MORENCI — He’s not exactly sure what the title of the movie was that was showing — although he can describe the basics of the plot to this day — but Tim Newsom, owner of Morenci’s Rex Theatre, can point out the very spot in the building where he sat while on his first date.
“I was in eighth grade,” he said.
Newsom, a native of Jackson whose family moved to Morenci when he was 10 years old, saw plenty of films at the Rex in his younger years and always had a fondness for the building.
Located at 235 W. Main St., the Rex was a downtown Morenci icon for almost a century. It opened in 1916 as the Gem and was a vaudeville house and then a movie theater.
But about 15 years ago, movies began the switch from 35 mm film to digital, and many smaller theaters found that the new equipment required to show first-run movies in that format was far too expensive. As time went on, the Rex and many others shut their doors.
And so, back in 2020 after the building had been vacant for more than a decade, Newsom decided to take the plunge and buy it, intending to restore it as a movie theater. He wouldn’t be able to show first-run films, but he wanted to give people a chance to see some of their older favorites on a big screen again.
Why, besides fond memories of trips to the Rex as a youngster, did Newsom want to go into the theater business — something he knew nothing about?
“Because I’m a damn fool,” he said.
But he had some spare time, had always wanted to run a business, “and I like fixing stuff.”
That latter fact was a good thing, because the building needed extensive repair and renovation, including putting in a new roof and ceiling, replacing many of the seats and the stage area, installing chandeliers and wall sconces repurposed from other venues, refurbishing the screen, and more.
As it turned out, however, Newsom’s original plan to make the Rex a movie house again didn’t work out.
The theater reopened in December 2021, showing movies and soon thereafter branching out into hosting regular comedy nights.
But it didn’t attract enough customers for Newsom to be able to make a go of it, so he started considering what to do next with the building.
That’s where Alicks Wargood comes into the story.
Wargood, a Morenci native with his own fond memories of the Rex as a movie theater, is a professional musician who returned to the city off and on over the years before finally moving back for good.
He’s played in various bands almost all his life, starting with the time at age 14 he sneaked off with a group that was performing at Harpo’s in Detroit. Currently, he plays with the bands O Odious Ones and Agatha Haag.
“I found out that someone had bought the Rex and was interested in putting live music into it,” he said. And one day, he and Newsom had a conversation.
Wargood had been bringing musicians to town to play in what was literally a garage — much to the neighbors’ chagrin, he admits — and he saw a great opportunity with the Rex.
“Tim bought the Rex and gave me a better place to play than a garage,” he said, laughing.
With his deep connections to the music community, he became the Rex’s booking agent a few months ago and in that role sparked a true rebirth for the historic building.
Since late last year, the venue hasalready hosted about 100 bands, and groups — who come from all over the region and even further away — are presently booked every weekend at least, well into July.
“In the past four months, this place has turned around,” Newsom said.
With just over 160 seats, the performance space is long and narrow, measuring 20 feet wide by 160 feet long. While that might seem like unusual dimensions for a concert hall, music “sounds amazing” in it, Wargood said.
With the help of sound techs Matt Wilson and Coty Kasch, “you can hear everything and everything is distinct. Nothing overpowers anything.”
The Rex is committed to hosting bands that play original music, as opposed to cover bands, and “there aren’t a lot of venues nearby” with that focus, Wargood said.
And in the short time since the theater took on its new role as a home for groups like that, “we’ve had a couple of mildly famous bands,” Wargood added.
Among the better-known groups who have performed there so far are Green Jellÿ, Sabertooth Gary, The Rock and Roll Bad Guys, and Snakehandler Church.
April bands include Wexford (April 11), As the Sky Went Black (April 12), The Five ‘n’ Dime Poets (April 18), Cherry Drop (April 19), and Black Moon Cult (April 26).
Comedy is still in the mix, too. In mid-March, for example, the Rex played host to Jacob Barr and Johnny Mocny, and another comedy night is coming up April 25. The occasional movie is still on the program as well, including a recent independent film festival.
Newsom is very happy to be giving audience members a wide variety of entertainment by bands like the ones Wargood has been booking.
“We can hear [music on] the radio all day long,” he said. “These guys aren’t making music to get on the radio. They’re making music from their soul.”
And Wargood, for his part, enjoys the role he’s helping play in encouraging younger musicians to follow their dreams.
“If a band starts from some kids around here, then my job is done correctly,” he said.
In fact, he added, that’s already happened — “and that made me giddy, to inspire the next generation, because someone did that for me.”
