view archived features Petoskey's Theatre Rebels Aim to Stage an Ongoing Ovation Robert Downes
A great sage once said that if you can make it in New York, you can make it anywhere. But does that hold true in an even tougher town like Petoskey? A group of theater refugees from the Big Apple are testing those waters with their innovative Petoskey Theatre Festival. By "tough town," we mean a place that's not known as a destination for the kind of edgy, daring, experimental theater that is commonly found in such big cities as Chicago, New York or London. But that is just what the Petoskey Theatre Festival (PTF) aspires to, hoping to create a major theater scene in the city that will someday rival such stage meccas as Stratford, Ontario, or Ashland, Oregon. "We're definitely finding our niche," says Theresa McCarthy, the PTF's outreach program director and co-founder. "We're attracting a lot of young people to our shows and people who are excited about what we're doing." That's an important goal for the PTF because they're trying to make their shows more accessible and interesting to younger audiences by offering more challenging material. "This town is ripe for something new," McCarthy says. "One thing we noticed around here is that the arts are treated like an elite act, geared for 56-to-65-year-old couples who have money to burn. But if you don't work on developing younger audiences, theater is just going to die." Thus, the PTF also offers a "Free Will Shakespeare" performance each year as well as an internship program for high school students, offerings for high school and grade school kids, and a six-week theatre arts course in the summer. And the PTF is also trying to push the envelope with productions such as "God's Country," a docu-drama about the white surpremecy movement and the murder of talk show host Alan Berg; and "Pigeon River Opera," a David-and-Goliath environmental musical about a wildlife biologist standing up to the oil industry.
NEW YORK ROOTS The PTF got its wings in April, 2000 when performing artists McCarthy and Larry Green moved to Petoskey from New York with their two daughters (now three). With the help of friends, family and supporters in the New York theatre community, the couple were able to launch their first season of the PTF with a production of "Greetings" in Deember of that year. Since then, they've been joined by Linda and Roy Truax, who serve as production manager and technical director. The Truax's also spent time working in New York. Linda served as a stage manager at the Juilliard School and was active in television production, while Roy -- bass player for the popular local funk band The Dopes -- also worked at Juilliard among other pursuits. "I jammed with some local bands (in New York), but they all have to play for free there, and I won't do that," he notes. Indeed, the incredible level of competition in the arts in New York City served as an impetus for the foursome to consider Petoskey as an alternative for creative and career expression. Musicians, actors, artists are expected to perform for free in "exposure gigs" or even to pay for the privilege of performing in cities such as New York and Los Angeles. "Every actor has to come to the point where he has to say I'm not going to do anything for free any more," says Green, PTF's artistic director. During his New York days, Green performed with numerous theatre companies and also toured America with The Acting Company. He also did work for television, appearing in several episodes of "Law & Order" as well as "Hamlet" with Kevin Kline for PBS.
A TOUGH BUSINESS "New York is very difficult," Green says. "You have to be a star to get a job even off, off, off Broadway, and you have to start out really young to get those roles you've always wanted. "Also, trying to live on an actor's salary in New York is insane," he adds. "As an alternative, a lot of stage actors supplement their work with TV, soap operas and commercials, but that's a separate business and sometimes you have to go on 120 calls to book one commercial. And even those don't pay as well as they used to because they're what's called 'disposable spots' tailored for a certain market." Has it been tough for Green to trade the dazzle of the New York stage for Petoskey? "No. When would I get a chance to play the title role of MacBeth in New York? Never." Another example: this summer Green, Roy Truax and Rick Branson performed the comedy "Art" at the Gaslight Gallery in Petoskey. A hit play in New York and London, "Art" offers plum roles for actors as three friends argue over the value of a minimalist painting, and their friendship.
CHANGING SCENE The Gaslight Gallery setting of "Art" reveals the nascent nature of the PTF, which is now in its third season, yet still doesn't have a fixed home. Unless you count the former roller rink on the corner of Howard and River roads, next to the American Spoon Foods warehouse that is. The space is deliciously bohemian, adding just the right note of urban grit with its quasi-anonymous location and furtive entrance. The temporary setting lends an underground, speakeasy vibe to PTF productions such as "Macbeth," which was produced as a multi-media piece with some of the roles videotaped for interaction with live performers. Other venues will include the Winter Sports Park for "God's Country" in October, and the Crooked Tree Arts Center for "Arabian Nights" in December. Regarding their humble digs, Theresa Truax says the company is just happy to be gaining a foothold in Petoskey, and that it's good to be back home. "New York was fun, but once you've lived with the kind of privacy and water and space that you have here, you can't forget that," she says. "Plus, to start a theater company in New York is a very iffy proposition. It can cost anywhere from $60,000 to $90,000 for an off Broadway production."
