If you have seen a production by the Signal Mountain Playhouse, you have seen the work of Glenn Showalter.
He has been designing and building sets for the Playhouse since its first production, and he draws the cover art for the programs.
Showalter will be exhibiting his work for the Playhouse as well as his other drawings and paintings at the MACC in conjunction with the SMPH production of “The Curious Savage,” showing weekends Feb. 7-22.
“I had previously shown some Playhouse art on the walls, and Barb [Storm, executive director at the MACC] said I should do a show,” Showalter said. “A lot of people have never seen what I do aside from Playhouse art.”
This will be SMPH’s 78th production, and Showalter has been involved with developing the vision of each one.
Other than his Playhouse work, Showalter has done ink pen drawings of many houses on Signal Mountain. He also likes to draw covered bridges and wildlife.
His love affair with drawing began when he was a young boy attending a one-room school. The teacher would bring each grade up to the front of the class for its 15-minute lesson. Those who goofed around while it was another class’s turn would be brought to the “dunce” chair in front, so Showalter quickly learned to keep himself busy with drawing. His teacher took notice of his talent and gave him things to copy in class, he said.
Showalter continued to develop his talent by making illustrations for the school newspaper and yearbook, and he drew in his spare time as he worked for a chemical company, a carpet mill and finally BlueCross BlueShield.
After drawing a friend’s house on the mountain, he kept getting more requests for his ink pen drawings.
Showalter said his favorite play to work on is always the one he is currently working on, and “The Curious Savage” is no exception. Though he’s already working on the SMPH summer play, which has yet to be officially announced.
“I’ll continue to do it as long as I can,” he said of his involvement. “If I get to do it another 20 to 30 years, I’ll be happy.”