History

As greater Kansas City's oldest community theatre, the Bell Road Barn Players will present their 56th year in 2010. Its remarkably long existence - especially in the changeable environment of volunteer performing arts organizations - represents a transformation over the years from a family pastime to a community-based operation.

Jenkin and Barbara David, founders of the original Bell Road Barn Playhouse, moved their family to the Parkville area in 1952 when Mr. David accepted an administrative position at Park College. Two years later, they purchased a seven-acre property on Bell Road that included a house and small barn. Both having considerable background in theatre, the Davids decided to convert the barn into a “playhouse” as a summer activity for their four young daughters. The Kaufman & Hart comedy “You Can't Take It with You” was the first production, and early plays were cast with family members, neighbors and friends.

Mr. David went on to become professor of theatre at Park College, and the “Bell Road Barn Playhouse” provided students with summer experience and academic credit for many years. Audiences and community involvement grew, and by 1977, the Bell Road Barn Playhouse had registered as a Missouri not-for-profit corporation, elected a board of directors, and received tax-exempt status.

Following Jenkin David's death in March 1984, Barbara David and daughter Jane David Fopeano stepped in to supervise the theatre's 30th anniversary season. Beginning in 1985, the board of directors assumed an active role in day-to-day operations.

Mrs. David announced her decision to retire and sell the Bell Road property during the 1986 season, which concluded with Gilbert & Sullivan's “H.M.S. Pinafore.” The search for a new home ended when Mr. Ed Young, a former mayor of Riverside and leading merchant of the city, offered the use of a renovated storage facility. The David Theatre, named for the Bell Road Barn Players’ founding family, opened in Riverside in June 1987 with the Cole Porter musical “Anything Goes.”

The David Theatre suffered irreparable damage in July 1993 flooding in the Kansas City area, just days after the season-ending production of “The Mystery of Edwin Drood.” Following seven seasons of growing attendance and exposure in Riverside, the Bell Road Barn Players again searched for a place to perform. Through the generosity of Park College and its president, Dr. Donald Breckon, an interim home was established on the Parkville campus for the Bell Road Barn Players' 40th season.

Park College renamed its Alumni Hall facility as the “Jenkin & Barbara David Theatre” in February 1994. A letter from Mrs. David was read at the dedication ceremony, in which she wrote: “Jenkin would be happy to know that his efforts have been rewarded, and that so many friends and neighbors fondly remember the Barn and the plays.” Mrs. David died in April 1994 after a long illness.

The musical revue “Gilbert & Sullivan: A Command Performance” opened the 40th anniversary season of the Bell Road Barn Players in March 1994. In October of that year, a long-term agreement was announced for the Bell Road Barn Players to make Park College its home beginning with the 1995 season.

Because of changes on the Park University campus, in 2008 the Bell Road Barn Players went on the road for two years. The Board produced two musicals, “Anything Goes” and “the Producers” at Park Hill South High School, a children’s show in conjunction with Park Hill Community Education and a small 9/11 tribute, The Guys” at the Meetin’ House on the Park University campus. With construction on the Park University campus now complete and a new administration, the 2010 season will be a “return engagement” to the Jenkin and Barbara David Theater on the Park University campus.

Over the years, the Bell Road Barn Players have been served by the talents of hundreds of actors, directors and technicians, and from the financial support of devoted season pass holders and corporate patrons. The theatre's 56 preceding seasons have offered a balance of old favorites and new works, including the Kansas City premieres of "84, Charing Cross Road" (1988), "Early One Evening at the Rainbow Bar & Grille" (1992), and "The Art of Dining" and "Shadowlands" (1993) and The Producers (2009). The Bell Road Barn Players are also fond of bringing back old favorites. For example, “Our Town,” recognized at the Bell Road Barn Players' signature production, has been presented seven times in its history and “You Can’t Take It With You,” its first production in 1954, reprised four times, including in 2010.

The Bell Road Barn Players’ board of directors established an endowment fund in 1994 to help ensure the organization’s future. The names of donors to the Fund, as well as those of persons memorialized or honored by gifts, are displayed at performances by the Bell Road Barn Players.

The board also instituted the Peter Fopeano Scholarship fund to honor the memory of Peter, who died unexpectedly in November 2008. Peter was the grandson of Bell Road Barn founder Jenkin and Barbara David and the son of Bell Road Barn actors Michael and Janie Fopeano. Peter grew up on the Bell Road Barn stage and had served on the Board of Directors, most recently as its president. This scholarship will be used to help young performers.

For information on the Fund or the Scholarship, contact Treasurer

From its origins on Bell Road in the 1950s to its return home to Park University, the Bell Road Barn Players remain dedicated to the organization's mission of fostering the development of community appreciation and participation in the theatrical arts.