PULLING OUT ALL THE STOPS: Dallas' dream of world-premier shows at the Bologna Performing Arts Center could put Cleveland and Delta State University on the map as one of the largest draws for show goers in the Southeast.

BPAC's
David Dallas
The new director of The Bologna Performing Art Center will bring much to the arts of the Delta

by JULIE WHITEHEAD
DBJ Contributing Writer

David Dallas came to the Bologna Performing Arts Center on the campus of Delta State University in 2002, performing his critically-acclaimed one-man show, “The Gentleman from Mississippi”, where he plays the late Senator John C. Stennis. He was impressed with the facility, the quality of programming on the stage, and the warm welcome received, but Dallas said he was most in awe of the passionate attachment his audience had to the Bologna Performing Arts Center itself. “I could see how much this facility meant to them,” Dallas said.

Now the Cleveland native returns to DSU, not as a performer, but as executive director of BPAC as it closes in on its tenth year of cultural offerings to Delta residents.

Dallas has a long family history rooted in the Delta soil—his parents, Jerry and Melva Dallas, still live in Cleveland, where Jerry is a longtime member of the history faculty. Dallas has fond memories of spending a lot of time at the DSU while growing up—and finds it a little amazing to be sharing the campus with his dad again after graduating in the mid-80’s “Dad’s threatening to finally retire now that I’m here!” said Dallas.

Dallas’ entire career has been tied up in the arts—so much so that he took off to California after his freshman year at Delta State to try his hand as a working actor. “I went to Hollywood for a year and met so many wonderful people—that were out-of-work actors that I got scared to death and decided to get a degree in something I could use,” Dallas said.

After graduating from DSU with a double major in English and political science, Dallas went on to a master’s program in public policy at Mississippi State University and began his long-term association with Senator Stennis, helping the ailing statesman with his duties at the Stennis Institute until the senator was admitted to a nursing home due to his condition. Dallas kept a detailed journal of his experiences that later served as the basis for the script he debuted during the 2000 Republican National Convention in Philadelphia, where he’d been working as a writer and actor since 1999..

After graduating from MSU, Dallas parlayed his public policy knowledge and his passion for the arts into a job with the federal Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, where Dallas traveled all over the former Eastern bloc as well as the Far East. However, no matter where he was, his Mississippi roots were never far behind. “When I was in Japan, that was my name: David Dallas from Mississippi,” Dallas laughed.
From there, Dallas became Director of International Programs at Drexel University, only to leave there to pursue writing and acting full-time. When Dallas learned the executive director position at BPAC was open, he pursued it because he felt the facility represented a chance to renew his commitment to the arts—while giving him the opportunity to come back home to the Delta.

Dallas has several goals in mind he wants to accomplish at BPAC—not the least of which is to foster a sense of inclusion. “I want the facility to belong to everyone in the Delta,” said Dallas. To that end, Dallas hopes to diversify the annual stage offerings, bringing both unusual and important works to the facility. He cites this season’s performance of “Monk on Monk Too”, scheduled for October, where using the instrumentation Thelonious himself employed in his Town Hall Concert, T.S. Monk will perform unknown compositions he discovered several years ago as he documented his father’s material as an example of the kind of show he hopes to bring more of to BPAC..

“I think it’s important to people, even if you aren’t a jazz fan, for you to see this show,” said Dallas, citing the impact Thelonious Monk had on popular music in America.

The facility’s $300,000 performance budget should allow for a stronger mix of big names and established works as well as newer material, Dallas believes. This season’s lineup includes such household names as actor Hal Hollbrook (performing as his Mark Twain one-man show) and country music star Sammy Kershaw, as well as stage performances of classics such as “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers” and “CATS”. Musical offerings include a big band revue, a Broadway night, and a performance from the Atlanta-based girl trio, D’Vine.

Dallas is already working towards having groups do world-premiere performances on the BPAC stage—but not just any performances. “I would like to premiere shows here at Bologna Performing Arts Center that have a special Mississippi connection,” said Dallas. Plans are underway for various groups—theatre, vocal, or dance troupes—to bring brand-new shows to BPAC at least once per year, starting September 2005.

Various new initiatives in fundraising and membership drives are also under consideration, including a Christmas Gala planned in conjunction with the BPAC musical presentation of “A Christmas Carol” in December, Dallas said. Dallas hopes that excellence and variety will continue to be mainstays of BPAC’s mission of bringing the best of the arts to Delta residents. “What I’d like to do is run the gamut—opera stars, country-western singers, contemporary Christian groups, and big bands—as well as the symphony and other local talent,” Dallas said. DBJ