Behind 'The Curtain' at Center Playhouse!

I’ve always loved Center Playhouse on South Street in Freehold.  Going in there alone as a widow, I always felt comfortable, always felt welcome and always knew I’d have a few hours of either terrific comedy or great drama….  Twelve Angry Men and Doubt were two of my favorites!

But this past Sunday at a Volunteer Open House, I learned why I love it so.  And I have a whole new appreciation for the actors, stage crew, and everybody connected with Center Players.

I WENT BACKSTAGE!

Backstage here isn’t some fantastic series of dressing rooms, with a star on each door, a bustling hallway where cast members are milling about, coming and going, chatting with each other, all in a flurry of fancy dress or un-dress.  Nope. At Center Players, it’s more like a tiny, scrunched up itsy bitsy little space where there isn’t enough room for two people to pass in the ‘hallway’… I use the term loosely… And there can’t be any talking, laughing, even chomping down on potato chips or crackers… you’re THAT CLOSE TO THE STAGE!

I came away feeling, that’s the charm of this little storefront theater, where the actors and backstage crew pour out their hearts, souls, and talent purely for the love of the theater… and in giving Freehold just a bit more class, a bit more culture, a bit more fun, they’re doing their share.

I got to go backstage simply because I responded to an invitation to come to the volunteers meeting to see if I would be interested in helping.  Colleen, President of Center Players, other board members and volunteers of the theater company, didn’t ask if I or the 30 or 40 others there at the meeting wanted to help… they asked if we wanted to be part of the Center Players’ family!  “Don’t only tell us your talent.”, Bernice, Artistic Director, always affable and ever smiling said, “Tell us what you’d like to do.  Believe me,” she laughed, “we have a need for all kinds of talents and we can have someone teach you the ropes if you want to try something new.”

After some casual meet and greet chatter, and a more than ample supply of ‘elderberry wine’, coffee, and the best Flan and pastries I’ve ever had…. lots of these Players have culinary talents, too…. we were invited to look around, go backstage, see the dressing room and lights & sound booth, and make ourselves at home.

Now then… going through the door to backstage, a mere few feet from the stage, gets you into a hall... really, just a square space lined with closets and containing a prop table overflowing with glasses and ‘stuff.’  To the left is the one, lone, single, dressing room… complete with the wall mirrors lined with bright lights, a few chairs and a vanity, and an empty coffeepot and half-empty box of cookies, leftovers from a respite after a successful afternoon performance.  Moving out of the ‘dressing room’ and through the hall… a distance of about 10 feet, puts you literally “back stage”… in back of the ornately bedecked stage that’s the setting for the current Arsenic and Old Lace production, amid studs, unpainted walls and a passageway so narrow you couldn’t make it through walking a golden retriever… to the other side of the stage… barely 20 feet in all.  Opening the door that’s part of the stage set, you can see the staircase that from the audience appears to go up a full flight, but from backstage, you see it’s only a few feet high with an attractive living room wall hiding the absence of more steps.  Tacked to the backside of the living room set walls are hand-written lines from the play… Bernice explained they were the cues for the cast to know when they were to appear onstage.  You just don’t think… or at least up until then, I certainly didn’t… that those magnificent actors and actresses in their fine and precisely accurate costumes dash out on stage and play their roles after being squished up in the dark in a narrow space inches behind the set!

The entire ‘tour’ might take two or three minutes if you’re just breezing through.  But it gives you an entirely new vision and appreciation for what happens under the lights on the other side of those thin walls.  I am amazed at the intricacy and intimacy of those who work behind the scenes, silently and mostly in the dark, to work their magic.  No wonder Center Players is like a family… they certainly have to live up-close and like each other to get along backstage!

I haven’t seen Arsenic yet, but now I’m going to.  And you can too, if you call or go online to order tickets before the show ends on Nov. 17… the last I heard, seats were going fast for the remaining performances.

And if you have any spare time, regardless of your talent, give Colleen, Bernice or Francesca… she’s the bubbly and attractive gal who heads up the volunteer efforts… a call and tell them you want to be part of the magic of one of the gifts Freehold offers to make this a very special community.

Muriel Smith is a guest blogger for Center Players.  She grew up in Union, NJ and lived in Highlands for more than 40 years, working as a newspaper writer/editor before leaving home with her husband 15 years ago to live in an RV and visit every state in the Union before determining that Monmouth County is still the best place to live.  She's now settled comfortably in Freehold.

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Arsenic and Old Lace opened at Center Playhouse, located at 35 South Street in downtown Freehold, on Friday, October 18th and runs for five weekends through November 17th, with performances on Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 PM and Sundays at 2:00 PM.  Tickets are $25 for Adults and $23 for Seniors & Students and includes gourmet desserts and refreshments.  Group rates for parties of ten or more are available.  Seating is limited so call the box office at (732) 462-9093 or visit us online at www.CenterPlayers.org to purchase your tickets.