Summer, 2003

The summer season in Traverse City is more than halfway over, so it's time for a quick look back. The spring season at OTP ended with a show seemingly built around our recurring Sunday night improvs. FUDDY MEERS had Kelly Curtis in her first role since CITY OF ANGELS and her first lead for much longer than that. She was among the original hosts for this activity. Al Lien, also in the cast, succeeded her as host. Director Bill Dungjen and rehearsal prompter/house manger Hedges were early participants in the group, and I have been in and out of it over the years. Cast members Jeff Potts and Stephanie Leach, stage manager Jessica Greenwood, and production assistant Ashley Wilbur began attending the improvs shortly before FUDDY auditions, and Potts/Leach/Wilbur briefly co-hosted the sessions in late spring.
RUMORS was our final mainstage offering of the season. Max Hobbs, a newcomer to the area, was supposed to play a role, but suffered a serious unjury, and director Don Kuehlhorn had to step into his part just days before opening. The show was very successful in spite of this, and both actors and audiences enjoyed themselves.
The 2003 Cherry Festival offered many of our current and former volunteers a chance to participate. Some of our familiar faces were ambassadors and workers. You might have bought your festival pin from Margaret Anne Slawson. You might have taken your kids to the Teddy Bear picnic and tea party and watched Joani Lackie entertaining with songs, poems, and stories. You might have seen the Playhouse's award winning float (best built float) with its CHICAGO style dancers (Sam Clark was hoofing it for the first time, although you could never tell). And some of our past performers Chelsee Oaks (of ANNIE fame), Mark Staycer (JESUS CHRIST, SUPERSTAR), and Don Swan were opening acts in the open space on different nights. Young Emmy Parsons contributed in a different way, writing articles about musical offerings in the Record-Eagle. Incidentally, Don Swan's band, Radio Flyers has been quite busy with engagements in F&M Park and at Li'l Bo's. An article about him recently appeared in the Northern Express. His concerts are always well attended, though the crowd is vastly different than theone that used to watch him on our stages.
Another local entertainment personality, Tim Hall was in the Northern Express, promoting his upcoming movie, VOW, which is scheduled to play a local theater in August. The article omitted my name as executive producer, and a later correction identified me as "Hedge MacDonald". The movie has many familiar faces and places to see (including the director of our upcoming CHICAGO, and will certainly have big local interest. Tim has given himself the pen name, "Timothy Grey", a device used by Tom Laughlin when he directed the BILLY JACK movies under pseudonyms like "T.C. Frank" and "Frank Laughlin".
Riverside Shakespeare LLC is enjoying a successful run of TWELFTH NIGHT, directed by former Playhouse executive director, Guy Molnar, taking time from his busy Interlochen schedule to work with local groups. Stacy Griffith, who appeared in ANNIE and ANNE OF GREEN GABLES at the Playhouse, has her best role as Viola. She is supposed to be the twin sister of Interlochen student Duncan Frost, playing Sebastian, and there actually is a physical resemblance, despite the ten year difference in their ages. H.T. Snowday makes a welcome return to local theater as Duke Orsino ( his wife, Lauren was Olivia in the 1998 production of this same play, directed then by Robert "Wizard" Roush, who here plays the sea captain who rescues Viola). Various Playhose veterans appear in other roles, and TCCT director, Luis Araquistain makes his local acting debut as Sir Andrew Aguecheek. Jessica Greenwood, who has stage managed outdoor Shakespeare productions for other groups, did a fine job in that capacity for our show
T he Stage Door production of FOOTLOOSE, continues the pleasant tradition of casting old WEST SIDE STORY female chorus members in musical leads. In this case, Ally McLeod is demonstrating how much she has grown up in 3 years' time. Her character has seemingly taken Ashley Frost's Sandy role from last year's GREASE and built her interpretation around the final entrance when she undergoes the big transformation (Ally says she didn't see that show). Ashley is back, but in a supporting role originally written to be male. Billie Thompson has a nice cameo, and Clare Shipstead is hilarious on rollerskates. Bensie Benghauser plays Ally's mom, another welcome return. Christopher Briante, a veteran of Michigan Ensemble Theater in the '90's, has returned to play Bensie's husband, Reverend Moore and to conduct workshops for local actors. His improvisation session was the most enjoyable one I've participated in, and our Playhouse sessions could use guidance from someone like him.
Our refocused Children's Theater has mounted 2 above average productions: ROBIN HOOD, THE NEXT GENERATION, which gave Riverside Shakespeare alumnus Carina Saxon (Hymen in AS YOU LIKE IT) a chance to convincingly play a deliciously evil adult role (Carina is participating in the Shakespeare festival at Stratford this year), and TREASURE ISLAND, THE MUSICAL featured my fourth cousin, Jessica Eggli as the ship captain. May our expanded children's theater program (complete with a four week summer day camp) continue to grow. . If you dine at the 310 Restaurant and a lady named Amber Kardes is your waitress, be mindful that she was once a volunteer in our Sunday improv program. She is now studying engineering in the Soo and is just here for the summer, but she hasn't forgotten her high school and early college days, playing improv games with the likes of Cari Burke and Jacob Kramer. Her family once owned the laundromat next to Tom's Market on 14th, but that's another story.

Hedges Macdonald
hedges@chartermi.net

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