RISKY BUSINESS Even so, starting a theater company in Petoskey has risks all its own. Young people, for instance, don't seem as jazzed about live theater as did preceding generations. Down the road, the PTF would like to see Petoskey blossom as a magnet for theater lovers from throughout the Midwest, but in the meantime they need to build a base to simply survive. "You have to appeal to the audience with something new and different," McCarthy says. "Especially younger persons; if you're doing plays like 'Arsenic and Old Lace,' who wants to see that? "We'd like to be downtown in a space where we can sponsor other performances, such as concerts by young musicians or comedy," she adds. "It just needs to be new, original, vital and young. I'm really interested in working with local talent on things like multi-media performances. Making this area an arts magnet is a goal." What about live theater itself? Does it have a future? "Theater is like the cobbled streets of Venice; it will always be unique, so there will always be a demand," says Green. Closer to home, he notes that in Petoskey, civic officials fret over things such as streetscapes and downtown shoppers, forgetting that cultural resources such as an exciting theater scene can generate a far more vital downtown by attracting visitors from hundreds of miles away. "Theater will survive, but it could go a lot more downhill before it picks up," adds McCarthy. "It's a lot more vital in Europe, and not so much in the U.S. because we're all so bombarded with stuff. But there will always be a need for people to perform and for others to feel the difference between a video and a live performance."
SIGNS Still, she adds, "There needs to be something more democratic about who can come to the theatre; it needs to be more accessible." And a problem there is that live theater is costly to produce, which gets back to inducing younger patrons to open their wallets. In that respect, "theater is the exact opposite" of what's going on in forms of entertainment offered by the mass media, says Green. "How can we get people to understand how spiritually involving something can be unless they do it themselves? We're hoping that something miraculous might happen here, that it will 'catch' like Stratford did in Canada." And there are small signs of encouragement as PTF gathers more fans and funding. Linda speaks of a 30-year-old fan who caught the PTF's first production of "Greetings." "Now he's hooked and has come to every play, and I think we're engaging a younger audience," she says. "I know a lot of people who've never seen a live production, but once they come, it's a feeling they can't forget."
Season tickets for the PTF are $75, single performances are $15 adults, $7 students. For info, call 348-7520, or see www.petoskeytheatrefestival.org.
Coming Attractions: • "God's Country" by Steven Dietz. Directed by Joe Bertucci. A docu-drama weaving three story lines: the last months of the life of Alan Berg, the actions of The Order, a white supremicist group; and the courtroom revelation of the group's views on race, law and the Constitution. Oct. 4, 5, 6, 11, 12, 13, 18, 19, 20, 8 p.m. Winter Sports Park.
• "Arabian Nights" retells Persian, Arabian and Indian folk tales from "1,001 Arabian Nights." Storyteller Scheherezade saves her life and wins King Shahryar's heart by telling interconnected stories of magic, mystery and romance, Dec. 6, 8, 13, 14, 15, 20, 21, 22, 8 p.m., Crooked Tree Arts Center.
Theater lovers will have plenty to choose from in Petoskey this year. In addition to the PTF, the Little Traverse Theater has an ambitious lineup at the Ross Stoakes Theatre, including the following:
"The Best Man" by Gore Vidal. Directed by Bev Holden. Gore Vidal's "The Best Man" was written 40 years ago yet is still remarkably timely in its Broadway revival. Fighting for their party's presidential nomination are Secretary of State William Russell, a high-minded patrician liberal who believes politics is a process of educating people about the issues, and Senator Joe Cantwell, an expert at grabbing headlines with sensational investigations who will go to any length to win. He threatens to destroy Russell by releasing his medical records. Russell's team has dug up some dirt of its own on Cantwell, but Russell has doubts about sinking to his opponent's level by using it. October 17*, 18, 19, 20**, 24, 25, 26, 8 p.m. $10, matinee $6.
"Rebecca" by Daphne du Maurier. Directed by Betsy Willis. Set in 1930s coastal England, "Rebecca" recounts du Maurier's classic novel. Brooding and moody Maxim deWinter returns from an extended trip to the Continent with a young bride, less than a year after the tragic death of his first wife, Rebecca. The staff of Manderley, his country home, is still devoted to their former mistress, the socialite Rebecca and they find it difficult to accept the new, shy Mrs. deWinter who is inexperienced running a large home. In addition, Rebecca's tragic boating accident, that took her life, seems to haunt Manderley and its inhabitants. Was there truly an accident? Is Rebecca really dead? Feb, 13-22.
"The Cemetary Club." Directed by Bill Zoerhof Three middle-aged widows are fast friends. One flirts outrageously, another is dedicated to the memory of her husband and the third is beginning to realize that she still has a life to live. When an eligible widower appears on the scene, sparks start to fly. May 8-17.
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