Real-life husband and wife Barbara Reynolds (Marian the Librarian) and Tim Reynolds (Prof. Harold Hill), joined by Geoff Maddelein as Winthrop, appear in the Saratoga Drama Group's latest production.
Photograph by Arthur Mintz
Civic Theater
Volunteer group puts on professional musicals
By Sandy Sims
Pat Brown squeezes past the legs of people sitting in the first row to find her place on a swivel chair at the front of the orchestra. Her white hair glistens in the spotlight. The audience for the sold-out performance in the Saratoga Civic Theater applauds, and Brown points her conductor's baton at the drummer. The young man pounds out a marching beat that leads off a medley of songs--"76 Trombones," "Good Night My Someone," "Marian the Librarian," "Gary Indiana," "Till There was You."
Then the Saratoga Drama Group's production of The Music Man takes off. With its colorful costumes, charming sets and rollicking show tunes, Meredith Willson's old-but-loved musical tale of a fast-talking con man who brings an Iowa town to life unfolds yet again.
Amidst the enclave of Saratoga culture that includes live entertainment at the Mountain Winery, Villa Montalvo, West Valley Light Opera Association and the Wildwood Shakespeare Festival, the Saratoga Drama Group continues, after almost 40 years, to sell out at least 90 percent of its performances, with few exceptions. Bus loads of fans travel from as far away as Walnut Creek and San Leandro. Even celebrities such as Kathryn Crosby, Janice Paige, Gene Nelson and Patricia Morrison have made appearances to support plays they once starred in professionally.
Over the years, SDG has turned out productions of all-time favorites: The Sound of Music, Fiddler on the Roof, The Good-bye Girl, My Fair Lady, State Fair, Hello Dolly, Oklahoma, West Side Story, High Button Shoes, 42nd Street, Guys and Dolls and a host of other popular musicals. SDG's group works well because everyone seems to have a good time: the performers, the crew and the audience.
"We choose plays that our audience wants to see," says Roberta Savage, producer of this production of The Music Man. The reason for their policy was reinforced two years ago when SDG put on the shows Cabaret and Company and the attendance went down. Since SDG, a nonprofit organization, is supported only through ticket sales, that year proved a loss. Tim Reynolds, who is on the SDG board and plays the lead role in The Music Man, says, "We learned not to have two dark plays in a row."
Photograph by Kathy De La Torre
Gary Beytin, left in mirror, and Justin Buchs apply the finishing touches of their stage make-up before getting in costume.
Season ticket holders are typically from Saratoga, Los Gatos and Campbell, according to Savage. "It's a mature audience," she says, "and they want to be entertained." SDG also selects shows that appeal to family audiences.
It's that lively and live theater that brings the faithful back for the old songs and old stories again and again.
The cast loves live theater, too. Reynolds, who by day is co-owner and operations manager for Welker Brothers, a Milpitas carpet company, says, "The thing with live theater is that every show is different. One show last week, he says, was a disaster.
"The audience didn't suspect a thing, but we knew when one of the players missed his cue to come on stage, and when set pieces didn't make it on stage." In fact, Tim's wife, Barbara, who co-stars as Marian the librarian, sang "Goodnight, My Someone" to a curtain when she was supposed to sing out of a set window.
It's no wonder plays by SDG are good. Even with day jobs, everyone involved gives it his or her all, according to Savage. Actors, crew and producers all volunteer their time--and lots of it.
While being interviewed for this story, C. Michael Traw, an SDG board member and retired English and drama teacher, stood behind the California Café reception desk at Valley Fair mall. Traw answered the phone perhaps 10 times, half the time writing the caller's name on the restaurant's ledger in front of him and half the time writing notes for SDG on odd bits of paper he stuffed into his coat pocket.
Photograph by Kathy De La Torre
Tim Reynolds, as Professor Harold Hill, doffs his hat proudly to the people of River City.
Fortunately, California Café, where Traw's been working part time as a host for 12 years, is understanding about his theater phone calls. He's been with SDG since 1968, mostly as a director. This time he's acting: he's the mayor of River City in The Music Man.
When Savage, also an SDG board member, sits at her desk at Village Square Realty in Los Gatos, she takes and makes calls for SDG. There's the set that needs building, the wigs that need dressing, the costumes that need cleaning. There's the live pony that needs to come down from Chez Scherf Pony Farm in the Saratoga hills. There's the problem the tech crew had one night with the set and the candy for intermission. The producer oversees it all. "If I worked as hard at real estate as I do for this silliness, I'd be a millionaire," Savage says with a smile. She's been with SDG since 1961.
It's all a volunteer effort. Actors help build the sets; crew members are also performers. Everyone pitches in to get the job done. The only nominally paid positions are the set and lighting designers, the director and the stage manager. The orchestra members each get a whopping $10 per performance, with each running around three hours.
All of the volunteer effort helps to keep the ticket cost at $13 to $16. "Not bad," says Savage, "in this time when you have to arrange a bank loan to take your family to a professional play or sports game."
Photograph by Kathy De La Torre
Technical crew member Nicole Mallin, right, styles actor Michelle Morgan's hair in the make-up room inside the stage trailer.
But there are rewards for all that hard work. Aside from the creativity and joy of putting on a show-to-be-proud-of, there's the connection with the audience.
