Ohio Theater example essay topic

While we receive many nominations for the Columbus Senior Musicians Hall of Fame, most are for individuals well known to us, either as performers or educators (or both). Such is not the case for John Delaney Clark, though maybe it should be. Clark was born march 19, 1892, in Bolivar, New York, and graduated from New Lexington (Ohio) High School in 1909, having already gained recognition for his skills as a violinist and valve-trombonist (not to mention as semi-pro basketball player). He had been leading a band in the Ohio Music Hall in Zanesville for a year when the great flood of 1913 destroyed the theater, and he and several of his band mates joined the Chautauqua circuit. Following the Red Path, as this branch of the circuit was called, to Western Canada, Clark helped serve up a mixture of culture, religion, and arts, showcasing orator Geoffrey F. Morgan on "Success With Ease" and a production of Gilbert and Sullivan's H.M.S. Pinafore. In Medicine Hat, Alberta, in 1915, Clark met and married Gertrude Evans, daughter of the mayor.

The troupe, including the newlyweds, was playing Miles City, Montana, when a local citizen was murdered in front of many witnesses, yet the killer was found "not guilty". This incident spurred Clark's decision to leave the "wild west" and return to Ohio, where he and his wife settled in Columbus. In his adopted hometown, Clark was the owner of the Columbia movie theater on East Livingston Ave. However, with the rationing of coal during World War I, he had to cut back on the operation of the theater to a few days a week.

Instead, he returned to music, leading a band which played throughout the area, especially The Far East Restaurant. When radio broadcasts began, he was pleased to receive post cards from listeners such as, "We heard you in Newark. Keep it up!" The Kiwanis and The Columbus Dispatch were two of the sponsors for Clark's weekly shows. During the period when vaudeville was fading and the silent movies were coming on strong, Clark was the orchestra conductor at the Palace Theater, while his good friend John Mc Geary conducted at the Ohio Theater. He also led bands at special events ranging from the Ohio State Fair horse shows and parades to Father Petrarcas's Easter Masses. Along the way, he became treasurer of the American Federation of Musicians local and taught music at Wittenberg College.

However, a spiral fracture of his upper left arm, which never fully knitted, led Clark to make another career change. Taking up accounting, he eventually became business manager at the Ohio Boys Reform School in Lancaster, Ohio. Still he did not leave music entirely behind, but formed a string quartet with a cellist who also directed the Anchor Hocking Choir (then regularly featured on coast-to-coast radio). In September, 1961, Clark died in Columbus. I am indebted to his eldest son, The Rev. John D. Clark of Bass River, MA, for information on his father's life.