McShane honored for achievements

SANDPOINT — The local arts scene wouldn’t be the same without Deborah McShane.

Since starting out as a director in the local theater scene during the early 1980s, she is now a staple of the local theater, having directed or served as a creative force for numerous plays, most recently with “The Music Man.” Local theater group Sandpoint Onstage has honored her years of dedication with a lifetime achievement award — the first the organization has distributed.

“Deborah has been a part of everything great that has happened in theater around here for the past 30 years,” playwright Teresa Pesce said.

In addition to Pesce, Panida manager Karen Bowers, Greater Sandpoint Chamber of Commerce president Kate McAlister and Sandpoint Onstage producer Julie Berreth all share a close connection with McShane through the arts. When McAlister took on a larger, more difficult role for the first time in a play, she worried she couldn’t handle the pressure until she received some encouraging words from McShane.

“It got to three weeks before the opening night, and I didn’t think I could do it,” McAlister said. “She told me, ‘You are an actor.’”

McShane became a respected figurehead of the theater community thanks to her ability to effectively cover every aspect of production. After all, being a director isn’t easy, and it requires a broad range of skills to oversee everything.

In managing performances, McShane uses a style that is directive but not dictatorial, according to her actors. It’s a difficult balance to strike. A micro-managed performance can often come off as stiff and unconvincing, but McShane has the ability to inspire an actor’s best work without playing the puppet master.

A good stage production also relies on excellent set design and lighting. Even if a director doesn’t have the technical skills to create these elements, he or she still needs to recognize quality work. According to Sandpoint Onstage associates, McShane has that vision in spades.

“One thing I’ve always admired about her is that she has an eye for this,” Bowers said. “By that, I mean she can read something and just see it.”

Perhaps most importantly, collaborators said that McShane has the ability to inspire. When it comes to theater, you need more than persistence to get the job done. Participants need to be excited about the task at hand.

“She can work you to death and you never feel like it’s hard work,” Pesce said.

All those reasons are why McShane is one of the most trusted people around when it comes to theater. And that might be as big an endorsement as the lifetime achievement award itself.

“She is one of the few people I will allow to tell me what to do, and no matter what it is, I’ll do it,” McAlister said.