Christopher Owens: 1992

In 1992, The Clarke Courier featured a full-page spread of the three major performance venues for theatre located in the Shenandoah Valley. It was noted that each theatre offers three separate styles of productions indicating the wealth of choices available to local residents without having to drive into DC where ticket prices were much higher.  First on the list was The Contemporary American Theater Festival in Shepherdstown, WV that emphasizes the most recent works written by American playwrights, with many of their performances being premiers. Next was Shenandoah Summer Music Theatre in Winchester offering four shows per season, all large-scale musical productions featuring full orchestra and large casts.  And, Wayside Theatre, which offers a varied lineup of plays and “capitalizes on its compactness. There’s not a bad seat in the house - - even the balcony seats have an intimate visual connection to the stage” (Studebaker. “Valley Theaters ….” The Clarke Courier. 9 July 1992).

The biggest change in Wayside’s 1992 season was that it offered seven plays plus A Christmas Carol instead of the usual six titles plus the Christmas show.  Adding an additional play made for an earlier opening of the season beginning in May rather than in June.  Owens also announced that for the third year in a row, the season’s last two productions, The Foreigner and Lend Me a Tenor, would be transferred to the Alden Theatre in McLean, Virginia for performances there (McCarty.  “Wayside ’92.”  TWS.  12 Feb. 1992).  There is no information regarding the length of time that productions were seen on Alden’s stage. 

In addition to its performances, Wayside introduced a Make-up Workshop, featuring the talents of Paul Sipe, a Hollywood Trained Make-up Artist.  Three sessions per day were available between May 5 – 9 which were held in the dressing rooms of the theatre when this space was available between productions.  In addition to the announcement of this workshop, the newspaper included information on Sipe along with a clarifying statement that admission to the workshop would not be a fund-raiser, but would serve to generate interest in the Theatre’s activities (Skinner. “Makeup Topic at Theatre.” TWS.  4 May 1999).  Sipe worked with the theatre during the 1991 season and was in charge of make-up and wigs for the production of Amadeus. Sipe states, “That was the biggest [show] I’d done.  There were 27 wigs that I washed, curled and styled” (McCarty. “At peace.”  TWS.  3 Nov. 1993). 

When the 1992 season was announced, it was delivered by Wayside’s “new face,” a clean shaven Christopher Owens, who had sported a beard ever since coming to Wayside in 1987.  No reason was given for the ‘new look,’ but he retained it for the remainder of his time at Wayside.  Owens speaks about each play scheduled in the upcoming summer season and stated that for this year, there will be a “sophisticated audio system” as well as new red velvet curtain and drapes on the stage. After speaking in detail about the titles for the upcoming season, Owens announced that “Castings for the plays will begin [in February] and be held in Washington, D.C., Baltimore, and New York.”  He adds that, “I will cast locally for some roles in ‘Amadeus’ ” (McCarty, L.  “Wayside ’92.” TWS. 12 Feb. 1992).   

The pre-show gala before the opening night, held at the Wayside Inn, was centered around a nautical theme.  The menu included shrimp, crabcakes, and catfish fingers. Posters and cut-outs of fish decorated the space, and some servers were dressed as mermaids and other nautical characters, some of whom walked around with Bubble-Blowing liquid and wands.  This light-hearted fun was the perfect prelude for the ticket holders when they arrived at the Theatre for an equally silly show, Greater Tuna. 

The reviews for Greater Tuna were positive for the two-man team that skillfully performed the 19 roles with conviction.  Tuna is a laugh-a-minute play that was first performed at Wayside in 1987.  One could ask if enough time had passed before repeating it?  This question is addressed by a reviewer who wrote, “First-time viewers and ‘Tuna’ affecionados will find plenty to guffaw at.  Others revisiting the play can garner a measure of enjoyment although the principle of diminishing returns intrudes …. ‘Tuna’ is a wisp of a comedy, with the nutritional value of cotton candy.  Second helpings, even five years apart, can leave people feeling unfulfilled” (Horan. “Wayside revisits ‘’Greater Tuna.’ “ NVD.  23 May 1972).  Wayside repeated Greater Tuna ten years later, and again during the 2011-2012 season.  A Tuna spin-off, Tuna Does Vegas, was performed during the 2012-2013 season. 

