I have a long personal history with community theater. I’ve been in too many shows to count, I served as president of the community theater groups in Huntington and here in Bluffton, and I even sang a duet with my longtime friend David Dean which, I’m sure, tortured the eardrums of the fine folks who wandered into the Wells Community Theater’s production of “Kiss Me Kate” a few years ago. (I’m an actor, not a singer.)
Anyway, what was Wells Community Theater is now Creative Arts Theater, to better identify it with its parent organization — Wells County Creative Arts. They’re trying to bring back the spring musical and they’re starting that effort this upcoming weekend with a musical revue called “Creative Arts Sings!” It’s a compilation of songs from musicals, some of which I’ve heard of and some of which I haven’t. Maybe you fall into that category as well.
Joy Cash, who is directing the show, said she wanted something to showcase the amazing talent we have here in Wells County. She’s not only right about that, she’s really, really right. Absolutely right.
I actually auditioned for the show. I didn’t want to sing; I wanted to be a narrator. She accepted me for that, but she also wanted me to be in a couple of the musical numbers.
Then work intervened. I thought I’d have the time to do it, but all of a sudden there were only two reporters and one “stringer” — a free-lance writer — to cover meetings and find stories. I also have to help put together pages. My life got quite complicated and time began to run out.
My son shares custody of his son with his former wife, so my wife — the boy’s loving grandmother — often goes up to the west side of Fort Wayne to help while Bobby takes classes and works. What that means is that I am increasingly left without adult supervision. I still can’t keep my schedule straight. I can’t put my hearing aids in by myself. I can’t cook for myself. I can do laundry and take a shower — but not, fortunately, at the same time. There’s not enough hot water.
And work. There’s always something to do. You want to know why I haven’t had a column the last couple of weeks? I have been way too busy to write one.
It’s Sunday night as I’m writing this, and the words are just flowing through my keyboard. I have strong feelings about this show, and I desperately want to tell you about it.
I managed to get clear enough the other day to do the two narration parts that have been assigned to me — and I loved watching what was in front of me. Oh, my goodness.
A friend of mine watched part of the rehearsal and whispered to me that it looked like chaos. Oh, no, I thought. This is community theater as it should be. Everybody is moving around, too many people are talking and laughing at the same time, and suddenly there’s a musical number. Everything stops.
I had two favorites from my time there — the incomparable Chelsea Smith showing us the difference between being a singer and an entertainer (she is quite obviously the latter) and my friend Otto “Tank” Lowe, whose baritone voice provides a powerful rendition of “The Impossible Dream.” (As a side note, I get to introduce it.)
So, don’t come to hear me do a couple of narrations. Come to hear Chelsea and Tank and the many others who have put their time in for this show.
Wells Comm… — excuse me, Creative Arts Theater — is coming back. You ought to see this show. It’s at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday and at 3 p.m. Sunday in the auditorium at Life Community Church.
And with that, I am done writing a column for this week. Also, I have written what is as unbiased of a review as I can give this wonderful, marvelous, really good show.
daves@news-banner.com
