Wednesday, Feb. 01, 2012

Stages of development

Resident theater company gaining traction in its fourth season at the beach

The Grand Strand is rife with professional entertainers. While those with musical talent have decent employment options, those with professional acting skills (and resumes to match) may have found it more difficult to ply their trade along the Grand Strand. That was until four years ago when the non-profit Atlantic Stage resident theater company formed in Myrtle Beach, and found a way to employ at least a few professional thespians and technical crew members - and help Coastal Carolina University train the next generation of young actors at the same time.

Two-thirds of the way through its fourth season, Atlantic Stage is coming off its first weekend of performances of “Bigfoot and Other Lost Souls” at the 79th Avenue Theatre in Myrtle Beach (see accompanying review). The semi-autobiographical musical comedy, written by playwright Adrien Royce, with original lyrics and score by Tony Award-winning composer Mark Hollmann, will continue its run tonight through Feb. 12. While much of the cast is made up of volunteer CCU students, the show employs an actor and two stage managers who are part of the Actor’s Equity Association – and it’s this association that sets it apart from other theater in the area.

So how did composers, playwrights and professional actors working in Hollywood and on the Great White Way find their way to little ol’ Myrtle Beach? And what did they find when they got here?

Planting the seeds

Atlantic Stage Artistic Director Thom Penn first brought his dream of professional theater, when he and his wife, Mindi Blackburn Penn, moved here from Texas in 2003. When Thom Penn began as a teaching associate in the theater department at CCU, and Mindi Penn as the theater and drama teacher at North Myrtle Beach High School, the inevitable networking sparked introductions.

“Coastal Today” television host, CCU staffer, actress, and Atlantic Stage founding member Robin Russell remembers how those in the group first found one another.

“The time was right,” said Russell in a 2011 interview with Grand Strand magazine. “There were so many talented people running around and we found each other, got together and all sort of clicked. We like each other and we take the craft of theater seriously.”

“We wanted to establish what is called a “regional theater,” said John Woodson, in that same article. Woodson is an actor, former Atlantic Stage Artistic Director and the director of “Bigfoot and Other Lost Souls.” Living in Myrtle Beach full time, Woodson stepped down from his role as Artistic Director two years ago when scheduling conflicts became too difficult to manage. Woodson’s resume and active acting career have him across the nation fulfilling a wide variety of stage and screen roles. He was most recently seen on television in the NBC made-for-TV movie “Game Time: Tackling the Past.” He’s also appeared in “Law and Order,” and other TV and theatrical film releases. “Atlantic Stage is a professional theater,” continued Woodson, “where artists - locally, regionally and eventually nationally - could come and work like they do in other cities, like in Atlanta and Charlotte.”

A unionized effort

But just what is “Professional Theater?”

Thom Penn explains: “We have a formal relationship with the union – the Actor’s Equity Association,” he said. The AEA is the union of professional stage managers and actors in the U.S. South Carolina is one of 23 so called “right to work states,” which means an employer is free to hire whomever he or she wants, regardless of union affiliation. But membership in the union has its privileges. As an AEA signatory the union provides actors, stage managers, choreographers, and the like, some representation, and provides prospective employers some minimum level of competency, too.

“We as a theater have decided that in order to ensure quality in our productions, we wanted to employ at least one member of the union in each of our shows,” said Penn. The presence of that person in the cast raises the bar for everyone else, and increases the level of quality of what we produce – that’s our belief anyway.” In order to meet the specific standards set by the union, Atlantic Stage must follow rules for pay scale, workweeks, and a long list of seemingly odd regulations, but paying your dues means more than opening your checkbook - you must work your way in, as Thom Penn explains.

“You join this union in a couple of ways,” said Thom Penn, “– there’s Equity Membership Candidacy, where as a young developing artist you can work in an equity theater, like Atlantic Stage, and earn weeks - once you’ve earned 50 weeks, you can pay the remainder of your initiation fee and get your equity card. That carries with it certain advantages and disadvantages. You can work for a living wage, but it’s also harder to get hired – it’s a double-edged sword.”

As with all unions, once you’ve committed to union membership, it’s against the rules to accept a position for less than union scale, and in right-to-work states, that can be an issue. An AEA member daring to work for less may face the wrath of the union, though no AEA scabs are said to have been buried under any South Carolina sporting arenas, that we know of.

Another way of joining the AEA can come from established theaters casting a big enough role. “You can just be offered a contract,” continued Penn. “An equity theater that’s been around long enough can cast a non-union person and offer them a contract right on the spot.”

