THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, September 5, 1996 TAG: 9609060747
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 10 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY NANCY LEWIS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 165 lines
LEAVE IT to Miss Marple.
She always gets her man - or woman, as the murder case may be.
Whodunit fans are in for a treat when the curtain rises on Agatha Christie's ``A Murder is Announced'' Sept. 13 - fittingly sinister, since it's a Friday.
Christie's famous dame is in top crime-solving form in The Little Theatre of Norfolk's 70th season-opener that runs through Sept. 29.
The play is a local premiere, and the occasion for celebrating the playhouse, thought to be the oldest continuously running community production company in the nation.
As usual, the play is staged entirely by volunteers, from cast to costumer, something that The Little Theatre's little troupe is justly proud of.
The theater group is also proud of the fact that it doesn't rely on government subsidies. Revenue comes exclusively from box office ticket sales - an indisputable bargain at $24 for the season ($20 for seniors, students and military) - and gifts from benefactors. Ticket prices have gone up by only $2 in 10 years.
Now housed in a cinder-block building on Claremont Avenue at the southern edge of residential West Ghent, The Little Theatre got off the ground in 1927 with a performance at Norfolk's Blair Junior High School and netted enough money to rent a York Street site. In 1949, the playhouse moved to Claremont Avenue thanks, in large part, to donations from the public.
Ten years later, additions had almost doubled the size of the playhouse.
The curtain never has failed to rise as scheduled during The Little Theatre's seven decades of performances - not even when World War II raged, and many regular volunteer actors, actresses and stagehands went off to war. Then, military personnel stationed in Hampton Roads ``came to the rescue,'' giving their time to act and build sets, said Dick French, newly elected vice president of the theater's board of directors.
It was a time when many community playhouses across the nation folded, said French, clearly proud of the devoted thespians he has been involved with The Little Theatre for eight years now.
Though the theater has had its ups and downs financially, subscriptions last year approached 1,000. This compares with 600 10 years ago.
``We're playing to a whole new generation of theatergoers,'' he said, showing off framed memorabilia in ``The Green Room,'' a spacious lounge with fireplace that serves as a reception room for parties and other gatherings.
The late actress Margaret Sullavan got her start on The Little Theatre's stage, he says, pointing to a picture. She went on to bigger footlights and fame in Hollywood.
There are others who fledged their show-biz careers there and moved into the broader spotlight, among them Robert Strauss, nominated for an Oscar for his role in the 1953 film, ``Stalag 17.''
The green room's walls also are lined with playbills from decades past. When the final curtain falls this season, The Little Theatre will have staged a total of 350 musicals, comedies and dramas.
Leslie Darbon's stage adaptation of the mystery novel is classic Christie - a puzzle of mixed motives, concealed identities, a second death, a determined inspector grimly following the twists and turns, with Miss Marple on hand to provide the final solution.
Inside the darkened theater, actors and actresses are pacing on the stage, reading and rereading their lines in preparation for a rehearsal. The countdown is on. Days to opening night are dwindling.
``House lights down, lights up,'' director Aaron McGlothlin orders.
The curtain rises on a Victorian drawing room in Chipping Cleghorn, England. It's Friday the 13th of October. All is serenity, from the soft lighting of a chandelier to the tasteful and carefully arranged furnishings. The characters' typically British reserve, too, belies the action that will ensue.
A clock begins to chime the half-hour. All eyes turn to look at it. Everybody freezes, transfixed. Tension hangs in the air like a London fog, then the lights go out, and the room is in total darkness.
Suddenly, a man bursts through a door with flashlight and loaded gun and orders all to get their ``hands up!''
Two shots ring out, and the man falls to the floor.
McGlothlin knows the lines by heart, and this night, he's not satisfied with the first take.
He has directed productions at The Little Theatre for more than two decades and teaches English and theater at Portsmouth's Churchland High School. Last year, his students took first place in the district's one-act play festival.
``OK, all right, Phyllis, you really do need to pick up the pacing here,'' he calls out in a Southern drawl from his seat in the empty theater. ``Let's do it again.''
He's talking to Phyllis Guinazzo, who plays the part of Letitia Blacklock. Guinazzo and The Little Theatre go back 20 years or more.
``OK, more energy on that,'' he prompts, a sandaled foot propped up now on the back of a seat.
Take Three, and this meticulous director is still not content.
``Stronger, that's got to be stronger,'' he says firmly as a thin woman dressed in pink runs onto the set in another scene, saying, ``I'm going to be murdered in my bed.''
After all, she explains, the murder has been announced in the local press.
Earlier, performers donned costumes in a small dressing room backstage that has the smell, like an attic, of stored clothing.
Chelsie Linquist leaned into a large lighted wall mirror applying the finishing touches to her makeup. A 29-year-old veterinary assistant, Linquist plays Phillipa Haynes in the upcoming production. She has been acting since she was 8 years old.
Props are of the eclectic sort - odd chairs hanging from the high ceiling of the shop room, hallway shelves crammed with pieces of fabric large and small.
Leslie Draper, who presides over the theater's board of directors, rubs a hand across one of the bulging wads of material, then says, ``You utilize everything you can and in every way you can.''
Draper is a choir director and organist at Norfolk's Fairmont Park United Methodist Church. He has taken charge of props and wardrobe for the season opener, but he also regularly directs the playhouse volunteers. Sometimes he acts, too.
In the wings, Ehren Mitzlaff is busy with hammer and nails as walls go into place for the practice session. A 28-year-old delivery driver, Mitzlaff volunteered his time and work so he would get to see a friend perform. He's helping Tony Just, who also works for no pay at the theater just because he likes ``to see the presentations.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photos by CANDICE C. CUSIC
Carol Loria of Portsmouth puts the finishing touches on her hairdo
for dress rehearsal of Agatha Christie's ``A Murder is Announced.''
Loria plays Miss Marple.
Carol Chittum of Norfolk, playing the part of Dora Bunner, waits for
her cue to appear onstage during dress rehearsal at The Little
Theatre of Norfolk's playhouse on Claremont Avenue at the southern
edge of residential West Ghent.
Chelsie Linquist of Norfolk stars as Phillipa Haynes in ``A Murder
is Announced.''
Graphics
ON THE COVER
Color Photo by staff photographer Candice C. Cusic.
Chelsie Linquist finishes her makeup for a dress rehearsal of
``Murder Is Announced''
Graphic\ AT A GLANCE
Cast memebers of ``A Murder is Announced'' and what city they are
from are listed below. The play opens Sept. 13 at The Little Theatre
of Norfolk, 801 Claremont Ave., and runs through Sept. 29.
Tickets are $24 for the season ($20 for seniors, students and
military).
For more information on show times, call the box office at
627-8551.
Norfolk
Julia Simmons, played by Lynn Cameron
Dora Bunner played by Carol Chittum
Patrick Simmons played by Thomas Brugger
Phillipa Haynes played by Chelsie Linquist
Inspector Craddock plyaed by Wade Brinkley
Edmund Swettenham played by Peter Yanson
Chesapeake
Letitia Blacklock played by Phyllis Guinazzo
Mrs. Swettenham played by Debbie McAllister
Rudi Sherz and Sergeant Mellors played by Lee McAllister
Portsmouth
Miss Marple played by Carol Loria
Virginia Beach
Mitzi played by Marisa Marsey by CNB