Thursday, November 20, 1997
UCLA theater anticipates theatrical doubleheader
THEATER: Department hopes to fill house with works by Kelly,
Moliere
By Megan Dickerson
Daily Bruin Contributor
If UCLA were anything like Australia, the theater program would
get more respect.
Or so says Mel Shapiro, the director of the UCLA Theater
Department’s "The Torchbearers," one of two plays opening in
repertory Thursday at 8 p.m. at MacGowan Hall’s Little Theater.
Shapiro, a Tony award-winning writer, says the lack of attendance
by UCLA students is "stunning."
"I have never been in a place where there is just so little
campus support for a theater program," the Brooklyn-bred
writer-director says. "No one comes to the shows. I was in
Australia this summer, and they had just added a new 550-seat
theater. They put out one ad, sold out two weeks."
Shapiro and fellow director Ellen Geer say they hope the same
spirit of campus participation will make its way to their shows
when the UCLA productions "The Torch Bearers," by George Kelly and
"The Prodigious Snob," by Moliere, make their debut. The same pool
of third-year graduate students will perform both plays.
Using the same cast for both productions, or performing "in
repertory," could prove to be difficult, but according to members
of the cast, it helps them grow as actors.
"It makes us much more concentrated and focused on what we’re
doing," says Rob Duval, who plays four roles in the repertoire
series. "It keeps our energy up, it keeps us going."
Behind Duval, chandeliers and sconces on gilded walls cast
flickering light on the cast, who pose in elaborate Louis XIV-style
costumes. The set, designed by third-year graduate student Kip
Marsh, will be used for both performances. Despite the time lapse
between the circa 1600s "Prodigious Snob" and the the 1920s era
"Torchbearers," the only primary prop change is the chairs.
"It wasn’t until I really took a second look at both plays that
I realized ‘My God, these could take place on the same stage,’"
Shapiro says. "And I said ‘Yes, oh yes, there’s a theme here!’"
According to Geer, performing repertory in college is important
because, in the "real world," producers often find this theater
form expensive and riddled with complications. College is often an
actor’s only chance to experience repertory theater, working with
the same pool of actors over several years, as these graduate
students have.
"The beautiful, beautiful thing about working here at UCLA with
the graduates is that they have worked together as a team for quite
a few years," Geer says. "It’s like football – players that have
played together for many years play a better game."
This same camaraderie is evident between Geer and Shapiro, who
banter back and forth like old friends. As they sit beside each
other in the brightly lit closet of a dressing room, Geer, an
actress who has appeared in such films as "Harold and Maude,"
"Phenomenon," and "Patriot Games," laughs heartily at Shapiro’s
quick-witted retorts.
Shapiro sits back in his chair and smiles, arms crossed,
occasionally chuckling.
Geer met Shapiro at a coffee shop in Topanga Canyon, near the
Theatricum Botanicum, the open-air theater for which she is the
Artistic Director. The two struck up a friendship, and years later,
Shapiro, who has been a UCLA faculty member for many years,
convinced Geer to come to UCLA.
While both their affinities for the theater go back to their
childhoods, Geer was literally born into the business.
The daughter of the late actor Will Geer, she lived through the
period of blacklisting, which left her father out of work and
ostracized from his peers. She recently participated in the movie
"Blacklisted," and wrote her own account of this cloudy period in
American history from a child’s point of view.
"I watched my father go through things where people who were his
friends, they wouldn’t talk to him. It was a form of isolation,"
Geer says. "He couldn’t find work, so of course that affects the
family poverty-wise, living-wise, and you find people push you
away, they don’t want you around … and that trickles down to the
kids."
As Geer overcame such daunting political hurdles, Shapiro faced
obstacles of a different kind.
"All I had to do was get out of Brooklyn," he says in his
characteristically understated humor, with Geer exploding into
laughter. Growing up on Saturday theater matinees in Brooklyn,
Shapiro knew he always wanted to go into theater, but didn’t
realize his behind-the-scenes potential.
"I thought theater was just acting and performing," Shapiro
says.
His interest in theater extended to his stint in the army, where
a friend got him a job running props for the Ernie Pyle Theater in
Tokyo.
"I was terrible," Shapiro says. "I couldn’t stop watching
rehearsal – I was so mesmerized, I couldn’t get the props!" His
love for the theater, both in front of and behind the scenes,
brought Shapiro all the way from the Bushwick section of Brooklyn
to Broadway, where he won a Tony Award in 1971 for co-writing "The
Two Gentlemen" with John Greer.
Bringing their own history and love of theater to UCLA, the
directors say they hope the public will take advantage of their
choice of plays and the actors who are bringing them to life. The
two comedies are both farcical and physical, but the actual styles
are very different.
"’The Torch Bearers’ is about people who are very in love with
art, but don’t have any talent," Shapiro says with a grin. "But we
need those."
"Yeah, to pay our bills," Geer laughingly retorts.
The behind-the-scenes antics of the amateur performers in the
"Torch Bearers" inspired "Noises Off," a modern play about what
goes on back stage.
"The Prodigious Snob" is also indirectly about the arts,
detailing the follies of a man who attempts to buy social
distinction through feigned artistic knowledge. In both plays, the
directors believe viewers will find characters that resonate
through time.
"You find people you know, if not yourself," Shapiro says. "The
(characters) are all very recognizable."
If anything, Shapiro wants to amuse his audience.
"(I want) people to take away a few laughs, that’s all. I’m not
going to change anybody’s life, or give them any kind of
awareness," Shapiro states. "I don’t stimulate them intellectually,
I’m not stirring up anything emotionally. Even when I’m doing
serious plays. I’m sort of a laugh junkie."
All that remains now for Geer and Shapiro is to attract the
crowds.
"It’s very important for the whole school to honor this aspect,
the culture, the art, this section of their university," Geer says.
"You know, they do so at other universities."
In an attempt to fill the playhouse, the Theater department is
offering 50 free tickets per dormitory.
"We just need people to come and see the show, and have a good
time, and let the actors play for an audience," Shapiro says, his
Brooklyn roots evident in his voice. "You can’t do comedies to
empty houses."
THEATER: "The Torch Bearers" opens at 8 p.m. tonight, and will
continue Nov. 22 and 26, and Dec. 2 and 5, with a 2 p.m. matinee on
Dec. 6. "The Prodigious Snob" opens at 8 p.m. on Friday with a 2
p.m. matinee on Nov. 22, and will continue Dec. 3, 4 and 6. Both
will take place at the Little Theater, MacGowan Hall. Tickets are
$15, $10 for seniors and UCLA faculty and staff, and $7 for
students. For more information call 825-2101.