Consider professional theater. Conjures up images of Broadway lights, doesn’t it? Or maybe it brings to mind a touring company making a stop at the
Wharton Center at MSU.
But Lansing also has its own professional theater group that brings top talent— performing top notch material—to the Capital City regularly. And on off-nights, it offers the interns a chance take over in small, sanctioned mutinies, staging their own work and getting a true taste of the theater life—and you can watch it all, live.
National TalentThe
BoarsHead Theater is in its 42nd season—the longest running professional theater in Michigan—of staging professional theater productions in the mid Michigan area.
The list of alumni is impressive (William Hurt and Paul Prentiss, for instance) and the shows range from Shakespeare to Jeff Daniels (“Escanaba in Da Moonlight”). BoarsHead usually produces six shows throughout the traditional season—September through June—as well as a summer musical.
Managing director Marlene Shelton, who came to the BoarsHead from California, says six shows a season keeps the staff buzzing.
“I don’t think we could possibly handle more than that,” she says. “From September to June we’re putting one show up, knocking it down, and putting up another show. It’s really a marathon.”
Not to mention the on-going recruiting and planning. Shelton, who has already signed Meshack Taylor (from the television show,
Designing Women) for next season, says it’s not all that difficult to lure talent to Lansing.
“The thing that’s most interesting to them is the material they’ll be doing,” Shelton says. “The fact that we have Paula Prentiss (who starred in
Mrs. Warren’s Profession this season) wanting to come back—that’s a credit to this organization. It’s an opportunity to do material that interests them in an environment that’s nurturing and supportive.”
Next GenerationBut staging professional theater productions is just one piece of the BoarsHead mission.
The theater also is heavily involved in community outreach and developing the next generation of talent. Shelton has been leading a playwriting course at Cristo Rey Community Center, where youngsters can come after school and develop their skills.
There’s a Young Playwrights program that enables youths to submit plays; the winners are treated to staged readings of their scripts.
But the BoarHead’s intern program, which gives young talents their first taste of professional theater life, is perhaps the theater’s most exciting program.
The interns do everything, from building sets to hanging posters around the community, while they earn Equity credits. They’re involved in an outreach program “Will Power,” which works with high school students on Shakespeare, too.
But if you ask the interns about the best part of their gigs, it’s likely they’ll tell you it’s their status as the “Second Company.”
On dark nights—a theater term for when there are no performances (usually Mondays and Tuesdays)—the Second Company picks and produces plays that are staged at the main stage.
“They run the show, [they] choose the play, the director, [they] act,” says Shelton “It’s their opportunity to get their hands dirty.”
BoarsHead rents a house for the interns and provides them a stipend for the season.
“It’s a nice bridge to the professional theater world and/or grad school, whichever they feel they want to go on to,” Shelton says.
“The wonderful thing about having interns here is we’ll put them into anything – outreach, marketing, anything—we really open it up to them. We want to bring in that youthful vigor.”
Dark Night DramasThis year, the Second Company has staged two dark night productions so far, an original play by BoarsHead intern EllaRose Chary, who came to the theater after graduating from Brown University, and Paul Zindel’s
And Miss Reardon Drinks A Little.
Comment on This, which Chary wrote while in college is a dramedy, based loosely on Hansel and Gretel, and involves a 21-year-old ne’r-do-well who convinces his 16-year-old Internet girlfriend to come live with him.
“It’s exciting to see something you’ve written come to life,” says Chary. “It really teaches you how something works; things that work on paper don’t necessarily work when actors say them. And things that you don’t expect to be funny wind up being funny.”
Both of the other interns—22-year-old Ben Guins, and 23-year-old Frank Obelnicki— acted in Chary’s play. Guins, an Olivet College student, played the lead male role.
“Playing a less than savory individual is not an easy thing to do,” says Guins, who came to the BoarsHead to learn more about the technical aspects of theater and aspires to a career as a stage manager.
“You have to find a reason for him to be likeable, the redeeming traits that make a human that I could stand being. It wasn’t easy making him a character that I could play—he wasn’t the kind of guy you could sell to the audience easily.”
All three interns acted in the show,
And Miss Reardon Drinks a Little, where both males had a chance to stretch as actors by playing female characters.
“At Dark Night, we get to get away with about whatever we want,” Guins says.
The next Dark Night production, scheduled for May, is Jeff Daniels’
Escanaba in Da Moonlight. The Second Company plans to take advantage of the sets and props being used for
Escanaba in Love, the regular season finale, says intern Frank Olbenicki.
Unlike the other interns, who were long dedicated to theater, Obelnicki is a neophyte, having recently graduated from the University of Michigan’s College of Engineering.
“I’d always wanted to do theater from a very early age but never did because it didn’t seem like a very practical job,” the native Detroiter says. “But then I tried it in a community show of
Beauty and the Beast, and really liked it. The more I’m on stage, the more I enjoy it, so I’m going to keep doing it as much as I can.”
Now thoroughly bitten by the theater bug, Obelnicki has begun auditioning for parts at area theaters, hoping to make it in show biz.
“If any of those (auditions) pan out, I’ll do that. Or if it doesn’t, I’ll probably do a road trip and look at other theater towns. I’ll give it about 10 years and if I can keep myself fed, that’s what I’ll do.”
The best part for Lansing theater goers? Dark Nights tickets are just $5.
Bob Gwizdz is a freelance writer in the Lansing area.
Dave Trumpie is the managing photographer for Capital Gains. He is a freelance photographer and owner of Trumpie Photography.
Photos:
Frank Obelnicki and Ben Guins sword fight during a “WillPower!” rehearsal
Paula Prentiss and her daughter Prentiss Benjamin in “Mrs. Warren's Profession”
EllaRose Chary rehearses the school touring play, "Willpower!"
Ben Guins
Main stage production “The People vs Friar Laurence”
Frank Obelnicki in BoarsHead's sound booth
All Photographs © Dave Trumpie