Dolly Hand Cultural
Arts Center part
of community’s soul

By ANGIE FRANCALANCIA
Neighborhood News Group
Posted Dec. 12, 2011

BELLE GLADE — It’s a place where people gather for fellowship, laughter, food and joy. Tucked into an area far better know for its muck soil and miles of sugar cane, The Dolly Hand Cultural Arts Center in Belle Glade is a slice of the community’s soul.

Celebrating 30 years in a place where most folks mark time in multiple generations makes The Dolly a bit of a youngster. But it’s as much a part of life around the Big Lake as sugar cane.

The Dolly Hand Cultural Arts Center boasts an attribute that most cultural centers across the nation would envy – a history of sellouts and waiting lists.

While the Dolly Hand is a beautiful auditorium, it is modest by many standards, and while the seasonal lineup offers something for everyone, that too is not the secret to the Dolly’s success.

Ever heard of another cultural arts center that has its own potluck dinner? What about one with complimentary refreshments at every show, compliments of the local Bank of Belle Glade?

And how about a cultural arts center whose namesake still attends almost every performance?

Frances “Dolly” Rutledge Hand, whose determination helped bring the theater to the Belle Glade campus of Palm Beach State College, can still be found with husband Homer in their regular seats – center section, Row F – for almost every performance.

She was there the night it was dedicated – when she first learned it would be named for her. She was there a decade later to recall that opening night when the Dolly Hand celebrated its 10-year anniversary. And she’ll be there throughout this season as the Dolly Hand celebrates its 30th anniversary.

They’ve dubbed it “A String of Pearls,” pearls being the traditional 30th anniversary gift.

The season will include several popular traditions, such as the 23rd Annual Living Christmas Tree, the music of Guy Penrod, well-known among both Nashville and gospel music fans, and the popular children’s educational series.

Sprinkled in will be new shows like the American Spirit “One Nation under God” patriotic musical, and from off Broadway, The Improvised Shakespeare Company, which will deliver a different show with input from every audience.

The season highlight will take place April 17, with the 30th Anniversary Celebration. Buffalo Rome opens the evening with its 1970s country rock vibe, and then Larry Gatlin, the golden voice of country music, rounds out the night.

After leading the push for more than five years to raise the dollars and get the community theater built, Dolly Hand remembers the first show ever performed in the 467-seat theater – a kabuki dance performance before a quizzical audience unfamiliar with the Japanese art form.

“And we thought after that we might not ever have another show,” she says. But she also remembers popular Southern comedian Jerry Clower, who celebrated the Dolly Hand’s first anniversary.

“He came up and asked, ‘Do you know this lady called Dolly Hand?’” Dolly recalled.

“I said ‘I do.’ And he said, ‘Do you know if she’s still living?’ I said, ‘I’m glad to say that she is!’ He said, ‘You sure are living, aint’cha, honey!’”

He’s not the only performer who’s taken the time to meet Dolly. “They’re all so genuinely nice,” she says.

Don’t ask her to pick a favorite. “I don’t think there’s one I haven’t enjoyed. I just like them all.”

And so it seems with the community – a community that spreads through the entire Lake Okeechobee region, pulling in patrons from a five-county area, says theater Director Leigh Woodham.

They love the concerts, the Broadway series shows, and the ethnic performances – such as Step Afrika! Dance Troupe, which also has partnered with the Dolly Hand as Artists in Residency to teach their unique blend of steps and percussion sounds to kids in after-school programs.

The 3,000-square-foot lobby area that was added in 1996 allowed the theater to add additional elements, such as art exhibits and community gatherings. And it allowed for the unique pot-luck dinner that the Dolly Hand hosted for the first time two years ago.

“We were featuring a performance called Church Basement Ladies, so it seemed like the perfect opportunity to hold a potluck,” Woodham said.

It’s taken on a life of its own now. Some patrons don’t care what’s on stage as long as they have tickets to the covered dish dinner featuring some of the finest cooks in the Glades.

“Sometimes they’re very skeptical of a new show,” Woodham says. Maybe their spouse dragged them to it. But I think at this point they trust us.”

Many shows at the Dolly Hand are the same that might be scheduled at Old School Square in Delray Beach as the directors partner the theaters to bring in acts. But the price will be lower at the Dolly Hand, Woodham says.

Woodham will book an act on a Tuesday or a Thursday, filling up what otherwise would be an open date and allowing for a lower ticket price, she says.

But not on Wednesdays. That’s church night in The Glades.

For a list of performances and tickets, call the box office at (561) 993-1160 or go online to dollyhand.org.