THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, January 12, 1996 TAG: 9601100177
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 10 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY ERIC FEBER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 94 lines
Over this weekend and the next, Chesapeake will be treated to a lot of ``Nunsense.''
But the Actors' Theatre, which will produce the family musical comedy, isn't fooling when it casts its eye on Chesapeake.
``We're breaking new ground by introducing professional theater to Chesapeake,'' said Joe Sasso, the Actors' Theatre's artistic director. ``We're looking to expand into the city. We feel Chesapeake could be a great opportunity for us.''
``Coming to Chesapeake is new territory for us,'' said Teresa Bryan, Actors' Theatre marketing director. ``We feel this will be a good venture for everybody. We know there's a need for entertainment of this sort in Chesapeake.''
Bryan said Sasso liked the climate of potential support in Chesapeake. He was impressed with the enthusiasm shown by the sponsoring Chesapeake Fine Arts Commission.
``Everybody is excited about us coming here,'' Sasso said. ``We are excited about it, and the commission is excited.''
Sasso got to know about Chesapeake's cultural potential when he acted as one of the audition judges for last year's Fine Arts Commission grant awards, said L. Randy Harrison, Chesapeake Fine Arts Coordinator.
``I think he was impressed with the young arts talent we have,'' Harrison said. ``During the judging, we got to talking and in light of the talent he saw, the fact that we don't have any kind of professional theater group and the state-of-the-art little theater at the new Oscar Smith High School, he thought the city was ready for some theater.''
The Actors' Theatre is in its third season. For its first two, it called the Virginia Beach Center for the Arts its home. It has since moved on to base its productions at the Kempsville Playhouse.
``Due to the loss of our home at the Virginia Beach Center for the Arts, a number of people have expressed their doubts about the future of the Actors' Theatre,'' Sasso wrote in the playbill for its latest production. ``While things have been tough these past few months, with patience and perseverance - not to mention many sleepless nights - and the diligent work or our new board, I'm happy to say that the Actors' Theatre is stronger than ever.''
Sasso said his group is serious about developing Chesapeake as a potential site for several future productions. It is so serious about courting the favor of Chesapeake theater-goers that it will cut ticket prices for the two-weekend run of ``Nunsense.''
``Specifically for our Chesapeake run, we have reduced ticket prices by 20 percent,'' Sasso said. ``We encourage people to come and support us. If we do well here, who knows what will happen.''
In fact, if public response to ``Nunsense'' is good, Sasso said his group is looking to possibly stage an entire season here.
Harrison, who helped bring ``Nunsense'' to the city, thinks Chesapeake is on the cusp of some major regional professional theater.
``I think people in this city are starved for some professional theater,'' Harrison said. ``It would be nice to have something worthwhile culturally that will be here and not elsewhere in Hampton Roads.''
Harrison cited last September's Virginia Symphony ``Symphony Under the Stars'' concert held at Chesapeake City Park as proof that Chesapeake will support quality cultural events. She said that concert drew more than 2,500 people, including old and young and people from all economic and ethnic backgrounds.
``We have excellent and very innovative drama departments in all of our five high schools that are supported by the public,'' Harrison said. ``You can imagine what will happen if we can bring a professional theater group into the city.''
The Actors' Theatre is considering Chesapeake for more permanent plans.
``We want to be one of the leading contenders of professional theater here in Chesapeake,'' Sasso said. ``We are serious about our intention to come here. And we are certainly eyeing Chesapeake as a possible home base. And your facility (the little theater as Oscar Smith High) is so beautiful, we can't wait to perform there.''
``Chesapeake really does not have any kind of drama company to call its own,'' said Alyson Shedd, music teacher at Georgetown Primary School, a future Deep Creek resident and one of the leading members of the ``Nunsense'' cast. ``This is such a growing area, I think it's time for an Actors' Theatre or some kind of Little Theater to be established here. I constantly run into people who tell me they wish they was a theater company here. This is no longer an area of just locals, it's becoming more and more transient, it's becoming more of a cosmopolitan area. This is an exciting community to move into.''
And with ``Nunsense'' the Actors' Theatre is hoping to make life just a little more exciting and entertaining for the citizens of Chesapeake. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by ERIN COLLINS
``This is an exciting community to move into,'' says Alyson Shedd, a
future Deep Creek resident and a leading member of the ``Nunsense''
cast.
by CNB