One critic thought Wayside’s next offering, Stage Struck, should never have been considered, much less actually performed.  Perhaps burying the script would have been the better option or the cast “should have begged for another showcase for their considerable talents” (Skinner.  “ ‘Stage Struck’ Should Have …. ” TWS.  12 June 1992).  On the reverse side, another writer commented on the puzzlement of the opening night audience’s hesitance to laugh “at the many wickedly funny lines that is typical of its author’s work” which could be considered slightly bizarre.  Further on, he praises the play, the set, and the cast predicating that “theatergoers are likely to go on to seek out more of both Gray’s (the author) and the Wayside’s work” (Hanlon.  “Wayside Theatre audience is ….”  LTM.  18 June 1992).  But, the best comment about the play stated that one could “ … immerse themselves in a first-rate live thriller at Wayside Theatre [which] is a scintillating suspense tale, exquisitely executed by the Wayside cast ….  It is a ‘whodunit, but one is never quite sure who the ‘who’ is or what was done” (Horan.  “ ‘Stage Struck’ offers ….”  NVD.  13 June 1992. 

The corporate world of business and finance was the subject for the summer’s next production, Other People’s Money.  Owens calls the play “extremely contemporary.  It is not a drama of yesteryear.  It’s a drama of today and what your life may be affected with by tomorrow” (Torbett. “Contemporary drama offers ….” NVD.  2 July 1992).  The author understands the business world, and “does a tremendous job of explaining buyout basics … In the end, the play boils down to a socio-economic issues.”  The reviewer concludes, “The author does not provide answers so much as he raises questions.  And while his questions aren’t as timeless as those posed by classic plays, his subject is an important part of our society and worth addressing in the theater” (Sullivan.  “Wayside proves the soul of money.”  LTM.  9 July 1992).  Another writer concludes that the author infuses the play with humor and interesting plot twists and “populates the play with characters that seem real” (Horan.  “ ‘Other People’s Money’ ….” NVD.  3 July 1992).

Alan Ayckbourn’s farce, Taking Steps, was next scheduled, directed by Richard Harden, who brought off-Broadway and regional directing credits to Wayside. While this play takes place in a three-story house, the stage is arranged so that the stairs are flat and all three floors are on a single level.  The theatre files contain a ground plan created by designer J. Ervin, that shows the stage-left portion of the stage as the lounge with the stage-right section as a bedroom.  A ‘stair case’ at the lip of the stage indicates one goes from the first floor to the next by walking stage left to stage right along the area indicated as stairs.  A similar ‘staircase’ goes from the bedroom to the third floor room walking from stage right to stage left and entering the room through a door.  One reviewer notes that the cast has “fun demonstrating various ways of going up and down the flat steps” and concludes that, like most British farces, after a great deal of confusion all works out in the end (Horan.  “Too many steps before ….”  NVD.  25 June 1992).  Despite its slow start on opening night, one writer noted this play was a British version of the Keystone Cops - - “a drawn-out version of the classic comic chase scene in reverse.  Rather than chasing each other, many of the characters are avoiding each other” (Skinner.  “ ‘Taking Steps’ at Wayside ….” TWS.  24 July 1992). 

