‘It’s a feel-good tired’
10/1/2025
While the Des Moines Civic Center and Des Moines Performing Arts often take the spotlight for theatre in Des Moines, a few local community theatres are also flourishing in the metro. One of those is Tallgrass Theater Company in West Des Moines. Few have done more for the theatre’s advancement than Tom Perrine.
Perrine and his husband, Bob, own Frame Works in Johnston. While Perrine’s day job deals with hanging and framing art, his volunteer work allows him to help direct, act and set the stage for another kind of art.
We interrupted Perrine from working on the set of “Blithe Spirit,” a play Tallgrass was producing.
“Today’s my day off. So, what am I doing? I’m at the theatre. I’ve always done theatre. My college degree is actually in theatre, but it’s kind of hard to make a living doing theatre, so I’ve always volunteered,” Perrine said.
Bob was volunteering for Tallgrass at the time. Before then, he had spent time volunteering for several other theatres including the Des Moines Playhouse, Stage West and Drama Workshop. Eventually, Bob convinced him to do some work with Tallgrass.
“I did a lot of backstage stuff. I ended up directing for them, and then, through a series of Tallgrass changing — me evolving — I was offered the role of artistic director. I’ve been doing that since 2013,” Perrine said.
It has been a match made in theatre heaven ever since then for Perrine and Tallgrass.
“There’s something about Tallgrass that really sings to me. It’s very welcoming. Almost everybody in the community who works here refers to it as the Tallgrass family. I’m now part of the Tallgrass family, and that is very true. We look out for each other; we treat each other well. It has just become the place where I want to spend my time,” Perrine said.
During his time with the theatre, Perrine has seemingly done it all.
“I have directed, I have painted, I have designed sets. I have done costumes. I have done emergency repairs on costumes. I cleaned the bathrooms when we moved into this building,” Perrine said.
Not only did Perrine have a hand in those aspects, he also played a major part in building the stage the plays are performed on, including the chairs patrons sit in.
“We were at a different location, and they were not going to renew our lease where we were. So, during COVID, we shut down, and everything we owned we stored for about a year and a half, and then we found this space. When we were preparing to turn this into a theatre, we did everything. I helped put up the walls. I helped paint. I helped assemble stuff. We bought 150 of these chairs. They were in pieces. We had to put all those together,” Perrine said.
One of the reasons Perrine enjoys Tallgrass as much as he does is its program, the Dream Project. Aspiring screenwriters, directors or actors submit their “dream” show to Tallgrass, and the board considers putting on a production for them. The first of its kind was “True West,” performed in 2013.
“I think the fact that we still produce those dream projects has been incredibly satisfying,” Perrine said. “I’ve had the pleasure of directing one of those dream projects. I’m very, very proud of that.
Perrien says this allows them to help people in the community who have a dream — if it fits with Tallgrass — to make it come true.
Another reason why Perrine feels so connected to Tallgrass is how much he has seen it develop right in front of him.
“Where we were before was not easy. We shared the space. We were very limited in what we could do. We had no building, no shop area,” Perrine said. “Everything we stored was in a basement, so we had to carry everything down a winding staircase to get to the basement, and, usually, when we got it back out, it was covered in mold. So, the fact that we were able to raise enough money to build a theatre and rent this space, that’s a huge, huge thing for us. Plus, you know, in theatre, it never gets old. It’s different every day.”
Perrine plans to continue to volunteer at Tallgrass until he simply can’t anymore. Even if he might relinquish his title of artistic director sometime soon, he will continue to give his time to the west side theatre.
“I will still be here. I will still work. I’ll still do whatever I can. Volunteering gives me energy, even though it saps you. Like, I’ll work at my frame shop eight to 10 hours, go home, eat something, and come here and work till midnight. And, even though I’m tired, it’s a feel-good tired,” Perrine said.
He recommends anyone interested to volunteer at Tallgrass. Even if you do not want to be on stage or direct, the group takes help backstage, on boards, or even as ushers. Perrine says he and the Tallgrass family welcome volunteers with open arms. ♦
