LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth |
2001 Takes Shape at Henlopen Theater |
by Fay Jacobs |
The year 2001 is an odyssey of great expectations and lots of work for the fledgling Henlopen Theater Project. With its Spring benefit production behind them and a challenging three-show season yet to come, HTP is on the move.
Spending time with HTP Artistic Director James FitzSimmons (Fitz) is like getting an immersion course in theater management. With a phone in one ear (talking with household name performers, trying to line them up for a beach visit) and hearing him field ticket requests and juggle paperwork, it's clear this is one busy guy. HTP held the sold-out Black Market Marlene benefit last month to help fund the theater season and the group was pleased with the response. "I was a little anxious about how the show would be received, and so was the audience, I think," says Fitz, "but it went over really well. And now people are asking me to bring James Beaman back for his Lauren Bacall show. He does a dead-on Lauren Bacall." The crowd for Black Market Marlene was very diverseage-wise as well as a great mix of gay and straight folks. According to Fitz, there were even people there who had actually known Marlene Dietrich. Two audience members took HTP's advertised bait and got free theatre tickets for coming to the benefit dressed as Dietrich. The morning following the benefit performance and the champagne reception at Edward Carter Gallery and Gilligan's in Lewes, Fitz got back to work on the HTP summer season. The opener, Always...Patsy Cline will be on stage June 27- July 1. Responding to audience requests for a musical, HTP is working with acclaimed regional theatre Virginia Stage Company to bring the show to the beach. "Doing a musical is so costly, and as an established company they (Virginia Stage Company) can do things we can't yet, so we're working together to bring the Patsy Cline show to town," says Fitz about the production. But just because the show was originally staged elsewhere doesn't mean that HTP is off the hook for a big budget. The show features a six piece band and two performers and requires a massive sound system and lighting design. "We're working on putting it together right now, " says Fitz, "it's expensive to mount but it's going to be worth it." The HTP Board, staff and volunteers hope that they can count on their subscribers, friends and local theater-lovers to talk up Always.....Patsy Cline and fill the house for the six performances. "We're out raising money so we can afford to do the show," says Fitz. The play, by Ted Swindley, has had sold-out runs all over the country and is a testament to the enduring affection that people have for Patsy Cline and her music. Featuring dozens of Cline's most famous songs, the show tells of the meteoric rise of the singer who died in a tragic plane crash in 1963 at age 30. At the time of her death Patsy Cline was at the pinnacle of her career as one of the first country singers to make the successful crossover to the pop charts as well. With Cline's famous up-tempo numbers and haunting ballads, Always...Patsy Cline is the perfect choice for HTP's first musical. It combines a humorous and touching script with musical numbers that are still top-selling standards today. In between preparing the way for Patsy, Fitz is also set to audition locally for the role of a teenage boy in the next production of the season, A Home Without. The show, a comedy, which will be directed by Fitz and rehearsed here, is a World Premier for playwright Robert Westfield. "Basically, it's a show about a dysfunctional family and a woman having a very bad day," Fitz says. "I wanted to do the show the minute I read it, because it's one of the few scripts that made me laugh out loud as I read it." Fitz did a reading of the play in New York this winter and again this May with the cast members who will be appearing here this summer. The rehearsal period will be a workshop for the play and Fitz and his crew are planning to do a lot of work on the show prior to opening and during the run as well. "It's one of those things where the people who see the show Thursday may be seeing something different than the audience saw on Wednesday," says the director. Whatever night folks see the show, they'll be seeing a top-notch cast in a fast-paced farce. Ask Fitz about plans for the third show of the season and he positively beams. "I've always wanted to direct this show and I can't wait." The show is The Baltimore Waltz by Paula Vogel, who won a Pulitzer Prize for it. And Vogel, perhaps the first "out" lesbian to win a Pulitzer will be coming to town for one night during the run of the show for a special event. The show, starring Shelley Delaney, Barnaby Carpenter (from last season's Ancestral Voices) and Sean Dougherty is a crazy comedy about a brother and sister's wild, desperate European vacation. "The play is funny, yet devastating," says Fitz, "and it's a dream company of actors." Playwright Vogel will be here in town on July 31, in a special program, billed as A Night with Paula Vogel. According to Fitz, "We're going to honor her and her work, and I'm trying to organize some surprise guests for the evening." HTP will present their production of The Baltimore Waltz for eight performances at the Cape Henlopen High School Theater from July 26-Aug. 4. The popular Broadway hit which garnered rave reviews and the coveted Pulitzer is set to be HTP's longest run yet. Fitz is hoping that a growing subscriber list and a summer of good "word of mouth" will help fill all the seats and put HTP in good shape for the future. HTP subscriptions are available for a discount price on all three productions. Call 302-226-4103 for information. Visit their website at http://www.henlopentheaterproject.com |
LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth, Vol. 11, No. 6, June 1, 2001. |