THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, October 25, 1994 TAG: 9410250315
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY LEE BANVILLE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: MANTEO LENGTH: Medium: 65 lines
To Tom Charity, ``Barefoot in the Park,'' the Neil Simon masterpiece that is the Theater of Dare's season-opening production, is old hat.
Charity is directing the play, which starts Nov. 2 at Manteo Middle School, and has worked with it so often he's lost count.
``I've directed it three times and I've played the various male roles six or seven times,'' Charity said, almost running out of fingers. ``It's Simon's very best work. It has six very different, independent, full bodies - full, fleshed-out characters.''
Of the six characters, who is the Charity favorite?
It is not one of the leads, but a character who is onstage for but 10 minutes.
``It's the telephone man,'' Charity said during a telephone interview. ``If it's played well, he gets a standing ovation.''
Pete Grana plays the telephone man in this presentation. The other actors are Heather Vaughn and Eric Hause as Corey and Paul Bratter, Phil Newsom as Victor Velasco, Ethel Banks as Kathy Morrison and Chris Markley as the delivery man.
Vaughn and Newsom are professional performers who are working Theater of Dare ``in the interim between the closing of `The Lost Colony' and going on tour with Richmond companies,'' Charity said.
All the performers have had stage experience, but only two at Theater of Dare.
``More than 65 people came out for audition,'' Charity said, adding in understatement, ``auditions are up.''
He is up before the sun so he can work ``The Breakfast Club,'' the morning show on the area's hottest radio property, WRSF-FM.
``I've worked at all the Outer Banks radio stations,'' said Charity, a Maplewood, N.J., native who became interested in drama while a student at St. Benedict's Preparatory School in Newark - Gordon Liddy's alma mater, if that's any recommendation.
``The drama guild did three or four productions each winter,'' he said. ``It was almost like summer stock.''
One of his instructors, in the best sense of the word, was Frank Torok, who was a director of the Yale University Repertory Company.
Charity has been onstage or backstage since those high school days, including a stint with ``The Cross and the Sword'' in St. Augustine.
What has he yet to do that he would love to do?
Play Willy Loman in ``Death of a Salesman,'' he said. ``I'd also love to play `Richard III.' He makes J.R. Ewing look like a piker.''
Charity is working to make ``Barefoot in the Park'' look like a winner.
A cast of pros and one of Simon's sharpest scripts can only help. ILLUSTRATION: THEATER PREVIEW
Theater of Dare presents ``Barefoot in the Park'' at 8 p.m. November
2 to 4 and 10 to 12 and at 2 p.m. Nov. 13. Tickets are $7 in
advance, $8 at the door and are available at Paige's in The
Marketplace, Southern Shores; The Yarn Corner and Gray's Department
Stores in Kill Devil Hills; Manteo Booksellers, and the Dare Center
of College of the Albemarle in Manteo. For information call
441-1024.
by CNB