The Kenley Players

If you are a Dayton area native like myself, you have probably been to Marion's Piazza once or twice (or a lot, because it's the best). While eating the most glorious pizza on the planet, you've most likely looked around and noticed the black and white photos of famous actors hanging on every wall. While it's not hard for me to imagine someone coming to Dayton just to eat Marion's, I've always wondered how the likes of Betty White, Sally Field, and Mickey Rooney came to hear of the pizza chain. It turns these stars traveled to Dayton for much more than pizza.

Photos of the famous in Marion's Piazza, courtesy of Dayton.com

When John Kenley produced his play "Worth a Million" in 1940, he intended it to go straight to Broadway. Unfortunately, the show didn't make it past the theatres of Baltimore. Unfazed by this setback, Kenley set up a summer theatre in Pennsylvania in 1947. Building on its success throughput the 1950's, The Kenley Players Theatre set up summer shows in different cities across Pennsylvania and Ohio, including Cleveland, Columbus, Akron, York, and Warren. The company eventually settled at Memorial Hall in Dayton in 1957, and became an instant hit with the local community. Kenley's method of success was cunning and simple. He would offer the leading roles in his plays to famous actors and actresses who had recently experienced slight setbacks, such as a TV show being cancelled or having a movie flop, as he rightly figured they would be more willing to accept a job in Ohio than other actors whose careers were on the upswing. He would tailor the shows to their talents, advertise their famous face all over town, and then sell tickets so that the average citizen could afford them. This creative method payed off, and Kenley sold out almost every show.

John Kenley, 1975, courtesy of W.J. Klosterman

Kenley Players Ad, courtesy of  Booksteve's Library

 























The Kenley Players Theatre remained in Dayton until 1983, where after every season the theatre would have its cast party at Marion's Piazza, the evidence of which is still on the walls of Marion's today. The Kenley Players left the city after the 1983 season due to dwindling sales to pursue success in other cities. The theatre troupe's final season was in 1995, and the Kenley Players returned to Dayton for their final production, "The Mitzi Gaynor Show". Although now long gone, the Kenley Players are often credited with the Dayton community's unusual appreciation for and production of theatre, even though few people today realize the connection. So the next time you sit down to eat the best pizza ever, consider how those black and white photos on the walls reveal more than just famous people eating pizza, but chronicle the community's journey as a hub for the theatrical arts.

- Krista Dunkman

Sources:

http://kenleyplayershistory.com/index.html

http://www.mydaytondailynews.com/business/dayton-pizza-businesses-going-strong-more-than-years-later/kXQYb9UtcwawICrGEyAGML/