In “Bigfoot,” Equity actress Monica Bell is the lone AEA pro on stage, and her performance is standout. She plays the role of Maggie Stevenson, the quirky, whiskey-sipping backwoods wife of sasquatch enthusiast Nicolai Stevenson, played by David Bankston, the CCU Vocal Performance Professor. Both stage managers, Becca Pickett and Kate Cudworth, are also Equity, and are paid a non-disclosed fee for their time and talent. The remainder of the cast and crew are non-equity CCU students, though you’d be pleasantly surprised at the level of professionalism these 18-22 year-olds bring to the stage. Having seen two Atlantic Stage performances (“A Christmas Story” in December, and “Bigfoot and Other Lost Souls” on opening night, Jan. 26), I can say without reservation that, at least so far, the consistency of professionalism from sound, lighting, and most importantly the actors, meets the company’s own high standard. This AEA designation is denoted on “Bigfoot and Other Lost Souls’” playbill.

Equity Vs. Community

So if the Atlantic Stage is set apart from area community theater, how is it different?

For instance, while the area’s most visible community theater company, Theater of the Republic based out of Conway’s Main Street Theatre, offers big scale Broadway musicals and popular comedies from talented casts, Atlantic Stage offers something altogether different, its creators and organizers contend. “What they’re doing in Conway is great, but it’s traditional community theater,” continued Woodson in last year’s Grand Strand article, “where the talent is volunteer. By day they’re lawyers and real estate agents or whatever - but for us – we’re [mostly] all paid professionals and it’s how we make our living - exclusively. We feel like the more theater the better and we won’t infringe on what they’re doing at all.”

While Atlantic Stage has only produced non-musical comedies and dramas in the past, “Bigfoot” breaks the tradition as the theater group’s first musical. The troupe is the first in the world to workshop this all-new production, which is very loosely based on a version of the play Royce staged once before. This new production might very well one day end up a Broadway hit, with its humble Myrtle Beach beginnings listed in the footnotes.

The seed for “Bigfoot” first came in 1981 when actress-turned writer, Royce, found herself at a crossroads and out of work in Los Angeles. She would later meet Hollmann, the Tony Award-winning composer of the Broadway hit musical “Urinetown,” which nearly came to Myrtle Beach. Whether the title was too problematic for a conservative Grand Strand audience, no one will say, but it seems the opportunity to try something altogether new, was more tempting, and certainly an easier sell.

“We were going to stage “Urinetown,” said Penn, “but when the “Bigfoot” piece came onto the radar and we work-shopped it last May, we said ‘Instead of “Urinetown,” why don’t go all the way in developing this new work?’” As part of the CCU Theatre Department’s association and joint production credit, the first read-through of “Bigfoot” gave theater students a chance to see how a show is born – from its primordial, awkward and humble beginnings, to as far as the work warrants.

Some of the “Bigfoot” story comes from Royce’s own experience in writing and attempting to produce a real-life docudrama on the legal and moral issues surrounding an ill-fated birth control device that once made international headlines.

“I was an actress until the late 70s,” said Royce, “and then became a writer.” Royce has earned credits for appearing in “Starsky and Hutch,” “The Bionic Woman” and other iconic 70s television fare. The Chicago native now lives in New York City with her husband. She’s been back and forth to Myrtle Beach since May, preparing this workshop production whose genesis dates back to a difficult time in her life.

“I was living in L.A. at the time,” said Royce. “I wrote a docudrama in 1981, which was the seed of the [“Bigfoot”] story, and drives the main character, Bernie Bernstein. I couldn’t figure out why this [originally] greenlit docudrama about the Dalkon Shield IUD [inter uterine device] couldn’t [get aired]. No one could give me answers. I found out 15 years later why - the project was kyboshed at the level of the lawyers at CBS – as a young writer I was devastated.” Class-action lawsuits, gag orders, and the eventual punitive and legal payments estimated in the billions of dollars by manufacturer A.H. Robbins, all came into play more than a decade after the docudrama had been written and shelved. “This is a story I’ve been trying to tell since 1981,” said Royce.

So how - you’re obviously wondering - does the failed IUD Dalkon Shield and Royce’s unaired docudrama lead to a story about Bigfoot and get turned into a musical comedy?

“[When] I was trying to get the IUD story to air,” said Royce, “I was freelancing, and was asked by a friend if I wanted to write a Bigfoot documentary – so this musical is about a young writer in L.A., who accepts a Bigfoot job. Without any plot-spoilers, I can say [Bernie] finds what she’s looking for.”

