Ed Steele: 1985
As has occurred before, the theatre’s files for the 1985 season are virtually empty. But, there is one clipping from that season that catches one’s eye when it announces that “Wayside Theatre has hit the road to sell snake oil” (Bosley. “Wayside Theatre takes ….” TSVH. 28 Feb. 1985). This opening sentence is referring to the 1985 WTOT season. Strohmeyer uses less jolting wording in announcing Wayside’s upcoming season when he states that “Variety is the catchword for the seven-production summer season at Wayside Theatre.” He writes that,
Confidence in a successful summer was exhibited with the addition of a seventh
show along with a “more flexibile season ticket,” allowing people to miss one of
the plays and use a ticket for it for another play …. Wayside will be shooting for stability and predictability more than anything this season (Strohmeyer. “Wayside Summer Season ….” NVD. 6 June 1985).
The season opened with a winner --- a production of Neil Simon’s play, Barefoot in the Park. It is credited with “fine-timing, lighting, [and] scene-changes” but a reviewer finds fault, noting “that not all the props were of the early 1960s era” (Price. “ ‘Barefoot’ Wears Well ….” TWS. 6 June 1985).
A spooky, suspenseful production of The Innocents followed the Simon comedy. Despite the presence of strong adult actors, Price noted that the two orphan children, played by real-life brother and sister, had the bulk of the lines and did an excellent job for their first time on stage. Price praises the excellent scenery with the Victorian style touches. “Eeriness is also achieved with good lighting and recorded sounds of heartbeats and whispers” (Price “ ‘ The Innocents’ …. “ TWS. 20 June 1985).
Next in the schedule was the one-man performance of Mark Twain, Himself adapted and performed by Ed Steele who had first featured this title in 1983 when it was part of the WTOT schedule. Steele also performed this in area schools. However, it was only during the 1985 season that it became part of the Theatre’s regular summer season.
The schedule then shifted from a one-person show to a title requiring a large cast, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. Horan wrote that “Lunacy runs rampant during Wayside’s production [which] displays the Wayside company at its most exuberant –singing, dancing and clowning with abandon. The frivolity is virtually non-stop” (Horan. “Wayside’s ‘Funny Thing’: …. NVD. 12 July 1985). Staging this work with a non-Roman twist showed Steel’s creativity at its fullest.
[I]nstead of authentic Roman costumes the cast wears a hodge-podge of
garments from the company wardrobe trunk: pseudo-Elizabethean tunics share
the stage with yellow spats and bowler hats … these make-do measures give the performance an air of spontaneity that makes the audience fellow-conspirators in creating the make-believe world (Gorton. “ ‘A Funny Thing’ is Funny ….” TWS. 12
July 1985).
However, not all reviews for Forum were positive. One thought, that while the leads were excellent, the “rest of the cast is so far behind that it’s more than disappointing.” He also recommends that,
Before next summer, selection of plays must be re-evaluated. So, too, selection
of talent. With JMU’s dinner theater thriving and Shenandoah College’s Summer
Music Theatre — with a depth of talent to be envied —drawing bigger and bigger audiences, Wayside needs vitality to regain its professional standing (Kinley.
“ ‘Unfunny’ Thing at Wayside.” DNR, 12 July 1985).
By contrast, the next show, Tribute, was billed as a serious comedy. Price’s review congratulates all the cast for their fine work and describes the work as an enjoyable play, a serious comedy that tugs at the audience’s heart strings, “… one minute after you’re laughing, your eyes are filled up with tears …” (Price. “ ‘Tribute’ Touches Your Heart.” TWS. 25 July 1985). Horan singles out each actor and comments on their performance, giving special credit to Tom Weber, who plays the role of the standoffish son. Horan also praises the capable direction of Glyn Jones, who was only at Wayside for the 1985 season (Horan. “Wayside’s ‘Tribute’:” NVD. 24 July 1985). Jones was a welcome addition to Wayside’s 1985 summer. Born in South Africa and trained in Great Britain, he had worked in theater, television and film for 25 years. Jones observed that “theater like Wayside, which attempts to bring a touch of urbanity to a largely rural area, would not be possible in England.” He continues,
I think it’s a small miracle. You’re in the middle of the countryside with the cows
and yet the theater is quite good …. You come through a small town like this and
who would think to find a theater. Maybe it’s an American phenomenum. I’ve
never seen anything quite like it before (Strohmeyer. “Wayside Summer Season ….” NVD. 6 June 1985).
In a different light, Crimes of the Heart was the protrayal of juicy scandal within a southern family, the Hazelhurts, and one was encouraged to laugh while crazy things were taking place. “Crazy as that family is, they are pretty likeable” for this is a play about women, “written by a woman and directed by another woman” (Price. “Juicy Scandal at Wayside.” TWS. 8 Aug. 1985). Horan’s review also commends the work of the cast, adding “the production bears the careful stamp of Glyn Jones, the very capable director” (Horan. “Wayside’s ‘Tribute’: ….” NVD. 26 July 1985).
The season concluded with the wonderful Noel Coward play, Private Lives, performed on “an elegant set designed by Ed Steele” and “ably directed by Marilyn Mattys” (Horan. “Wayside’s ‘Private Lives’…. ” NVD. 23 Aug. 1985). The play uses “four of this summer’s best actors … and it’s been fun to watch them in their different roles” even though this reviewer found the play “rather uneven, sometimes insightful, sometimes dumb, often funny, and sometimes flat” (Price. “ ‘Private Lives’ …. “ TWS. 22 Aug. 1985).
There was a slightly different approach to the traditional December show for 1985 in that it was a presentation of two titles. As a prelude to the evening, Steele read Dylan Thomas’s A Child’s Christmas in Wales accompanied by soft piano music played by Walter Geismar. This was followed by the evening’s main feature, a performance of a musical operetta, The Gift of the Magi, composed by Peter Ekstrom, that had first been performed in Louisville, Kentucky. Using a mix of singing and dialogue, the story features two people: Jim and Della, played by Gilbert Olin and Pamela J. Nigro, who enact the touching O’Henry story in a musical setting. Less than an hour long, “The show is heartwarming and funny” with both actors having excellent, warm voices (Price. “ ‘Magi,’ Wayside’s Christmas Gift.” TWS. 16 Dec. 1985).
As had taken place the year before, Wayside presented a Second Season that took place on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evenings in the Curtain Call. The first title, Mass Appeal, was “a serious comedy about an established priest and a young seminarian who confront each other.” In some listings of the Second Season’s offerings, the Christmas show is included because of its December slot. Second Season’s third title, Cold Storage, was scheduled for performance in the spring of 1986 (“ ‘Mass Appeal’ Playing at Wayside.” TWS. 31 Oct. 1985).
And, the successful 1985 season comes to a close!