Odeon Hall ‘Hollywood Hearthrob’ melodrama in Dayton next month

It’s a classical, farcical, comical, musical melodrama, according to the director, and it’s just weeks away.It is “Hollywood Hearthrob, or Unrequited Love to the Rescue” and Carol Bauer, the director, is pulling the farce together in Dayton. The show will be performed at 7 p.m. Oct. 12, 13, 19 and 20 at Odeon Hall. Bauer said The Misfits Theater Group offers such theatrical fare out of love for theater and for $10 per ticket. “That, and the applause helps,” she said with a smile. But there is more involved than immediately meets the eye if you include the venue, built in 1863 for $30,000 by the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and featured in a movie more than 50 years ago.“The Misfits,” which starred Marilyn Monroe and two male stars of her era, gave the current Dayton theater troupe its name. It included a key scene at Odeon Hall and Saloon. The male stars were Clark Gable and Montgomery Clift. The movie was filmed in Reno and Northern Nevada in 1960, released in 1961.The main-floor bar still features photos of Monroe and her co-stars. The building reeks of history, which also is part of Dayton’s allure. Dayton and Genoa share the distinction of being the first mid-19th century communities in what later became Nevada.October’s melodrama will be performed on the building’s second floor, where only 100 patrons can be accommodated each night. Consequently, despite the modest ticket price, the theater group requires reservations.Bauer and Kay Thornburg, two of the theater group’s founding members, say the non-profit since 2004 has done 92 performances in eight different venues but calls Odeon Hall home.The theater group donates some proceeds to other organizations, such as the local food pantry and senior center, the Historic Society of Dayton Valley and the historic V&T Railroad. Proceeds of the Oct. 12 opening night, for example, will go to the food pantry.“This is an interesting show because we have a husband-wife and a father-son” in the cast, Bauer said.The husband-wife, Jim and Suzanne Crawford, handle the lead roles. The other related duo include Dr. Tony Edwards and his son, Anthony. In all, however, the cast is more than double that number and the pair promoting the show credited others as well for work behind the scenes.Set in the 1940s, the melodrama’s plot involves a heroine who is a film star and how the villainous studio executive trying to blight her career is foiled by a long-lost lover of the star, Heddy Hearthrob.