OCALA, FL (352today.com) – Welcome to Who’s Who in the 352, an exclusive 352Today feature in which we get to know some of our region’s movers and shakers a little better. This week’s subject is Melody Murphy, who treads the boards at Ocala Civic Theatre when she’s not working her full-time job as its director of marketing & public relations.
How long have you been in your role at Ocala Civic Theatre?
I have two roles at OCT: staff and volunteer. I have worked at OCT for 17 years, starting in 2008 as a box office assistant, and then in 2012 I became the marketing assistant. I’ve been the director of marketing & public relations for five years. However, I have volunteered at OCT since 1993.
Have the arts always figured prominently in your life?
Very much so! As a child, my parents had me in all kinds of lessons: ballet, tap, jazz dance, art, guitar… When I was a student at Forest High School, I took piano lessons and was deeply involved in all aspects of the FHS vocal music program: concert chorus, madrigal choir, show choir, and girls’ choir. That led to being in the school musical, and that led me to OCT. In college I sang in numerous choirs and ensembles, both at CFCC (now the College of Central Florida) and FSU. I’ve also sung in church choirs throughout my life.
And if you want to count the literary arts… I also am a writer. I have a bachelor’s degree in journalism from UF and have been a freelance writer and columnist for half a dozen local magazines over the past 26 years. Currently I write a column and dining features for Ocala’s Good Life Magazine.
Have you ever been a performer?
I have been and still am! I started performing at OCT in 1993 and have appeared in more than 30 productions. In fact, I’m about to get back on stage again after a four-year hiatus… This March I will be playing Truvy in “Steel Magnolias,” the same role I played the last time we did the show 15 years ago!
What are some of the ways OCT serves the community in addition to offering entertainment that the public might not be as aware of?
Education is a big one. We offer service-based college scholarships to students majoring in the performing arts. We have a very strong education program, called The Academy at Ocala Civic Theatre, with classes for children, teens, and adults. We offer after-school and weekend classes and workshops, as well as daytime classes for home-schooled students. And we hold classes both at OCT and at the Mary Sue Rich Community Center at Reed Place, to best serve our whole community. Every winter/spring term, we offer a non-tuition-based performance class which culminates in a youth production. And we do the Beyond Words literacy tour of local elementary and middle schools, where our teaching artists perform dramatic storytelling for the students.
Do you have a favorite production or memory from the job so far?
I can’t choose just one favorite production, but a few of my favorite roles have been Truvy in “Steel Magnolias,” Patsy Cline in “Always… Patsy Cline,” Henrietta Leavitt in “Silent Sky,” and Miss Mona in “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.”
Some favorite “marketing memories” at OCT are of how we all had to work together and get creative when faced with the challenges of COVID. We were fortunate to be able to reopen for the 2020-2021 season, and though it was a strange time, it felt good to welcome people back, safely and socially distanced, to an extremely clean facility! During “the COVID years,” we changed our usual volunteer appreciation picnic to a drive-through picnic, where we handed off lunch boxes to our volunteers in their cars and took their pictures. Some of us on staff wore themed costumes… The director of guest services and I were salt and pepper shakers. We are not really condiment-costume people. This may tell you everything you need to know about how determined OCT is to serve and provide entertainment for our community. We will be there for you if it takes standing outdoors dressed as a seasoning to hand you drive-by chicken.
It seems like every theater in the world has a story about being haunted—is OCT haunted? Is there a ghost light?
There is indeed a ghost light! It is on stage and always left on when the last person leaves the building every night. It even stayed lit while we were shut down at the beginning of the pandemic. And some people firmly believe that we are haunted. Our main ghost is named Morris. He is said to be the ghost of Morris Osborne, a magician who had his own theatre in the early 1950s, just west of our current facility. His venue failed and he died, and that building became the first permanent home of OCT. Old-timers said that Morris haunted his old theatre, and when we built this facility and moved into it in 1988, they said Morris came along too. If Morris is still with us, I’m perfectly fine with that. I’m sure he’s a friendly ghost, and every theatre could use a little magic. I feel some other spirits there, too–and I am happy to have them still cheering us on.
What’s coming up for OCT, and what are you most looking forward to?
We open “Little Shop of Horrors on January 29,” then “Steel Magnolias” on March 12–and I think you can guess that’s what I personally am looking forward to most! After that, we close the season with “Children of Eden,” a beautiful musical based on stories from the Book of Genesis. It’s a humorous and loving take on the Garden of Eden and Noah’s ark, with a score of powerhouse songs, but most of all it’s a tale of family. You’ll find out at the end of March what’s coming up next season for OCT–that’s when we’ll reveal the lineup of Season 76. And it’s certain to make a splash!