'Evita' Coming to High Street

All through its wild melodrama days, its shuttered existence, the theater on High Street held the promise of housing serious theatrical productions.

And now, as the city's High Street Arts Center, it does.

According to the High Street Theater Foundation, the theater appears in city listings as a movie house as early as 1926, but most longtime Moorpark residents remember it as the Magnificent Moorpark Melodrama & Vaudeville Co., which it was for 16 years before going bankrupt in 1999.

It took two years for the theater to see life again, when it was bought by area business man Larry Janss, who renovated the building before deciding to sell it to the city  in 2005. 

From 2006 until earlier this year, stage productions took place under general manager L.J. Stevens, who chose not to continue on with the theater. 

On Oct. 8, the center opens its first season under general manager Ken Rayzor with Evita. The Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, with a cast from throughout the county and beyond, tells the story of the rise and rule of Argentina's Eva Peron.

Portraying historical figures can be a challenge for actors, but also rewarding, said Sarah Bulger, who plays the title role.

"It's exciting to play a character  who has so much passion, who had so much power," she said. "I think to be able to just do her justice, to really portray her as she was, that's the real challenge here."

To help make their performances believable and accurate, Bulger and the rest of the Evita cast studied the people portrayed, the region and the time period.

"It was really interesting to learn about the economy and classes there and how that impacted her," Bulger said about Peron, whom Webber has written as highly opportunistic.

For Phillip Wieck, who serves as both music director for the production and actor in the role of Che, the research was helpful because the character has evolved over time. When originally staged, Che, a narrator of sorts who fills a traditional Greek chorus-like role, was just a nonspecific "everyman."

The name "Che" is to Argentina what "Joe" is to America, Wieck explained, making the character, originally, just your average Che.

But in later productions, Che was played as Che Guevara, the Argentine Marxist revolutionary. It was a plausible transformation given the place and (more or less) the time, "but he was a bit younger," Wieck said, and historically there's no indication that Guevara and Peron moved in the same circles. Wieck plans to bring a little of the nonspecific everyman and Guevara to his portrayal.

Lauren Tyni probably had the most difficult time researching her role. Her character is listed simply as Peron's mistress. The 18-year-old actress was unable to find any details about the 16-year-old girl she's portraying.

"There's all sorts of information for the lead characters," she said. "My character doesn't even have a name."

It's not just the cast who has found preparing for Evita a formidable undertaking. Rayzor, who came on as the arts center general manager in July also had to assume the role of director. Shortly after his arrival he had to come up with a set of shows for the season and get the first production cast in time for the season's start, which is based on the fiscal calendar because it's a city entity. There simply wasn't time to find a director, so he stepped into that role as well.

Staging such a big production in a smaller theater was another puzzle to be worked out. 

"We're going to be limited on pyrotechnics," Rayzor said. "We can't create an Esther Williams pool. But that's not what moves people. It's knowing how to take advantages of the space."

Along with the limitations—such as not having a lot of backstage room (the building was originally a movie house, so there was no need for it)—there are some features that make the center ideal for Evita.

For example, the theater has balconies, which Rayzor said the set designers would have had to build if they weren't already there.

"That obviously was the Casa Rosada," he said, referring to Evita's balcony while pointing to one of the balconies flanking the stage. "I knew that the minute I saw it."

The house size also is beneficial. At about 270 seats, it's considered fairly small, but that lends a feeling of intimacy, Rayzor said.

"Even if you're in the last row, you're only 12 rows back," he said.

Creativity is the key to getting around size limitations, according to set designer Dean Johnson.

"Finding that proper evocative look on stage that keeps the audience involved, that's the challenge," he said, pointing out that even Broadway shows have to resort to suggestive techniques at times.

One way the production will employ such devices is in its portrayal of Peron's promiscuity. Instead of explicitly showing her bedroom activities, Johnson and his team are building a simple set with a bed and a revolving door, through which man after man will cycle.

"It gives a bit of a humorous aspect to something that could be tawdry," Johnson said.

The show runs Oct. 8 through Nov. 14, with show times at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $18 general admission, $14 for seniors, students and members of the military and $10 for children 12 and younger.

For opening night, which will include a champagne reception with the cast following the show, tickets will be $3 more than regular performances.

Also on this season's schedule are Miracle on 34^th Street, Les Miserables, Macbeth and Jekyll & Hyde.

For more information and tickets, call 805-529-8700 or visit www.highstreetartscenter.com.