6.29 A Conversation with Tony Davis

Anthony Davis began teaching at CHS in the fall of 1994. He teaches Drama I, II, III, and Speech. He has a BS degree from Middle Tennessee State University where he majored in Theatre. He has been married since 1984 to Edna and has one daughter, Beth.
Davis started CHS's "Smokestack Theatre Group" in 1994 with the group's first production, Frederick Knott's Wait Until Dark. Since then, the group has produced dramas such as Our Town, The Crucible, and The Diary of Anne Frank. They have produced comedies such as God's Favorite and The Boys Next Door, as well as musicals such as Godspell (the first Broadway musical in CHS's history), Man of LaMancha and Footloose.
The group has toured New York City six times and sponsored the first high school theatre festival in the Middle Tennessee area, The "Smokestack Theatre Festival". CHS drama is also home to Troupe 5412 of the International Thespian Society, a world-wide actors' fraternity which boasts Tom Hanks and John Goodman among its members. The group regularly attends the annual Tennessee Thespian Conference at MTSU. In 1999, the group won Tennessee's "Excellence in Education" award from the state. The Smokestack alumni have majored in, minored in, or worked heavily in Theatre Arts Departments at Austin Peay State University, Middle Tennessee State University, The University of Tennessee, UT Chattanooga, Montevallo University in Alabama, Motlow State, Martin Methodist and Belmont University.