Dim the house lights: Indoor theater returns to Lakes Region

MEREDITH — After a fraught 2020, live indoor theater is returning to the Lakes Region. But, as a couple of this town’s dramatic producers say, it’s hardly a return to the old ways of operating.

“We had to change how we did everything this year,” said Nancy Barry, producing artistic director for Interlakes Theatre, interviewed at the end of last week.

That interview would have normally taken place at the Inter-Lakes Community Auditorium, on the public school campus, but due to the district’s COVID precautions the production company – including set designers, director/choreographer Gustavo Wons, and the cast of 19 – wouldn’t get to see the stage until Monday of this week, two days prior to opening of “A Chorus Line.” Instead, they were rehearsing at The Studio at Meredith Bay, a privately owned dance studio about a mile away.

That’s only one of the changes she made this year. Disruption in the real estate market meant that she had to find a new place to store her props and costumes, and a new place to house visiting performers. Even casting those performers was different this year. Normally, Barry would travel to New York City to audition performers, but that was out this year. Instead, she relied on actors that she knew from previous productions, and used actors who made video auditions to fill out the rest of the casts.

“I hired a lot of these people without ever seeing them,” Barry said.

A more sensible approach would have been to start the season with something smaller, easier, more manageable. But Barry didn’t get into theater production to be sensible. “A Chorus Line,” first debuted in 1975 and was one of Broadway’s biggest hits, tells the stories of performers desperate to take to the stage. Artistically, it was the clear choice for Barry.

That’s the sentiment that the cast members brought with them to Meredith – and for at least three of them, their character’s back story is uncannily familiar.

Everton Ricketts, from Bridgeport, Connecticut, plays “Richie,” who went to college to become a kindergarten teacher, then realized he was born to perform.

“This is literally my life,” said Ricketts, who studied accounting in school before returning to his passion. This is his first time coming to Meredith to perform, “the first of many,” he promised.

Cassandra Gauthier’s role of “Bebe” also speaks to her own experiences. “Bebe’s whole thing is how she grew up never looking like everyone else,” said Gauthier, who comes from Rochester, Michigan. “I don’t fit in with the stereotype of what a pretty woman is.” Though the script was written more than 50 years ago, discrimination is just as alive today for actors who don’t possess certain aesthetic characteristics, Gauthier said. The role of “Bebe” gives her the chance to “explore that heartbreak,” she said.

Heartbreak is something Ashley Meeken, formerly Landroche, said she recognizes in the role of “Cassie,” who is back to fighting against other dancers after her career as a featured performer faded.

This is the second time that Meeken, a local performer and owner of The Studio, has performed in “A Chorus Line.” The first was nearly a decade ago, and she said the material feels more immediate to her now, after she has experienced a few more of life’s ups and downs. Her connection to the role is even more intense, as Meeken, like “Cassie,” knows that her final performance could be coming soon.

Meeken needed to have hip surgery last year, and there were no promises of dancing after her recovery.

“I just want to do this thing that I love,” Meeken said. Like “Cassie,” Meeken has given her life to dance, yet has had to face a future that might not include performing. “That was hard, it made doing this even more meaningful.”

For Barry, seeing the enthusiasm of the performers, most of whom haven’t stepped onstage in many months, was rewarding. “I am so grateful that we are able to do this and stay afloat, to be able to give them that opportunity.”

Interlakes Theatre, following guidelines set out by the school district whose stage they use, will be seating parties with three feet of distance in between, and asking audience members to wear masks. The same precautions will be followed by the Winnipesaukee Playhouse, said Lesley Pankhurst, patron and company services director.

That’s better than what they anticipated when they started planning this season last fall, Pankhurst said, when it looked like the state was going to hold firm to its guideline of six feet between groups of ticket holders. Six feet of separation would mean that less than half of their seats could be sold, which meant that they would have to hold more performances to sell enough tickets to cover costs, which meant that they had to schedule shows that overlap between their indoor and outdoor stages.

Overlapping shows had never been done before at Winnipesaukee Playhouse, yet that’s what they’ll be doing all summer, even though guidelines have relaxed since they first plotted their season. As a result, on Monday, the Playhouse was performing the drama “Betrayal” on the outdoor stage, while the thriller “Sleuth,” which is opening the indoor season on Wednesday, was undergoing final technical review, and actors were beginning rehearsal for the third show of the season, “Dani Girl.”

“It’s crazy,” said Pankhurst.

It wasn’t long ago that the Winnipesaukee Playhouse could plan for big, elaborate shows like “Mama Mia!” and “Chicago,” which require a large cast and expensive royalties, yet can be counted on to fill the house. This year’s restrictions, which are self-imposed in the name of safety and patron comfort, mean that the most tickets they can sell will be about 70% of total capacity. With that understanding, Pankhurst and her husband Neil took it as an opportunity.

“We purposely chose titles that could weather smaller houses,” she said, meaning shows that don’t cost as much to produce. Those shows are often not as well known, and therefore could offer patrons a surprising new favorite.

“Neil has wanted to do ‘Betrayal’ for 15 years. He knew it would not be a show that would fill houses, this is a good year to do it,” she said. It opened with a slow start, but has started to pick up momentum, she said.

“Sleuth” is a bit of an outlier, as a better-known title, but the next one, “Dani Girl,” is both a laugher and a tear jerker of a musical. The schedule also features two world premieres, “Hooligans and Convicts,” written to commemorate the 19th Amendment, and, “It Had To Be You,” a script penned by Neil Pankhurst to highlight favorite tunes from the American songbook.

“COVID has had a lot of silver linings,” Lesley said. “For us, it was to say, if we have these restrictions, (now) we can have passion projects.”

The Winnipesaukee Playhouse schedule has given Carly Sponzo a chance to launch her career. Recently graduated from Connecticut College, Sponzo is working this summer as costume designer and wardrobe supervisor.

“I’m really grateful to be here,” Sponzo said. During the pandemic, she and her fellow theater students tried their best with Zoom performances, outdoor shows, and virtual costume fittings, which she said are about as awkward as you’d imagine them to be.

She used the time to hone the skills she could independently, such as costume design and sewing, but missed the collaborative experience. She also worried about her career choice, especially as she saw some friends switch to more pandemic-proof professions. Now, though, she’s grateful to be back in a theater, working alongside actors and directors.

“I love it, I’m going for it, for now,” Sponzo said.