The End of an Era

Greetings Theatre fans and friends!  Thank you for stopping by the first blog
from The Summit Playhouse.  I'm Jaci - it's pronounced "Jackie" (for years I've
been hearing people calling me "Jaycee", so I've gotten in the habit of also
writing the pronounciation). 

So, blogging is a new venture for us here at The Playhouse (which I may
abbreviate to SPH from time to time) so I just thought I'd start out with a
little information about us (and me as I will be the main blogger).

The Playhouse Association was founded in 1918 as a World War I relief
organization.  We have mounted over 290 productions and are in our 94th season.  Actually, our fall musical, Meet Me In St. Louis, will be our 301st production making SPH one of the oldest continuously operating community theaters in the country!  We present 3 shows each year: a Fall show in November *cough* Meet Me In St. Louis opens Friday the 4th *cough*, a Winter show in late February/early March *cough* auditions for All My Sons are on Monday night at SPH at 7pm *cough*, and a Spring show in May which will be Over The River And Through The Woods.  During the Summer, Kaleidoscope, our theater for youth, presents a production for - and with! - students.  We are located at 10 New England Ave (off of Springfield Ave just west of the Summit Business
District).

As for me, I'm a recent volunteer at SPH having only started at the
beginning of last season.  I worked back stage for all 3 productions.  Twice as
an ASM (Assistant Stage Manager) and once on the back stage crew (the Run
Crew).  I also started assisting with Publicity during the Spring musical
(Closer Than Ever).  I have a writing background and I was involved with the
theatre program in college.

I suppose the main thing you should know about me ragarding this blog is
that I will write it as I would say it.  I will probably use words like
"Awesome, Cool, Dude, Wicked, and Frikkin" to just name a few.  I also recently
adopted a Bunny from St. Hubert's in Madison, so I will mention her now and
then.  She is a black and white Lop (floppy) Eared Rabbit, and as I am obsessed
with music, I named her Amy Lee.  OK fine - my aunt suggested the name (we are both fans of Evanescence) but it fits her well and I take the credit for it all
the time.  *insert impish grin here*

Now that we have the basics out of the way, I would really like to talk
about who we have dedicated our 94th Season to: Betty Kaus.  We called her "Our Betty".  She was devoted to The Playhouse for over 60 years and passed away in June, just a short (to some) two weeks after suffering a fall at a party.  Betty was the embodiment of The Playhouse.

Our Betty was always the first one to arrive and the last one to leave. 
She wore many hats at SPH: Usher Coordinator, Producer, Actress, President (4
times), Coffee Maker and Cookie Provider to name a few.  Not to mention she was always that person you could rely on.  It all happened so fast that I didn't
have time to process what was really happeneing to all of us until I was sitting
in church at her funeral service.

And that was when it finally hit me - Our Betty was gone.

I sat there, in a packed church, listening to her son Bob tell stories
about the Betty he knew as a mother and I realized two things:

1- Betty was the same as a mother as she was with us at SPH.  She didn't change who she was when she was with us.  She was never fake, always very warm and genuinely cared about all of us.  You don't see that too often in this business. 

And, 2 - I lived down the street from SPH for years and took for granted that the members of SPH would be the same as many other fake theatre people I'd met thus far.  I was wrong. All it took was a phone call to inquire if they needed any help with anything. Betty was the one who returned my call and told me about the current show , which at that time was The Late Christopher Bean, and gave me the contact information for the producers. That was good enough for me.  I was ready to hang up when she said that she had already called the producers and that they would be getting back to me later that day. Now, I was impressed.

She then went on to tell me that The Playhouse is always looking for volunteers to help back stage and that I sounded like a great fit with all the experience I talked about in my message.  I thought "Dude!  She sounds sincere!  That's new".  What a great first impression - that I almost missed if I had held on to my generalization of theatre folk.  I hate that it took me so long but I am grateful that I was given the chance to meet and work with Betty.

I never told her this, but I thought of Betty as my third Grandmother. 
It's possible that what I loved most about her is that she understood me and my
love of Theatre. Don't get me wrong, I love my family, but whenever I try to
explain why I like being back stage so much and what the responsibilities are of
each job I have had behind the scenes, all I see are blank stares.  But Betty
knew becaue she had done just about every job in theatre that there is. 

I remember when I was Assistant Stage Managing the Spring musical, Closer Than Ever, and Betty was the Assistant to the Director. We were both sitting next to each other at rehearsal one night with our books (all Stage Managers and Assistants to the Director keep a big book to record all blocking/staging - the movement actors make around the stage and when they are supposed to make it) on the table.  I had my head down close to the script and was feverishly penciling in all the blocking while the actors and director were working through a song. 

I was listening so intently to the blocking that was being called out that when I
looked up, I was startled to see Betty watching me just as closely. She told me
that she wasn't worried about writing all the complicated blocking in her book
because it looked like nothing was going to slip by me and break my focus. I
think I just stared with my mouth open for about a minute looking kind of
confused (I wore that look a lot during Closer!).  I finally confessed I was
thinking that if I missed anything, she would have it in her book - to which she
just said "Oh!" and we burst out laughing!  When the blocking was complete, the
actors ran through the number, and I was impressed with myself because the
blocking I recorded was correct.  Betty just looked at me and said "See?  You
did get it all down."  She was always so reassuring and supportive. 

I can't help but think that Betty set an amazing example by just being
who she was and that is what kept attracting such genuine people to our little
playhouse. Our eccentric family that is The Summit Playhouse may have lost our
Matriarch this year, but it is in her honor that we will continue.  Betty was
the constant at SPH for over 60 years and it feels strange and empty at times
without hearing her deep distinctive voice commanding us to keep quiet.  But the
show must go on, and it will be difficult at times, but we'll manage by asking
"What would Betty do?".  She'd probably tell us to stop making such a fuss...But
she's not here, so we will make a fuss because she is worth it.

For more information about The Playhouse, please visit www.summitplayhouse.org or find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/summitplayhouse and we have our own You Tube channel at www.youtube.com/user/TheSummitPlayhouse