directed all the shows, 10 a year."
Roger Eaves, director, actor
"I started acting at Murry's in 1991. I was living in Memphis and a friend of mine called me and told me to come audition. I didn't get that part, but they called me later to come do a couple of roles and I've been working here ever since. There was a period from '99 to 2004 that I lived in Los Angeles, but even then I came back here and did shows for them. I've been directing for about five years now."
Don Bolinger, director, actor
"I started in 1986. My first show was the last show [former director] J.C. Mullins directed. I started directing about three years ago. I think it was Send Me No Flowers."
Candyce Hinkle, actress
"[My first show] was It's Never too Late in the spring of '78. I was scared to death. I had done a community theater show. The person who was the technical director at Murry's had seen me do that and called me to come audition. I was so green, I memorized a section from an Erma Bombeck book for my audition. They overlooked that and I was cast and I've been lucky enough to be working ever since."
Gilbert
"We've had great talent come through Murry's. People that were born here, went on to great things and then came back to retire, and people who started their careers here and went on to Broadway and the movies. You may not know their names, but they are working actors in the business. That's what I loved the most, seeing these actors go on to great things."
McEntire
"This is one of the main reasons we've survived. We put an emphasis on our actors. We're very fortunate here in Little Rock to have the talent that we have. The troupe of actors we have here is tremendous ... I don't know how they keep up with their lines. Actors are a strange breed, but they're dedicated to their craft."
Murry
"It's the shows you choose and the actors that you have that make the theater successful. And, of course, the food."
DINNER AND A SHOW
Gilbert
"The variety of the shows, the talent and the food. We had a chef for many years named Denzil Roland [who died last year] and his wife, Pat, who kept that kitchen running, that met costs and served our customers. We got a new chef when [Roland] retired, who started to work with the directors and has created a buffet with different main dishes and side dishes that coincide with the show we're doing."
Larry Shields, executive chef
"I like to try to pair [the menu] with the shows as much as I can. If we have a setting in England, then we'll do our version of English food -- bangers and mash and things like that. The regulars like to see their favorites, like fried chicken, so we do a lot of that."
Douglas Cahill, patron
"It's a good buffet. It's terrifically good, with a wide variety of food."
McEntire
"The food has to be consistent and it has to be good. We always have a carved roast beef. There will always be a smoked turkey or honey-glazed ham. We have pasta, seafood and six or seven vegetables, a salad bar and dessert. There's also a bar."
UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL
Canerday
"Murry's has a thrust stage, which means the audience sits on three sides and the stage juts out. The audience is three-fourths around you. That's how the stage at Hendrix was. I just felt at home at Murry's because I learned how to act on a thrust."
Bolinger
"Intimacy is what has made [Murry's] so special. I know I've talked with several people, including my family, who have seen me in bigger venues and they say it can't even compare to the experience at Murry's. That's one of the challenges of that space is it feels intimate, but you can't give them a TV performance. It still has to be a theatrical performance in a realistic approach."
McEntire
"You're almost part of the show. We have seating for 288 and there's not a bad seat in the house. The stage has a motor that moves it in and out. We utilize the aisles. Actors will come through there and interact with the audience ... Singing in the Rain was probably the most technical show we've ever done. Everybody on the floor got ponchos."
Hinkle
"You're right up in the audience and that's a fun challenge in itself."
Eaves
"I think that's one of the reasons I've stayed, the intimacy with the audience. It helps you as an actor. If you are not in character, being three or four feet from somebody's face, they're gonna know it. It's rewarding and it's mentally challenging and fun."
THE GOLDEN SEASON
McEntire
"We start the season with The Nerd with Michael Klucher. He is one of [the area's] funniest actors. We'll be doing Smokey Joe's Cafe, the longest-running musical on Broadway. Another show that is real popular is Southern Crossroads. We're finishing this year with one of my favorites, Harvey. We're also doing Driving Miss Daisy with Candyce Hinkle. She's Daisy. I mean, I couldn't watch that show with someone else as Daisy. The Wizard of Oz is going to be huge for us. We'll run that for seven weeks."
Eaves
"Harvey is one of my favorite comedies. I've always wanted to direct that, so I'll be doing Harvey and the show about Sherlock before that."
Cahill
"Driving Miss Daisy is coming in the next few months. They've done it in the past and we've enjoyed it."
Bolinger
"The Nerd is fun. It's very fun. Smokey Joe's, I choreographed last time but I will not be choreographing this time. It's a huge undertaking. It's a big musical revue. I'm directing it and Moriah Patterson is choreographing. Southern Fried Funeral I'm looking forward to. It was written by a native Arkansan, who has performed on Murry's stage, Dietz Osborne. It has played in some pretty substantial theaters."
ALL IN THE FAMILY
McEntire
"We're just a big family. We might be a dysfunctional family, but we're a family."
Hinkle
"It's like a family. It's a cliche, but it's the truth. You can work with someone and not see them for years and they come back and you pick right up where you left off. Murry's also allows a lot of creative freedom. They're willing to let you try things onstage."
Cahill
"You become buddies with the waiters and waitresses. They treat you very well. At the end of the plays, the actors come out front and line up for a few minutes as people are leaving. We wait until the crowd subsides, and it's like old home week visiting with your buddies."
Murry
"Our customers are hard-working people and we entertain them. We give them a good night out at a good value for their money. They can come to a nice place and feel special. I like that."
Canerday
"There's something about being live, in front of an audience, especially that Murry's audience. You feel like you're home."
Style on 01/24/2017