Spotlight shines on Sandpoint Onstage

SANDPOINT — The fate of local theatre has ebbed and flowed over the past 40 years, as giddy periods of activity were interspersed with gloomy times when the stage went dark.

A group calling itself Sandpoint Onstage seeks to keep the theatrical waves coming to shore with what will be the first complete season of small plays, main stage productions and Broadway musicals since the Unicorn Theatre Players ended its long run several years back.

According to Sandpoint Onstage co-founders Chris Herron and Teresa Pesce, the new group came together after efforts to revive stage plays faltered about four years ago — almost as quickly as they appeared to gather steam. That was when director Kathleen Mazzola rallied a group of nearly 100 people interested in acting, directing or working backstage. But after only a couple of shows, Mazzola moved away and left theatre people wondering where to head next.

“That’s the fallen flag we picked up and carried forward,” Pesce said.

Starting in 2009, both Herron and Pesce began writing original scripts for smaller casts and, by the following year, the season had expanded to include the drama “The Lion in Winter” along with three more Pesce originals.

The playwright’s hand was still active in 2011, complemented by an original play by local writer Ben Olson, a main stage Victorian comedy directed by theatre veteran Deborah McShane and the well-attended old-time radio show rendering of “It’s a Wonderful Life” this past Christmas.

McShane recalled watching as enthusiasm built from production to production, finally exploding when auditions were announced for the radio-themed holiday play last Christmas.

“It was like a cattle call audition,” she said, adding that more than 60 locals turned out to snag a part in the show. “There’s a lot of talent and it’s coming out. It’s fun to see the town on stage again.”

Herron described the core group’s first steps as “ragtag,” saying that the decision to craft original works was based more on lack of knowledge than divine inspiration.

“We didn’t know anything about paying royalties, so we wrote our own shows,” he said. “We couldn’t afford to rent the Panida, so we performed in the back of bars and in empty venues on the Cedar Street Bridge.

“For two years, it was like a ‘soft opening’ — nobody had any expectations for theatre when we started out, which allowed us to fail outside the attention of the community at large,” he added.

Still, the players kept at it until, in the past year, audiences came to expect productions at regular intervals.

“We’ve developed enough that people come up to us the street and ask, ‘What’s next?’” Pesce said.

Sandpoint Onstage struck this year while that iron was still hot, putting together a season that covers just about every theatrical genre.

“The 2012 season is a mish-mash,” Herron said. “There’s comedy, drama, a seasonal play and a musical.”

“This year, we’re represented in every quarter by theatre at the Panida,” Pesce said. “I’m proud of that. Theatre is back in Sandpoint.”

The season starts next month with Herron’s own play, “Separate Checks” as the leadoff hitter. The fall will offer a comedy titled “Charades at 5” in September, followed by a classic horror story spin to be staged around Halloween.

The big news for local theatre is the return of the summer musical — a popular mainstay from the time director Robin DuCrest led the Actors & Playwrights Theatre Workshop here in the 1970s right on through the Unicorn Theatre Players halcyon days in the 1980s and early ’90s.

This summer, Sandpoint Onstage brings “The Music Man” to town under the direction of McShane and featuring, for the first time in recent memory, a full pit orchestra to accompany the cast of singers.

“With the economy being the way it is and the world being a bit bleak and dark, we thought it would be nice to do something as whimsical and beautiful as ‘The Music Man,’” the director said, adding that musicals have traditionally been the cash cow that funds all the other plays in the season.

“So many plays are just break even,” McShane explained. “But this is about more than money. It’s community theatre and the goal is to foster and encourage artistic play.”

As interest mounts from actors, stagehands and technical staff, Sandpoint Onstage also is working to groom a larger stable of directors to keep shows moving from rehearsals to live performance. According to Herron, directors are the heartbeat that keeps local theatre alive and well.

“They’re the ones who have to dedicate the most time, before, during and after the performance,” he said. “You can have all the willing actors in the world, but if there’s no one pulling the strings to make it happen, there’s nothing.”

Why do so many people turn out to throw themselves into a venture that demands long hours of work and no pay to speak of? McShane chalks it up to human nature and an innate need to play.

“Why do we do this?” she asked. “It’s the fun. All of these people working together is an unbelievable experience.”

If Pesce gets her way, Sandpoint Onstage will roll out an even bigger season next year, including more original works, children’s plays, outdoor theatre, a summer musical and a major holiday production at the end of the year.

“I want Spokane to start coming to us for theater,” she said. “My goal is for the 2013 season to be something to be reckoned with.

“I’d like it to outgrow us,” she continued, motioning toward co-founder Herron and director McShane. “We know where we’re supposed to go. Now we’re in the process of getting there.”

For more information on past plays and upcoming shows, visit: www.sandpointonstage.com