Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, August 20, 1994 TAG: 9408220049
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: By CHRIS TOTO SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
To put on a production of "Mame."
Don't get it? Then you haven't watched the Summer Musical Enterpri se at work.
The company, which produces one play a year, boasts an entirely volunteer cast and crew.
In an age when money is the driving force behind just about everything, a different philosophy - and a sense of fun - drives the volunteers preparing for a string of performances starting Aug. 24.
The expanding troupe works exclusively in the summer, when students are available and local faculty members can contribute.
Mike Ogliaruso is part of a five-person production board that guides the company.
A member of "Mame's" chorus, Ogliaruso credits Ed Schwartz with establishing the company. "The group wouldn't have formed if not for him," he said.
Schwartz, an instructional designer at Virginia Tech, put together a proposal for Blacksburg's Parks and Recreation Department, which funded the first production, "The Music Man."
This year, thanks to more than 50 percent of the crew returning, SME is undertaking its most complex show.
"We're making our own sets and costumes for the first time," Ogliaruso said, noting the 15 to 17 costume changes for the lead character as just one example of their expanded chores.
The rehearsals, which began June 20, run up until opening night.
Karen Taylor, "Mame's" director, brings valuable experience to the project. The 12-year veteran of community theater previously directed three shows for Playmakers and Company, a local theater group. "This is my first musical," she said nervously.
Taylor's duties include juggling a cast with a wide range of theatrical experience. Enthusiasm makes her job easier. "It's amazing the level of commitment," she said.
If problems do arise, Ogliaruso fears Taylor might lose control. "She's too nice to yell at anybody," he said, his ever-present smile broadening. Members of the crew also gravitate to Ogliaruso, seeking guidance on topics ranging from the playbill to T-shirts. He handles them all patiently, like a father helping his children on a crisp Sunday morning.
The practices appear chaotic. Tiny splinter groups blanket the stage of Christiansburg High School, where most of the rehearsing takes place. The orchestra often sounds like a motor begging for a splash of oil.
But when the cue is given, sanity replaces confusion. The static coming from the band room begins to take shape. Singers suddenly find their key.
Few egos clutter the set. Everyone has something to do, and, despite the jokes clanging around the stage, the work gets done. The casual atmosphere also lends itself to constructive criticism. Advice gets passed around like gossip on a supermarket checkout line.
The cast, by the beginning of August, is like an extended family, without that eccentric uncle who spoils every reunion.
For Nicholas Tinker, "Mame" literally is a family affair. He and son Benjamin, 11, lend their voices to the chorus, while daughter Joanna, 13, kicks up her heels as a dancer.
Though he admits the work is considerable, the benefits overshadow any complaints. "To see all the talented people come together and create something ... it's magical," Tinker said,
"Mame's" lead, Ruth Johnson, has worked in both professional and community theater since the age of 16. She has performed in 62 shows in four states, including Minnesota, North Dakota, Tennessee and Virginia.
Johnson loves being on stage. "I only get nervous when I'm in a bad production," she said.
With this group, the emphasis is on the community, and Johnson wouldn't have it any other way. "When considering a play," she said, "they ask, `Can we get kids involved? Is there a large chorus?'''
You could say the role of Vera Charles, Mame's friend and confidante, was destined for Carol Cole. She fell in love with the character while in her high school orchestra, watching her classmates perform "Mame." When she heard of the SME production, she auditioned for Vera, the only part that held any interest for her.
"I never step out of character," she said. On stage, her chemistry with Johnson is obvious, as is her affinity for the spotlight.
Part of the rehearsal process includes callouts, performing segments of the show before an audience such as a recent performance at Warm Hearth, a local retirement community.
The cast showcased seven musical numbers from the show, with Ogliaruso bridging the necessary gaps in the plot with narration.
Before the presentation, Scott Call, who plays the young Patrick, got some last-minute advice from Johnson. Hands dug in his pockets, Call listened carefully as Johnson ran through a few key parts of their song.
When Johnson hugged him after their set, it was no show business affectation; it was as genuine as the rest of the performance.
Funding for the summer musical comes from ticket sales, contributions and advertisements in the playbill.
The company takes about a month off after each production, then starts recruiting for the next year.
Conductor Don Williams, like the others, dressed casually for the rehearsals. Clad in sandals and T-shirt, Williams shaped the band's efforts with snapping fingers and brisk hand gestures.
"Got to get the tempo up, folks," he said at one point, his patience tested by the heavy work load.
Typical of the spirit on the set, applause erupts after particularly difficult routines. Even after weeks of rehearsing, the cast still laughed at the broad punch lines scattered throughout the musical numbers.
Instead of blasting aliens on their Nintendos, the children of the troupe are breathing new life into a production first performed in 1966 at the Winter Garden Theater in New York, featuring Angela Lansbury as Mame.
Second-grader Somelia Okpodu heard of the play through her teacher, Babs Ogliaruso, Mike's wife. Okpudo said she decided to join the production because she had never been in a play and thought it would be fun.
Babs Ogliaruso sees a variety of benefits from her students' involvement in the theater. "It gives them poise and self-confidence," she said. "It pulls a lot of the things I teach in class together."
Dancer Kate Schwabe, a senior from Blacksburg High School, is chipping in for the purest reason imaginable. "I love everything about the theater," she said. "I don't care that I don't get paid."
Perhaps using volunteers to put on a play liberates all those involved. No one fears being disciplined for missing a cue or singing off-key. Everyone performs for the same reason, and for once it isn't greed.
The blossoming production smooths over a number of cultural speed bumps. Watch Johnson and Call sink their teeth into a song, and you'd think the term "generation gap" had never existed.
"Mame" runs Wednesday through Aug. 28 at Virginia Tech and Sept. 1-4 at Radford University. Tickets are $8 for adults, $5 for retirees and $4 for students and children.
by CNB