Robby Henson, Producer/Artistic Director
Robby started directing plays at the Playhouse long before he was an award-winning filmmaker working with such stars as Kris Kristofferson and Billy Bob Thornton, and Academy Award-winners Patricia Arquette, Patricia Clarkson, and Chris Cooper.
His feature-length films include Pharaoh’s Army, The Badge, The Visitation, Thr3e, and House. Robby has also written many of our Kentucky Voices hits such as Good Blues Tonight, Breaking Up with Elvis and The Wonder Team.
He is the force behind our life-changing Voices Inside Prison playwriting program, and his documentary on prison poets, I Come From, was featured on PBS. Robby teaches film classes at the University of Kentucky, and his first novel, Loud Water, was published by Down & Out Books (2003). He and his wife, Lin, live in Kentucky.
Heather Henson, Producer/Managing Director
Heather Henson grew up on stage and working behind the scenes right here at Pioneer Playhouse, the theatre her father Eben C. Henson founded in 1949. She lived in NYC for 17 years and hold a BA from The New School and an MA from City College of New York. After college, she left theatre for a time and pursued a career in publishing and writing. She is the author of over ten award-winning books for young readers, including That Book Woman, which was adapted for the stage by Holly Hepp-Galvan, and was a huge hit last year! That Book Woman celebrates the remarkable work of the Pack Horse Librarians of Eastern Kentucky and has been published around the world. Her latest novel, Wrecked, is a contemporary reimagining of Shakespeare’s The Tempest, set in Kentucky and dealing with addiction. Heather’s husband, Tim Ungs, and their three kids, Daniel, Lila, and Theo, all help at the Playhouse!
FORMER STAFF
CHARLOTTE HENSON (1931 – 2024)
Charlotte Hutchison Henson, owner and president of Pioneer Playhouse of Danville, passed away peacefully at her home behind the historic theater in 2024. She was 93 years old.
When Charlotte Hutchison married Colonel Eben Charles Henson (a man The New York Times once called “a small-town P.T. Barnum”) in 1955, she may not have fully realized that she was also marrying into his dream of bringing “Broadway to the Bluegrass.” Over the years, however, Charlotte fully embraced a non-traditional life of nurturing and promoting the arts in Kentucky alongside her husband, making sure Pioneer Playhouse, which is Kentucky’s oldest outdoor theater, would continue into its 75th anniversary season in 2024.
Charlotte Hutchison Henson, producer, and President of the Board of Directors of Pioneer Playhouse of Danville, passed away peacefully on February 13 at her home on the grounds of the historic theater she spent a lifetime championing. She was 93 years old.
When Charlotte Hutchison married Colonel Eben Charles Henson (a man The New York Times once called “a small-town P.T. Barnum”) in 1955, she may not have fully realized that she was also marrying into his dream of bringing “Broadway to the Bluegrass,” but soon she embraced his vision, and continued his legacy after his death in 2004. Pioneer Playhouse is Kentucky’s oldest outdoor theater and will be celebrating its 75th season this summer.
Charlotte Cline Hutchison was born on January 3, 1931, and raised on a farm on the Mercer/Boyle County line. From a very early age, Charlotte was recognized for her beautiful singing voice. She graduated from Burgin High School and went on to study music at Transylvania University in Lexington. After college, she taught music in North Carolina and was later the choir director of the First Christian Church in Danville. The noted folk singer and archivist, John Jacob Niles, called Charlotte’s voice one of the purest he had ever heard.
Charlotte first met Eben Henson when she attended an early performance of his fledging theater at Darnell State Mental Hospital, where he had use of a free auditorium and where Northpoint Training Center is now located. Later, Eben sat down at a drugstore soda fountain booth on Danville’s Main Street where Charlotte and her mother were lunching, and boldly asked Charlotte on a date. A misaimed kick to Eben’s shin under the table made it clear that Mother disapproved, but since Charlotte hadn’t gotten the hint, she said yes. Eben and Charlotte were happily married for nearly half a century.
In the early years, Charlotte witnessed the arrival of big-name movie stars and a large movie crew to film MGM’s Raintree County in which she was a featured extra; the rapid expansion of the Pioneer Playhouse complex; and later, during the summer months, the influx of hundreds of young actors such as John Travolta, Lee Majors, Jim Varney, and Bo Hopkins.
