LAKEPORT — Thursday night, the full moon shone a bright spotlight on the Soper Reese Theatre for the final dress rehearsal of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Oklahoma! It’s a story set in Claremore, Oklahoma Territory in 1906 where farmers, cowboys and a traveling salesman vie for the hearts of local ladies.
Backstage in the dressing room, the cast was busy putting on their costumes, make-up and wigs. Cast member Gary Deas (the sinister Jud Fry) had Dennis Fay (the gun-toting Andrew Carnes), brush face powder on his bald head to cut down the shine. Barbara Clark (the flirtatious Ado Annie Carnes – ‘I Can’t Say No’) struggled to get into her costume while keeping her wig cap on. It wasn’t chaos; it was laughter and chatter that filled the mirrored room littered with make-up and make-up cases, wigs, water bottles, mouthwash, make-up mirrors, and plenty of snacks. An alcove crammed with costumes and ruffled petticoats promised of dance scenes to come. While everyone readied, they burst into singing the chorus of Oklahoma!
Director John Tomlinson smiled when asked how he felt the night before the opening. “I feel more calm and ready than any other show I’ve done.” A teacher of theater, film and speech at Mendocino College Lake Center, Tomlinson has been a member of Lake County Theater Company for 10 years. He’s directed and produced roughly a dozen other shows. The hardest part of directing, he says, is that “There’s lot of people-management with 30 plus actors involved. It is very challenging to be responsible to them and for them and keep it rewarding for all of them. The work is difficult and rewarding.”
Each of the members involved—from the actors, director, assistant director, producer, producer’s mentor, music director, the choreographer, assistant choreographer, sound, designer, light design and operator, set designer, master carpenter, set builders, costume designer, stage manager, assistant stage managers, set crew, props mistress, props wranglers, concessions and program—all volunteer their time. They have jobs, families and other schedules. “They don’t get paid,” said Tomlinson, “but they need to join the class at Mendocino College Lake Center (and get credits) and become a member of LCTC, where they reap the benefits of being a member.”
Tomlinson continues, “This is a LCTC and Mendocino College Lake Center production. The college provides some of the structure and support and everyone is registered in a class. The college’s main focus is on the school and the student relationship. They aren’t focused on the proceeds. All the proceeds go to the LCTC and to making more community theater. The grand design for LCTC is to purchase a building and have a home. We’re a group of migrant theater volunteers—we’ve traveled all around Lake County and there would be a lot of benefits of having our own home. We could offer workshops if we had our own home, we currently have five storage units in three locations so we could have our own storage.”
Producer Charise Reynolds also voices that everyone is committed, some of the actors even source their own costumes. “It’s possible to have good theater in a small community,” she said. “We love audience members and we would love more community members to be involved. We’re more than just theater shows; we do fund raisers, magic shows, special events. We’re constantly doing things to raise money with the end goal being to get our own theater.” Tomlinson praised Reynolds, saying “The dedication and diligence she’s shown to this production is a huge reason it is where it is now.” Reynolds laughed when she said her husband would divorce her if she produced another show. “Maybe next time I’ll have an assistant.”
Phil Blair, the master carpenter built the sweet yellow house with its porch where Laurey Williams (Laura McAndrews Samuel) is wooed by Curly (Tim Barnes). Blair’s favorite set design was Jud Fry’s smokehouse, which was built at the backside of the yellow house. “I built it entirely from repurposed materials. I dug through trash heaps and went to a place where they do estate sales where I got some stuff that they were throwing out. I spent maybe $350 on the sets. Most of it was sourced, some things were donated. I’d say 75 percent was repurposed materials.”
The corn props were donated by Wildhurst Winery from their corn maze, the barrels the corn stands in were donated by a friend of Blair’s, the windmill was in Gary Deas’ front yard. The production is a true community effort.
The cast was called to the stage for vocal warm-ups conducted by Marie Schrader, music director, and stretches by Diana K. Schmidt (Ensemble and veteran dancer), normally conducted by Zoe Richardson, the choreographer, who couldn’t make the rehearsal on time because she was at math camp with her special education students. Once the cast was finished with the warm-up, Tomlinson took them for a stage tour to cement in their minds what to do and not to do, how much space to give actors who are exiting or entering the stage and a myriad of other instructions.
Larry Richardson (Will Parker, one of the love interests of Ado Annie) also arrived late due to a work related function and Tomlinson encouraged him to take some deep breaths, relax and have some water before he jumped right in. Which Richardson did anyway.
Tomlinson’s hopes for this production is that “the audience takes away any piece of the joy that we’ve put into it. I think people will leave here happy, toe-tapping, humming, singing, whistling and glad they came. It’s an enjoyable piece of theater. It’s a love story with a lot of beautiful singing and wonderful dancing. It’s fun.”
When all was set, the rehearsal began with Curly (Tim Barnes) belting out ‘Oh What a Beautiful Morning.’ The toe-tapping began.
Oklahoma! runs at the Soper Reese Theatre on weekends through Nov 11.
