Lee Cox Spreading Southern Charm in Midwest Theater

Mention Alton Little Theater in Alton, Illinois, and the name Lee Cox comes to mind – whether you are a regular theater-goer or not.

ALT’s executive director for the last year, Cox said the position has truly been a lifetime in the making, so it’s not surprising that she has become known as the “face” of the organization in the local community and across the region.

“I grew up at ALT, and have devoted my life to supporting it, having done every job on the board more than once. Coordinating all those functions really evolved quite naturally,” Cox said.

And of course, she hasn’t done it alone.

“I have two terrific guys on the team – artistic director Kevin Frakes, who works more than 40 hours a week at the theater, and technical director Brant McCance, who works a full-time job, in addition to the equivalent of a quarter job at the theater.”

Cox also works as a clinical psychologist, though she has reduced the hours in her private practice to about 25%, recently moving her office from Edwardsville to Alton. But that just gave her more time to devote to the theater.

The three of them – with full support of their spouses – made the decision to commit the rest of their lives to making the theater a lasting legacy.

“Kevin and I have pushed the group to be bigger and better and to stretch in new ventures, while honoring the traditions of our past,” she said. “We want to push the community to think and dream like a much bigger community.”

So while the word “Little” actually referred to community theaters in the 1700s, the term in the theater’s name doesn’t really reference anything now, except in the articles of incorporation.

For years, Cox was the public relations director at ALT, then expanded into marketing and development and always co-chaired fundraising. She learned the ticketing system and became more involved in the business aspects (and money-making) of the organization.

“And, of course, my first loves were always acting, directing, costuming and set dressing – and then I conquered running and setting lights about 15 years ago,” she said.

She loves taking care of the small pieces of the puzzle that make for a beautiful picture.

“I make it my role to get to know everyone in the cast and figure out the best way to communicate with and support them,” she said. “I love helping them find their character through their costumes and shoes, and as a psychologist, I work with them on understanding their character through research and character analysis.”

Life in the theater is seven days a week with about three weeks of vacation spread out around the closing of a major musical.

Cox and Frakes have worked diligently to expand offerings, with comedies and musicals and a series of concerts and new plays. They added fundraisers, increased the budget, and helped ALT grow over the last few years – with a lot of effort, time and hard work.

January had them sitting pretty, with the rest of the current season to look forward to, and then the unforeseen happened – as it did to everyone.

“A pandemic was something we had no preparation or experience to deal with, and so my job is to educate myself, educate our board of directors and help our loyal patrons understand what we are doing and why we are doing certain things to survive,” Cox said. “I consult with the Public Health Administration, look at seat-mapping for social distancing, order masks, write up bathroom protocols, watch lots of news, attend Zoom meetings, and look for new ways to serve the community and make sure everyone recognizes the importance of art and culture in our collective healing.

Cox said though she considers herself to be a sweet person, she has a lot of grit from a less-than-perfect childhood.

“I know something about survival,” she said. “And I’m glad that I have a work partner who stands with me, ready to take on all the jobs that other people are shying away from right now. I believe that people want to be together and laugh and be entertained. But, of course, we must be smart and take things slowly.”

Through Sharon Hunter of Moonstone Theatre Company in St. Louis, Cox has connected with the St. Louis Theatre Community Task Force, as always, tirelessly working to advocate for the region and keep Alton Little Theater at the forefront of entertainment offerings and approaches to re-opening amidst and following the COVID-19 crisis.

Looking back though, no matter what the trials and tribulations have entailed, now and through the years, Cox was destined to be part of the theater.

She has been involved in ALT for around 45 years, officially joining at 16. Unofficially, she’s been a part of it since she was a small child, accompanying her parents who were equally active in the theater. Her first performance was at age 8, playing Helen Keller in “The Miracle Worker.”

“I was hooked from the beginning,” Cox said.

She was so enthralled, that when she and her husband, Michael, were married in 1971, they held their reception in ALT’s elegant foyer with its wooden barrel ceiling. Her husband is also involved in the theater, preferring to work “behind the scenes.”

When they were first married, Cox began college as a theater major at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, but Michael’s job transferred them around the state, then the country. They lived in Chicago, California, and Tampa, Florida. She put college on hold and by the time she was 20, had two babies. But even while they lived away, she managed to make it back to see at least one performance of almost every Alton Little Theater show.

When they moved back to Alton permanently, she returned to SIUE, and graduated with a degree in clinical psychology and a minor in women’s studies. She continued to build her knowledge base and expertise, and became a certified sex therapist (not surrogate), based on the Masters and Johnson’s model – following the idea that people should be treated as a couple.

Cox’s maternal grandparents were from Arkansas, and her paternal family is from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where she spent childhood summers with her grandma, and couldn’t help but pick up some “southern charms.”

Both of Cox’s children were also involved with ALT. Son, Josh, lives in Wisconsin; daughter, Sarah, in Minnesota. But that doesn’t stop her from being an involved “Mimi,” flying north often to visit. Each summer, it became a family tradition for her six granddaughters to come to “Mimi’s camp,” staying with their grandparents, and going with Cox to the theater.

Cox has been nominated and/or won many awards through the St. Louis Arts for Life and the Theater Mask Awards. One of her most loved performances is as Louise Seger in “Forever Patsy Cline,” with her good friend Deborah Maneke as Patsy Cline at ALT in 2014, which has been reprised more than once.

She likes to reference quotes regarding the theater, often calling them to mind when she needs a boost, but one of her favorites came from poet and playwright Oscar Wilde:

“I regard the theater as the greatest of all arts forms, the most immediate way in which a human being can share with another the sense of what it is to be a human being.”

For more information on Alton Little Theater, visit altonlittletheater.org.

Photos by Michael Cox