"There's nothing like coming out on the stage at the end of a play," says Savage, who's performed in many SDG plays. "Applause is instant appreciation. Where else can you get that?"
"There's no way to describe the accomplishment you feel when you've touched, or entertained, people," Reynolds says.
There are also challenges.
The toughest problem for community theater is getting a good tech crew to work the show, according to Savage. "Actors are easier to come by," she says. Tech people, on the other hand, are scarce and all the community theaters are competing for them. That means the SDG board is often out recruiting.
"We don't pay a thing, but this is a great place for young people to get experience," Savage says. In fact, SDG recruited two Saratoga High School students, Nicole Gianella and Peter Guidotti, to handle the lighting for The Music Man.
Photograph by Kathy De La Torre
Music Man' cast members Marcia Sternin, left, Will Perez and Julie Thomas share a joke before the show.
SDG is always on the lookout for new on-stage talent.
Traw recruited Reynolds six years ago from the Los Altos Conservatory Theater to perform in SDG's Anything Goes. Savage says she recently asked one of the players from the San Jose Children's Musical Theater to audition for one of next year's shows. In fact, Geoff Maddelein, the show-stopping little boy who plays Music Man's Winthrop, is a SJCMT performer.
Another challenge for SDG is the stage. The "large assembly hall," as Traw calls the Saratoga Civic theater, has no orchestra pit and no high ceiling above the stage in which to hoist the set. Everything has to roll on stage from the wings. The theater was never meant to support such elaborate plays.
In fact, the forerunners of SDG never planned on such professional-level productions when they started. That was in 1961, when a talented group at the Saratoga Federated Church decided to put on entertainment to raise money for the church. They called themselves the Saratoga Federated Drama Group. According to Traw, the group began with a melodrama, then got into drama with Tea House of the August Moon. Their first musical was South Pacific. At that time, the church was their venue.
Photograph by Kathy De La Torre
Timothy Gates, 11, Geoff Maddelein, 10, and Brenna Murphy, 11, goof around in the 'green room' inside a trailer parked behind the Saratoga Civic Theater.
When Saratoga built its new City Council chambers and civic theater, the Federated group used the theater for its production of Guys and Dolls. Later it moved its operation permanently to the civic theater, and since then has shared the stage with its sister company, West Valley Light Opera. Actors and crew cross-pollinate between the two production companies. The companies alternate their plays.
However, on Wednesday nights, the grease paint, stage sets, spot lights and music must all be put away and another set pulled out for the Saratoga City Council to put on its "show."
From the beginning, the SDG has sought out good talent.
Savage, a mother of six, had been a San Francisco and San Jose concert singer when the Federated group recruited her in 1961. Her late husband, who at that time owned the pharmacy across from Los Gatos High School (now a video store), encouraged her to get involved. That's 39 years of involvement.
Photograph by Kathy De La Torre
Stacy Christofferson and David Rodoni, in costume and ready to go, try to relax before 'The Music Man' begins.
Traw, who came to the group in the late 1960s, taught drama in the San Jose Unified School District for 20 years and was a Fulbright exchange teacher to Scotland. He's directed plays for the American Musical Theater (in the 1980s), the Palo Alto Players, Foothill College, Santa Clara University, West Valley College, Cabrillo College and more. He says that early in his career he taught in Phoenix, Ariz. with Nick Nolte.
"Nick went to Hollywood to be an actor, and I came here to teach," Traw says. "Look what happened to him." One of Traw's former students and good friends is American Beauty producer Dan Jinks, who played in SDG's production of Hello Dolly in 1980.
Kevin Hauge, the director of The Music Man, is another big talent. He's the artistic director for San Jose Children's Musical Theater, the nation's largest youth theater. His credits are immense and include television specials, a PBS documentary, MGM Grand, Celebrations on Ice, the Easter Celebration at the White House and more. The set for Music Man was designed by another talent on the theater circuit, George Pettit.
Savage says theater people are all good to each other--once a friend always a friend. Community theaters are also good to each other, sharing sets, costumes, and attending each other's plays. SDG loaned its State Fair set to San Jose Children's Musical Theater and SJCMT loaned the My Fair Lady set designed by George Pettit to SDG.
Many who venture over to SDG to be part of a play stay for a long time. Connie and Richard Ryan came to SDG in 1972. Connie has mainly sold tickets and been in charge of the concessions. Richard is a performer and has been in several plays. "We stopped square dancing and singing in the [church] choir," Connie says. "This is where our friends are."
Photograph by Kathy De La Torre
Barbara Reynolds adjusts her wig one last time before going out on stage in her role of Marian Paroo, also known as River City's 'Marian the Librarian.'
SDG newcomer T. J. Paganini performed in My Fair Lady and The Good-bye Girl and is now crewing for Music Man. She hopes to be in the cast of next season's performance of Sweet Charity. "You get hooked," Paganini says. When she found her way to SDG, she says she felt like she'd found a missing piece in her life.
The group spends many evenings together: building sets, rehearsing and performing. Then there are those cast parties. It's no wonder engagements and weddings are part of the scene, too.
The current musical is also happy, ending with romance, a transformed town and an enthusiastic audience humming out the door.
The Music Man plays through June 3rd. For tickets, call 408.264.3110. Tickets are now available for next season's Saratoga Drama Group productions: Sweet Charity, The Fantasticks, and Mame. Auditions for those plays are also in the works.
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