Amadeus was the visual highlight of the season.  Using a cast of 19 actors, it graced Wayside’s stage in all its 18th century splendor.  The set was designed by Keith Belli, who had designed sets for operas at the Kennedy Center.  Owens and Belli consulted with each other for a period of six months before concluding on the set, which seemed to take up every inch of Wayside’s stage. The pastel colored set “is both attractive and efficient.  Its sliding doors and deep partitions smoothly abet the action” (Horan.  “Wayside’s ‘Amadeus’ captivates.”  NVD. 15 Aug. 1992).  Over 30 period costumes and wigs were created for characters who were both royalty as well as servants.  The authentic music was piped into the Theatre using equipment of limited fidelity, which some felt was the one area in which the production was lacking.  The strong cast consisted of New York actors as well as a few from Winchester.  The production was perhaps one of the most expensive in Wayside’s history and perhaps one of the most beautiful.  But, all the beauty of this production were mere trappings as Amadeus “cuts to life’s most fundamental issues.  Why are some people granted such gifts by God, others overlooked?” (Skinner.  “ ‘Amadeus’ Cuts to Basic ….” TWS.  14 Aug. 1992).   

The Foreigner first appeared on Wayside’s stage in 1986 and made a second appearance during the 1992 season.  Those who had attended the earlier production were encouraged to reacquaint themselves with this wonderful play. “Though the dialogue is witty, the play is more than a string of jokes.  It is beautifully crafted with a plot of sorts, some suspense and a subtle message that emerges only fully at the climax” writes one reviewer. (Horan.  “ ‘The Foreigner’ no stranger to ….” NVD. 2 Sept. 1991).  Some reviews mention each actor in this production and comment on their strong performances. One concludes, “The play forces the audience to examine the many stereotypes in this world and to realize that they are only stereotypes, and that if one digs beneath the surface, the stereotypes may not be as accurate as one believes.”  But despite the serious of this comment, it is a comedy that leaves the audience heartily laughing (Price.  “ ‘The Foreigner’ Delights ….”  TWS.  5 Sept. 1992).  While the reviewers praise this work, they all single out the work of actress Vera Johnson, who plays Betty Meeks, an aging innkeeper.  “… [S]he typifies the stereotype of the older person who hasn’t seen much of the world” with mannerisms that are perfect (Price.  5 Sept. 1992).

One of the joys of attending theatre during the summer is seeing the actors who played one type of character in one play take on a completely different persona on the following production.  This was particularly obvious in Lend Me a Tenor, as the majority of the cast had appeared earlier in The Foreigner.  Along with a five-door set that made for a very fast paced evening, “The cast members cut loose with characterizations, outdoing themselves in their outrageous roles, and the result is … Comedy at its most comedic” (Skinner.  “Wayside’s ‘Lend Me a Tenor’ ….”  TWS.  25 Sept. 1992). 

Both productions of The Foreigner and Lend Me a Tenor were transferred to the Alden Theatre in McLean, but details are not available.

The season ended with A Christmas Carol with Jeffrey Eiche reprising the role as Scrooge for the third time.  As Scrooge, Eiche was “alternately frightening and charming as he transformed from a confident businessman to an uncertain, frightened old man” (Henry.  “Wayside ‘Christmas carol’ ….”  TFRN.  9 Dec. 1992).  Jonathan Chezick reprised his role as Tiny Tim while a previous Tiny Tim, Jeremy Butterfield, moved up to the role of Ghost of Christmas Past.  This production varied slightly from that of previous years, with the addition of a “confusing scene in which three people appear to be dividing up some of Scrooge’s belongings after his death.  Still the production retains most of its familiar touches …” (Horan.  “Tried, true Christmas story ….” NVD.  5 Dec. 1992).

And, with that seasonal favorite, the 1992 season came to the close.  But, it was followed by a blanket mailing to all subscribers from the Wayside Board Treasurer announcing that the Theatre was $5,500 behind in its revenue projections. It was stated that the Board had pledged more than $10,000 to help keep the ticket prices to a reasonable level. It was hoped that this announcement would enlist equal support from the subscribers and those who enjoyed attending Wayside performances. 

Yet another example of the financial balancing act that Wayside experienced throughout its years.