Charlotte worked alongside her husband, mainly behind the scenes, but she was also a dedicated mother raising four children, all of whom grew up at the theater helping their parents, all of whom were encouraged from a young age to follow their dreams and artistic passions.
When Eben C. Henson died in 2004, there was never a question of Pioneer Playhouse closing.
“My mom said we would keep going, and we did,” says Heather Henson, youngest of the children, and now managing director of the Kentucky Landmark theater. “My older sister became artistic director to Mom’s producer, and they were a terrific team. When Holly lost her battle with cancer, the whole family pulled together again. Mom would not let the Playhouse fade away.”
“I think after our father passed, Mom was forced to step into the spotlight, and she did so beautifully,” says Robby Henson, son and current artistic director. “She was, by nature, a shy person, but she transitioned into someone more comfortable with people and crowds.”
“She did it all, from picking plays to cooking and cleaning to working on set design to putting a brand-new coat of paint on everything each spring,” says Heather. “We called her the Energizer Bunny.”
Another nickname -“the Iron Butterfly” – was given by Mike Perros, former mayor of Danville and long-time board chairman of Pioneer Playhouse in recognition of Charlotte’s beauty and her gentle nature, but also her undeniable strength and determination to get things done.
Charlotte Henson was named Danville’s Arts Citizen of the Year in 2006. She was a beloved part of the community and donated space in the old Henson Hotel building so that the Danville/Boyle County African-American Historical Society would have a home for its meetings, exhibits, and archives. She was a lifelong member of the First Christian Church of Danville.
Charlotte continued singing and playing guitar for dinner guests at the Playhouse each night in the summer – even through the 2023 season. Her repertoire never varied, and she would start off her set with Follow the Drinking Gourd.
Charlotte Henson is survived by her children, Eben David Henson and wife Jan, Robby Henson and wife Lin, Heather Henson, and husband Tim Ungs, all of Danville; by her three grandchildren, Daniel, Theo, and Lila Ungs; and by her former son-in-law, Thomas Hansen. She was preceded in death by her daughter, Holly Henson, and by her husband, Eben C. Henson.
Holly Henson, Executive Artistic Director 1960-2012
Holly Henson began performing at an early age at Pioneer Playhouse, the theater her father, Eben C. Henson, founded in 1950. She went on to study drama at Stephens College in Columbia, MO, and at the Drama Studio of London, and later lived in Los Angeles and Minneapolis, pursuing a career in film and stand-up comedy. Each year, Holly returned to Danville and the Pioneer Playhouse, during the summer months to help run Kentucky’s oldest outdoor theater, eventually taking the helm after the passing of her father, “the Colonel,” in 2004. Under Holly’s dynamic direction, attendance at the historic theater grew steadily to nearly 10,000 patrons per summer. Holly’s many accomplishments includ ed forming stronger bonds with the Danville community by initiating an annual local history play and by extending arts outreach to include more programs for young people, as well as the groundbreaking prison writing program, VOICES INSIDE. Holly was diagnosed with breast cancer several years ago, but never let the disease define her. She continued to run the theater and to travel extensively to stand-up clubs throughout the Midwest in between chemo treatments. She had recently returned to Danville to live full time with her husband, Tom Hansen. On May 27, 2013, just two weeks before the start of the 63rdseason, Holly Henson died where she had lived: at her home, not a stone’s throw from the legendary stage she had worked so hard to preserve.
Col. Eben C. Henson, 1923 – 2004
The founder of Pioneer Playhouse served as location representative for six major movie companies and was author of the book How to Play the Voice as an Instrument. This former mayor of Danville has been a leading force in bringing film productions to the Bluegrass area and served in that capacity under six governors. For his work in helping establish the outdoor drama movement in the state, he received the Governor’s ‘Pioneering Award.’ Along with Rosemary Clooney and Loretta Lynn, he was one of six recipients to receive a Sidewalk Star in downtown Lexington.
As president and founding member of the Kentucky Arts Commission, he once visited the White House to consult on the formation of the National Endowment for the Arts. In addition to establishing the first State Theatre in the nation, he was also instrumental in helping form Kentucky’s first Film Commission — bringing an additional 14 movies to the region