Route 66 entertains, raises fund for 4th Street project

Janet Morales

A nice crowd showed up Tuesday night to take a nostalgic trip along Route 66 to provide entertainment for area residents and to help raise some funds for the historic 4^th Street Theatre renovation.

The Route 66 band singers and cast started their journey in Chicago with tunes such as “Let’s Go For a Ride”, “Bring My Cadillac Back” and, of course “Route 66″. They traveled through St. Louis (“Girl on the Billboard”) and Joplin (“Beep Beep”) and continued until they reached Los Angeles (“GTO” and “Fun, Fun, Fun/I Get Around”) with many stops in between.

The musical program is by Roger Bean with direction and choreography by Kimberly Faith Hickman.

A portion of the night’s proceeds will go toward restoring the 4^th Street Theatre. The building was donated to the Randolph County Historical Society and fundraising for the renovation began in 2001. The old infrastructure was removed and much work has been done on the interior as well as new exterior doors, windows and a marquee like the original.

Work yet to be done includes ticket booth framing, installation of tile floors in restrooms and dressing rooms, completion of wiring, installation of a new granite sidewalk, and the purchase of theatre seats, lighting and sound equipment and curtains, as well as other construction-type work.

Route 66 was sponsored by the Moberly Council on the Arts. Its next program, Delilah’s Wish by the Metro Theatre Company, is at 7 p.m., Friday, March 26, at the Moberly High School Auditorium. On Friday, April 2, Rock – presented by the Missouri Contemporary Ballet, will come to the MHS auditorium at 7 p.m. The public is encouraged to attend.