ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, February 2, 1996 TAG: 9602020043
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: EXTRA EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: KAREN ADAMS STAFF WRITER
Elizabeth McCommon has played many parts - actress, singer, songwriter, teacher, activist - and now fate has cast her in the role of cultural ambassador.
She's taking Virginia to the Olympics.
Thanks to this Renaissance woman from Blacksburg, Southwest Virginia will be represented at the Cultural Olympiad, the arts lineup that will be offered during the Summer Olympics in Atlanta. McCommon has a leading role in a play titled ``Harmony Ain't Easy,'' written by Virginia Tech graduate David Thomas.
McCommon also wrote the title song, with help from Floyd musician Bob Grubel, and the two of them sing it on tape during the show.
The play is based on a story by Georgia doctor and writer Ferrol Sams.
``It's a lovely celebration of a long-term marriage and working partnership,'' McCommon said in a telephone interview. ``And it's very funny.''
``Harmony Ain't Easy'' highlights the relationship between Sams and his wife, Helen (played by McCommon). Both physicians in their 70s, the two have been in practice together for more than 40 years. Throughout their married life, they've taken off every Thursday to visit their mountain cabin. This story recalls the hilarious details of one mishap-laden trip.
McCommon said, ``The doctors are very devoted to each other, but most of the time she knows better than he does how things should be done, and he suffers the consequences of not listening to her.''
She chuckled and said in her soft, low voice, ``You know, that's very common.''
Part of what makes Sams so appealing, she said, is that he tells an ordinary story in an extraordinary way. ``He can laugh at himself and he makes us laugh at ourselves too.''
McCommon and playwright David Thomas have known each other since 1984, when he was a graduate student at Tech and cast her in one of his productions. After Thomas graduated, he went on to found ART Station, an arts center housed in the historic Atlanta Rapid Transit building (circa 1903) in Stone Mountain, Ga.
In the 12 years since its inception, ART Station has earned a reputation for offering strong Southern theater. It also showcases dance, visual arts, music and writing, and provides classes as well.
As soon as Thomas heard the arts committee had chosen his play for the Olympiad, he envisioned McCommon as Helen.
``It was obvious it had to be her,'' he said. ``She's sophisticated and folksy at the same time, just like this work.''
Thomas explained that the Olympics' two components - sports and culture - are equally important to the organization. He said people spend as much time attending arts events, on average, as they do going to the games, so every piece of entertainment is carefully evaluated.
McCommon added, ``The Olympics committee never chooses a location for the event without considering the cultural and artistic strengths of a city.''
Thomas' play will be one of 10 new theatrical works celebrating Southern culture at the event, under the broad title ``Southern Connections.'' Another Southern festival, organized by the Smithsonian Institution, will run concurrently and will feature food, music and crafts.
Because Thomas wanted to showcase McCommon's musical talents as well as her acting, he commissioned her to write the title song. She came up with a sweet, amusing his-and-hers duet about marital harmony - and marital discord. She wrote the lyrics and music and sang the first part. Bob Grubel sang the second part and, with his electronic keyboard, added ``rinky-tink'' piano, bass, and harmonium, which sounds like a concertina.
``It has an `old-timey' feeling,'' said Grubel.
And speaking of harmony, McCommon said she's amazed at how everything in her life has fallen into place. A longtime resident of Floyd, she was known for years for her passionate support of environmental causes. Now she's making another name for herself as an actress.
Several theater opportunities came along - fatefully - just when she was looking for work. A believer in the natural order of things, she said, ``I like to think that `his eye's on the sparrow.'''
In recent months McCommon has played women much older than her 58 years (one character was 110) and often on the verge of life-shaking change. She sees it as a fascinating opportunity to show others what it's like to grow old and perhaps lose control over one's life. And it helps her to understand it herself.
``When you have to leave your house to go into a nursing home, you have to remake your life,'' she said. ``But none of these old ladies gives in to the sadness. They know that life is still worth living, and there's a lot left.''
Last year her performance as 82-year-old Agnes in ART Station's ``The Raindrop Waltz'' landed her on the Atlanta Constitution's list of best actresses of the 1994-95 season. Theater critic Dan Hulbert wrote: ``As Agnes, McCommon makes a vivid impression: proud, cantankerous, addled, then fiercely focused.''
Now Atlanta wants her back, and she is thrilled.
``This kind of work reflects the same values that I have, and shows the strength and individuality of the people from these mountains,'' she said. ``I'm happy to be able to bring it to others.''
``Harmony Ain't Easy'' will make its world premiere during the Cultural Olympiad in Atlanta, July 29 - August 1. It also will be previewed at ART Station, May 2 - May 19. For more information, call (770) 469-1105.
LENGTH: Long : 102 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: A longtime resident of Floyd, Elizabeth McCommon wasby CNBknown for years for her support of environmental causes. Now she's
making another name for herself as an actress.