Show goes on - at last

The Cary News - January 23, 2003

Show goes on - at last

by Lisa Coston

I knew it was coming, and I knew--having watched rehearsals the week before--that it probably would make me cry.

It did.

Something about the scene in Thornton Wilder's "Our Town" when recently deceased Emily temporarily returns to mortal life to view her 12th birthday--a la Ebenezer Scrooge-- gets me every single time. I think its' the moment when she sees her father, as he had been those 14 years before, return home from out of town and call "Where's my birthday girl?"

With Melissa Maxwell and Wilson Pietzsch playing the roles, the scene got jme again Saturday night as the community theater group Cary Players finished its debut run at Green Hope High School. The scene with the "dead" talking in the Grover's Corners cemetery, circa 1913, I can't even talk about.

I already felt a little like crying that the 520-seat auditorium wasn't full.

I really hope most of the folks who have been clamoring for the town to build a performing-arts center found their way to one of the five performances or otherwise offered support -- put their money or time where their mouths are -- or feel guilty if they didn't, because Cary desperately needs a place for efforts such as the Cary Players to grow.

With 100,000 or so residents, it's a bit embarrassing that it doesn't already have one. But back to that in a minute.

Observing a production from its start, or from the audition stage anyway, is an interesting thing. It makes one appreciate the process -- the director's ability to fit unknowns with little experience into roles after a brief audition, the study and the improvement, the collaboration and occasional disagreements, the moments everyone probably wanted to quit -- and the final product much more.

The "Our Town" cast had rehearsed for hours and hours in a smaller, dark studio space since late October, where the actors who weren't in a scene sat just a feet away and on the same level as those who were. They and director Herman LeVern Jones must have worked incredibly hard in the short time they got to rehearse on the actual, bigger stage at Green Hope to tweak the show's blocking and incorporate the layout of the auditorium into their comings and goings.

Tracy Fulghum, who acquitted himself very well in the role of Stage Manager, so critical to the play's set-up, particularly had to adjust his movements, and did so seamlessly. The choir was much bigger and better. Little things like the extensive pantomime of characters, including Julia Gibbs (Debra Grannan) and Myrtle Web (Carolyn Wallace), seemed effortless after weeks of work and struggle.

It was also rather startling to see the cast on the real set, simple as it is for "Our Town," with stained-wood chairs and tables having replaced the foling metal ones, and under Neil Williamson's soft, well-designed lighting. Ah -- props, costumes, sound effects and pre-show music.

The arts are so important for the heart and identity of a place, yet they usually seem last on school and municipal priority lists. I thought of it again when I saw the mixture of people on hand for Saturday's show.

A few years ago, Cary offered pretty much nothing in the way of cultural arts, but things have been changing steadily through nonprofits like Cary Visual Arts and for-profit efforts like Six String Cafe & Music Hall. Jones related the story of an older woman who called to buy "Our Town" tickets, and said "she was thrilled, that she had waited for years to have a chance to go to things like that in the neighborhood."

It's fine to go to Raleigh for Broadway Series South shows and big rock and pop concerts, but Cary Players, Concert Singers of Cary, Fine Arts League of Cary, Applause! Cary Youth Theatre and other growing groups shouldn't have scramble like nomads for places to rehears, perform and showcase work. The town's Marvelous Music Series shouldn't have to happen in a community gym.

Though the Green Hope and Cary Academy auditoriums are quite nice, there should be a place with a little more ambiance than an adjacent high school lobby or cafeteria for a pre-show reception or patrons' post-show mingling. While I'm sure Cary officials will want to build the greatest, most impressive venue ever (with suitable signage), a good one in the former Cary High building would be a start.

If you sneer at any of these local arts efforts, I ask you waht you have done to help.

I salute the cast, production crew and board of directors of Cary Players, who persevered when some people dropped out and others needed to be recruited, spent hours becoming a team even if they didn't have a single line, got other theaters to loan help like costumes and found sponsors to assure the first show came out in the black. I salute them for taking the risk of starting from scratch to bring something new to "our town": Betty Adams, Makr Anderson, Marsha Anderson, Judy Aversano, Christopher Bailey, Linda Baxter, Kurt Benrud, Susan Berry, Liz Bojanowski, Catherine Campbell, Christy Cassas, Robert Cassas, Jack Chapman, Ann Clampett, Katelyn Clampett, Michael Clampett, David Cockroft, Janis Coville, Tracy Fulghum, Debra Grannan, Felicai Geutterman, Janet Gunderson, Karen Hall, Michell Hall, Bob Jeter, Herman LeVern Jones, Trevor Kaylid, Toby Kennedy, Lynda Keys, Kerry Keys, Drew Kramer, Christy Martschenko, Dan Martschenko, Justin Martschenko, Jeff Maxwell, Melissa Maxwell, Ed Meeker, Anthony Melchoir, Gene Melchoir, Pat Merwin, Gale O'Neal, Lauren Pearce, Wilson Pietzsch, Monique Plair, Shannon Ripple, Cas Roberts, Margo Schuler, Betsy Stables, Linda Stables, Julie Teixeira, Joan Vinal, Shirley Walker, Carolyn Wallace, Julie Weber, Dick Weis, Steve Whetzel, Wendy Wiggs, Neil Williamson and Deborah Yalacki.

It was fun, it was a good show and it was nice to see community leaders, including Mayor Glan Lang, on hand. I hope more folks will be there next time.

Whe I e-mailed to ask Dan Martschenko, who founded Cary Players with Jones, how he felt as the opening curtain neared, this is how he replied:

"I feel very good about it. When I look back over the past year and see how far we've come, and how many new people in the community that I've met and become friends with, I can see that this was the right thing to do. Cary is full of wonderful people, and I'm happy to be a part of something that will touch a lot of lives. I'm very excited to show Cary what we've been working on. But I'm also looking forward to that final curtain on closing night, when we can all take a deep breath, and go home and rest awhile."

At least until Cary Players performs Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night" on June 4-7 at Sertoma Amphitheatre in Bond Park.

Auditions begin in late February.