The show runs approximately an hour and 45 minutes, and with added short intermission is finished in less than two hours. “It’s a musical comedy about a young lady who is lost in her life,” adds Penn. “Over the course of 24 hours, events conspire to change her life in a significant way. The music and script are phenomenal, but it’s the development part that is so unique [for Myrtle Beach, CCU, and Atlantic Stage]. Most audiences never have the opportunity to be a part of the early stages of a show that might become a Broadway hit one day. To be able to say, ‘Hey I was there when this was being work-shopped in Myrtle Beach’ – it’s never happened before. It’s exciting. The way the audience responds in this workshop production will influence the way that the work develops between now and Alaska.” Though this workshop performance is the first time audiences see the new production, the official world premier is set for May 4 at the Perseverance Theatre in Juneau, Alaska.

Experimental theater?

Perhaps not when you consider that the “Book of Mormon,” and other edgy, offbeat shows have enjoyed mainstream success and multiple Tony Awards. “Bigfoot’s” musical composer, Hollmann, found his greatest success to date, in his most unusually titled musical “Urinetown,” for which he won Broadway’s equivalent of an Academy Award, the Tony.

“I’m glad [“Urinetown”] has been recognized,” said Hollmann, who, like Royce, has been traveling between New York and Myrtle Beach. “The Tony Award was such a big thrill. The way the show got to Broadway was a Cinderella story. “Urinetown” ran two years and three months.” Whether “Bigfoot” finds the same success depends, in large part, upon how audiences in Myrtle Beach respond – it’s all part of the workshop process, where the show is still in evolution before its world premier in Alaska later this year.

“I thought [working with Atlantic Stage] would be a nice development opportunity for us,” said Hollmann, “but I didn’t know much about [Atlantic Stage] or the theater department [at CCU]. But I have known [CCU faculty member] Steven Gross [“Bigfoot’s” Musical Director] for 25 years, and have great respect for him – but I just didn’t know. From our first experience back in May and leading up to these rehearsals – to see it fully realized, written, orchestrated and staged with sets and costumes – I’m really pleased. It’s invaluable – and the cast is terrific. The director, John Woodson, the choreographer Barbara Hartiwick, and Steven [Gross] – are such a wonderful team. The Theater Department at CCU has such a strong roster of actors and actresses – this show will be realized in the highest quality.”

CCU Connection

This first musical produced by Atlantic Stage at the 79th Avenue Theatre features a small rock ensemble/orchestra made up of CCU students: Casey Hawkins (flute), Stephen Dinda (clarinet, saxophone), Kerrine Gifford (cello), William Curtis McDonald (guitars, banjo), Jonathan Wade McMillan (drums), Jerry Brandon Douglas (percussion), with Gross as keyboardist/conductor. Additionally, Gross orchestrated Hollmann’s piano score, helping the music come to life.

“This is basically a rock musical,” said Penn. “There’s something about having real artists [playing the music]. We’re not about the canned [music] thing. These musicians are there and working with the actors and all that energy flowing around feeds the audience, in my opinion.”

Twenty-one-year-old Shannon Burke, who plays the lead role of Bernie Bernstein, is a CCU student in her Junior year, working toward a BFA in Musical Theatre. She sings 13 of the 22 musical numbers, and while a career in film and television may become long-term goals, right now she enjoys the instant feedback only a live audience can provide. “It’s a feeling that simply cannot be matched by anything else,” said Burke. The workshop aspect of “Bigfoot” seems particularly rewarding. “It has been a chance for us, as students, to experience what its like to work on a completely new work, and to understand what goes on during the creative process, behind the scenes.”

Burke is uncomfortable with the so-called “triple threat” designation some might want her to wear, though she does sing, dance and act in the production. “I have my strengths and weaknesses, like anyone else,” she said, “but that’s why I’m still in college honing my skills. Right now I’m just soaking up everything I can.”

So will Atlantic Stage foster the Grand Strand’s next great actor? Do those in the company even seek fame at the national or international level? The answer is complicated.

“Every actor’s answer to ‘Are you seeking a national role in television or movies?’ will be different,” said Penn. “There are some in our company now (or who have been in the past) who are seeking that kind of work. But I never really have. My love has always been in the theater. My wife and I made life choices about marrying and having children that sort of precluded that rat race or seeking that kind of fame. We just want an opportunity to practice our craft. When we moved here Mindi and I had the specific goal of opening a [professional] theater. It took us five years to get that to happen, and we had to find others with a similar goal. Nature abhors a vacuum so we thought why not start [here] on the Grand Strand?” Penn cites an anecdotal sense of increasing community awareness, along with ticket sales, the hard numbers, proving more sold-out shows, and a growing seasonal subscriber base. These and opportunities like “Bigfoot” are the reasons for his optimism. “Finally, in our 4th season, we’re enjoying some real success.”