JACKSONVILLE — They say ‘all the world’s a stage,’ and that is certainly true for Shann Nobles. It isn’t unusual for Nobles to break out into show tunes, and her co-workers and friends know that anything to do with the theater brings a smile to her face. Now, Nobles is part of a group that has started the Community Theater of Jacksonville, giving the community a reason to rise up and take the stage.
Nobles, who is the 5 p.m. news producer at Channel 7, said that growing up in Cabot, she always wanted to do theater.
“I was involved in dance more than theater [when I was growing up],” she said. “I was in The Nutcracker at the Robinson. I was a toy soldier. I always wanted to do theater, but by the time I got to junior high and high school, I was a cheerleader, and I didn’t think I could do both.”
It wasn’t until Nobles went to Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia that she decided to jump into the world of theater.
“My first show was actually at Henderson [State University],” she said. “It was West Side Story. I had to go over to Henderson to take dance classes. … I guess that’s how I was able to audition.”
Nobles graduated from OBU with a journalism degree and was soon hired at Channel 7. She has had other jobs in the area but is currently back at Channel 7.
For years, Nobles wasn’t involved in theater. She had to work through some health-related issues, including multiple sclerosis and ovarian cancer. She was on disability for a while, and during that time, she got involved with Cabot’s community theater, performing in Smoke on the Mountain two years in a row.
Nobles said she worked with the Cabot theater off and on for several years and ended up dropping theater for a while to help with a sick relative. Now, Nobles is bringing the theater to Jacksonville.
“Jacksonville was going to start an arts center,” she said. “I called someone to get involved. I left a message, he called me back, I lost his number. Then I left him a message at his office, and I didn’t hear anything back.”
In her desire to get involved, Nobles reached out to Mayor Gary Fletcher, whom she had known from church years before. Through conversations with Fletcher, Nobles suggested the city start with a community theater and volunteered to help out in any way she could.
“He just said, ‘OK, do it,’” Nobles said. “He really wants this to succeed.”
Last year, the Community Theater of Jacksonville produced its first show — The Best Christmas Pageant Ever.
“It was so much fun,” Nobles said. “It was a huge hit. It went over really well. It had tons of kids in it.”
Nobles had plans for a season for this year, including Cheaper by the Dozen, but the theater had issues attracting enough children for that show. The board decided to take a break, which allowed the theater to find a better location for shows to take place.
“One of our board members came to the [Jacksonville] Community Center and worked something out,” Nobles said. “They’ve been really helpful. It’s going to be great for us. It’s beneficial for us to be in one place.”
This season, the Jacksonville Community Theater will produce three shows with one weekend of performances each. The first show, Steel Magnolias, has already been cast and will be performed March 3-5 at the Jacksonville Community Center.
The other shows this season will be On Golden Pond this summer and It’s A Wonderful Life: A Life Radio Play next holiday season.
Nobles said she and the other board members — Mary Engel, Carol Eden, Tonya Rafferty, Sue Reed and Fletcher — are working hard to get the theater’s name out in the community so they can continue to produce shows with strong casts and large audiences.
“Until we get more known, it’s going to be difficult for us to have a ton of kids involved, especially,” she said. “It’s fun, though. We want it to succeed.”
To keep up with show-times, auditions and other theater news, visit the Community Theater of Jacksonville’s Facebook page.