Local theater shines bright March 1993
The lights burned bright at the Nutrition Center on Centre Street this week, as members of the Community Arts Scholarship Theater came together for their first full rehearsals. Clearly excited people, both young and old, climbed from their cars humming old 50s and 60s songs. Actors and singers, stages hands and other support staff giggled and laugh with a air of anticipation. Many took the musical review's title to heart and let the good times roll as they got in voice and sang their numbers. Earlier rehearsals had been in smaller groups.
"We didn't want to keep everybody here for hours,"
Joan Lynch said, one of the show's co-directors. "We'd bring in five
people at a time to rehearse, then let them leave and bring in another
five." This way people avoided boredom and strain, rehearsing for a little
over an hour a night. "But they seemed willing to come back two or three
times a week," Lynch said.
Over seven weeks, the
35-person show learned its parts and this week finally were brought together
see how it worked as a whole. Misplaced faces popped out of the crowd at
intervals, like the normally cool and calm Phil Passanante, school board vice
president, who is dressed with open shirt collar and sweat-moistened brow,
showing the glint of sincere good humor in his eyes. The voice of Jean Arthur
rings out with a rendition of "To Sir with Love." She was a member of
the first high school theater production, which is now defunct, as are five
other people in the present CAST company. After the initial group warm up, the
larger group broke up into smaller units with many of the younger members
retiring to the longer where they sang to guitar music and joked about their
roles, their singing, in high exuberance.
"Unlike other
places I've seen, this really is community theater," Lynch said.
"We grew up
doing shows at the old Lincoln school," Joan said, where two women put the
shows on. Later some of this was done by the school district, though both
Schubert and DeFerrari remember fondly the productions put on by Broadway Bob--
or formally Father Robert Mirada of Immaculate Conception Church who was
responsible for community efforts of South Pacific and Bye-Bye Birdie.
About six years ago,
everything stopped. The school district ran out of money and canceled it
theater program. Father Mirada was transferred out of town.
"We were
bursting with talent," Schubert said. "We knew there had to be some
way we could put on a show. We had all the ingredients here."
But no one did
anything for a year. When DeFerrari called Schubert and said something had to
be done.
"We knew people
who could help us," DeFerrari said. The board of Education provided the
state. The town, under Mayor Paul Amico, sponsored the production under the
recreation program.
"The town gave
us seed money and use of some of their facilities," Schubert said. The
staff uses the library as its office.
But they got help
from outside Secaucus, too, from community theater programs in places like
Bayonne.
Their first show was
review of Broadway Musicals, their second one based on Richard Rogers music.
The last show done two years ago actually had some dialogue in an effort to
connect one song with another.
"We have some
wonderful singers," Schubert said. "But some of them proved their
acting ability with that production and told us we could do a booked
show."
While this year's
production is not a gripping drama filled with constant exchanges of dialogue,
it is a departure, using scenes rather than bits of dialogue connecting one
song with another, and establishes a story line encompassing two acts.
The first act centers
around the closing of an old theater and performers returning to play in it one
last time. Act two happens after the show when a number of the women find
themselves reminiscing in a local bar. Their memories trigger a series of
flashbacks to pajama parties and boys locker room tales, and a series of songs
like "Georgie Girl," "She's a fool," "Her boyfriend's
back," and "Runaround Sue."
This is CAST's fourth
major production in five years. But it has done smaller projects like the
columbus day production late last year, or Classical Sunday featuring ballet,
opera, piano and trumpet recitals. It also sponsored a song-fest for seniors
where they brought in the Secaucus-based East Lynne touring company to sing old
songs like "Let me call you sweetheart" and "Bye Bye Black
bird."
"The biggest
problem is that the stage is not our own," said DeFerrari. "We can't
keep sets from year to year. Things just get lost."
Full rehearsals with
sets are impossible since the stage is in the school cafeteria and is used for
other events which does not allow for sets being there. CAST's ultimate goal is
to build a theater in Secaucus.
"If we had our
own building we could have a rehearsal every night," Schubert said. It
would also help alleviate other problems like the rigid school schedule that
won't allow CAST to shift performance dates despite a last start in rehearsals.
Its other goals are
more immediately accessible, like doing theater workshops, improvisation
classes and maybe children's theater through the Adult School. Members would
also like to conduct performances as a kind of training ground for people
seeking to move on to a professional level. A few of the members do their own
writing, but haven't yet put anything together. Others would like to direct.
Schubert said it would be something like a workshop in progress.
"We never will
know the impact we have on the kids," DeFerrari said. "Whether or not
we've kept them away from drugs or depression. But this can help them develop
self-confidence."
But co-directors Joan
Lynch and Kevin Coughlin are crucial to this production. They were hired by
CAST to help create the production. Pauly Amico, nephew to the former mayor,
serves as stage manager and all-around miracle worker.
"He knows how to
build anything," Schubert said.
Patricia Van Es,
another member of the school board, does all the things that never get
applause.
"The board of
Education itself is wonderful," Schubert said, as are Mike Gonnelli,
Margaret Grazioli, Kathy Stefens and Pat Cocucci, all of whom make the
productions work from behind the scenes.
A scholarship of a
$1000 will be awarded for people wishing to pursue a career in the arts. CAST
has given a scholarship every year, though one year it split the award between
two people.
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