The Red Headed Stepchild

My first starring role was in 3^rd grade. I was Geppetto in an abbreviated production of "Pinnochio" at Academy Elementary School in Williamsville, NY. That was almost 40 years ago. My first serious foray into the world of theatre was in the title role in "The Elephant Man" at the beautiful Lancaster Opera House in 1984. I have since played in many productions both in and out of the Opera House, but I still have a special place in my heart for that venue; the walls echo with the words of playwrights both old and new, and the dressing room smells of greasepaint and perspiration. It is sweet nectar.

It has been my great honor and pleasure over the years to make friends of so many talented artists throughout Western NY as an actor and director, directing my first show in 1986. Having worked with so many groups (some, sadly, no longer with us,) I feel they are family. West Seneca Players, Amherst Players, Towne Players, Champagne Theatre, W.A.R.P.D. Productions, Lancaster Regional Players, Lake Plains Players and more. We are a community of artists: actors, directors, set designers and builders, graphic artists, sound engineers, producers, stage managers and assistants…the list goes on. We all have one thing in common, and that is a love of the work we do.

I have seen a distressing trend over the years. People whose words serve no purpose other than to self-aggrandize spit the term "Community Theatre" from their mouths as if it were bitter dross. People who have no inkling of the dedication of those who give their time and talent to local, community and non-profit productions not for the love of money, but for the love of theatre. People who believe that when you pay, you necessarily get a superior product; I think history long ago knocked down that straw man. Who builds a better house? The dedicated volunteers of Habitat for Humanity, or the money-hungry developer who slaps together cardboard cookie-cutter "communities" and labels them "Woodland Streams," only after cutting down the woods and diverting the streams?

I recently read a press release from a "professional" company stating "they want to raise the quality of the shows presented" at the Opera House and give actors "an opportunity to really feel what it is supposed to be like," as if we don't already know. Hundreds, if not thousands of local "non-professional" actors have trod the boards at the Opera House, as well as the dozens and dozens of other venues across Western NY. We have all seen the productions they have mounted. Were some lacking in "finesse?" Perhaps, but that made them no less entertaining, no less captivating, no less important. Working on a shoestring budget, sometimes with little cooperation from the owners of the venues, these local groups have stood the test of time and continue to produce accessible, affordable and highly entertaining theatre for audiences all across the area. Do they do it for the money? No. Do they do it for the fame? No. Do they do it for the Equity card? No.

Ask yourself this, then…why do they do it?

For love. And money can't buy that.