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Chari Gray, owner of Great American Tent Company in Gardendale, is trying to start a community theater in the area.

Gray is in the process of converting a large room where she used to clean tents into a stage-equipped theater. It is already furnished with theater-appropriate lighting and acoustics, and a stage will be built in time for the first performance.

“I had looked at some other facilities because I’d been kind of wanting to do this for about five years, and then I realized, ‘oh, whoa, I can take apart my warehouse and do what I want with it,’” she said. “I’ve paid for it out of pocket. I’ve been getting stuff for the play in thrift stores.”

The theater’s first production will be Tennessee Williams’ “The Glass Menagerie.” Gray chose the play because it has a small cast of only four characters, it’s by a southern writer, it is accessible and it well-known.

“I didn’t know anything about this play when I started,” said Theresa Schexnayder, stage manager for “The Glass Menagerie.” “But I’ve come to really, really appreciate it through her eyes.”

Although Gray likes tried-and-true plays like “The Glass Menagerie,” don’t expect it to be par for the course.

“It’s not usually going to be traditional. I’d like it to be open or more modern theater,” she said. “But, I wanted to start with this play because it’s a classic… I picked a traditional play so that people can get familiar with us.“ She mentioned doing a stage version of Quentin Tarentino’s film Reservoir Dogs and “Thriller,” a show based on pop singer Michael Jackson’s music.

Gray said the building wouldn’t have to be limited to theater; she is considering using it to host visual art galleries and local bands.

“My plan is for it to be a cultural arts center,” she said.

Gray studied theater at Michigan State University. She has directed several plays in the area, including a production of Arsenic and Old Lace in Warrior.

“The big word now is ‘collaborative,’ and it really is like that. Everybody has something to give,” she said. “You build and build all these details, and at the end you get what I call ‘stage magic.’ It’s like your feet are floating above the floor.”

The cast includes: Olivia Bannister, of Warrior, as Laura Wingfield; Trent Loggins, a Mortimer Jordan High School graduate, as Jim O’Connor; Sara Glassman as Amanda Wingfield; and Gray’s son Jeffrey Dingler plays Tom Wingfield.

“The Glass Menagerie” will be performed on July 29-31. A matinee will be performed on August 1, and the public can attend a dress rehearsal on July 28.