Center Stage Ends Its Run at Crabtree

When the thespians at Center State Theatre closed their production of the jury room drama "Twelve Angry Men" last Saturday night, April 2, they also lowered the curtain on their stay at the former Crabtree car dealership property on Bridgeport Avenue.

But Gary and Francesca Scarpa, who run the Shelton-based theater troupe, announced they are close to a new agreement that will allow Center Stage to remain open for yet another season.

Gary and Fran told the closing night audience that they had hoped to announce those future plans at that performance, but some final details must still be worked out.

They were delighted to add that they already had 350 subscribers signed up for the next season, and that those subscriptions would include this summer’s Youth CONNection performance of Irving Berlin’s "Annie Get Your Gun."

They will also hold a fundraiser on June 10, when they bring the popular "Beatlemania" Beatles tribute show to the Shelton High School auditorium. Gary said if the show sells out, it could raise $20,000 for Center Stage.

At the last performance at Crabtree, and again at the cast and crew party after the show, the Scarpas expressed their gratitude to developer Monty Blakeman and the other owners of the property for letting Center Stage perform there rent-free since November 2009.

The owners recently received zoning approval to build a shopping center on the property.

The Scarpas said closing Center Stage’s run at Crabtree with "Twelve Angry Men" was a special pleasure. "I can’t think of a better way to go out," Fran told the cast and crew.

Patch was there for the final performance and talked to some of the actors after the show about the difficulty of that play, which requires 12 actors to remain on stage together trading lines and pacing the jury room set.

Throughout most of it, the characters are at each other’s throats as they weigh the evidence in a murder trial against their own social prejudices and psychological issues.

"Twelve guys on stage at the same time, that’s tricky," said Dave Morabito, who played Juror No. 3, whose bluster and racism hides his hidden personal anguish.

"We had a few slipups," he said, "but we covered for each other and I don’t think the audience even knew it."

"You’re talking about 12 people talking for an hour and a half, so you better know what you’re doing," said Bill Doyle, who was making his stage debut in the role of the jury foreman, Juror No. 1.

The actors praised Gary Scarpa, the director, for his ability to get great performances from nonprofessionals, who mostly have little formal acting training and are there just for the love and excitement of it.

"Gary is the master of casting," said John Spinetti, Juror No. 10, whose racism makes him one of the angriest in the jury room. "Everybody is in exactly the right spot."

"He just knows," added Jerry Brown, Juror No. 2, whose performance injects some unexpected humor.

No one provided more evidence of it than John Miller, who played the key role of Juror No. 8, whose nagging doubt about the defendant’s guilt sets the drama in motion.

Gary Scarpa said he first noticed Miller at a Christmas pageant Mass several years ago, which Miller narrated as the lector at St. Joseph Church in Shelton. At the time, the Scarpas were working on staging scenes from "To Kill a Mockingbird" for that year’s Big Read event, but they hadn’t found an actor to play Atticus Finch.

"He’s got Atticus Finch written all over him," Gary said he told his wife.

Miller said he doubted he could do it. "I hadn’t done any acting before," he said. But with Gary’s guidance he pulled it off, and wound up performing it for First Lady Laura Bush at the Barnum Museum.

The two roles were played in the film versions by two Hollywood legends, Atticus Finch by Gregory Peck and Juror No. 8 by Henry Fonda.

"I think I really have a great knack for casting people in the right role," Gary Scarpa said. He likened casting to putting together pieces of a puzzle, but he said he also has to follow his gut.

Actor Bruce Murray had played Col. Jessup, the Jack Nicholson part in "A Few Good Men," earlier in the season. Gary cast him as Juror No. 7, the juror who doesn’t want the trial to keep him from going to a baseball game.

Scarpa said Murray wanted to play one of the other parts, but he insisted on casting him for Juror No. 7. "I was thinking this character has Bruce Murray written all over him," he said.

Center Stage started six years ago on Center Street in downtown Shelton. It had to move in 2009 when it lost its lease. Fortunately, Blakeman offered the former car dealership for its temporary home.

The abandoned Subaru showroom was the perfect size and shape for the 180-seat theater, and other rooms behind the stage allowed for dressing rooms and storage of costumes and scenery.

"I hope the next place is as intimate as this one," said Rob Garber, who played Juror No. 11, the fair-minded immigrant.

Gary Scarpa told the cast and crew that Center Stage was "nothing different from what I want it to be." He compared it to the baseball field in "Field of Dreams," and said he had no doubt the community would support it. "If you build it they will come," he said.

"We’ll see what the future holds."