Rehearsing without Principals!

Tuesday night — The cast of the Sugar Creek Players' production of To Kill a Mockingbird has been the dictionary definition of flexible. Take Tuesday night: I had scheduled the courtroom scene to run all the way through twice. Problem was, we were missing our defense attorney, prosecuting attorney, and our defendant!

No worries. Jerry Bowie and Matt Clark took over as Atticus Finch, the former in yet another slightly ironic performance! Alex Livengood stepped in as Mr. Gilmer and was terrific as he guided his witnesses through their testimony.

With spring break on the horizon, we're gearing up to do a lot of pinch-hitting for one another. Fortunately, we are — if anything — a flexible bunch.

The Ewells: Mayella (Alli Aldrich) and Bob (Stephen Morillo)

Sheriff Heck Tate (Matt Mayberry) listens to Mayella Ewell (Alli Aldrich)

Building Momentum

Tuesday morning — Sunday night's rehearsal was by far the best we've had to date, and our vision for the Sugar Creek Players' production of To Kill a Mockingbird is starting to come together.

On Sunday, we ran the entire first act with virtually no interruption. Considering it was the first time we had put the 10 scenes together, I was thrilled with the pace and performance.

Now that the set pieces are largely complete, we're focusing our attention on getting actors off-book. Many already know their lines, many are close, and a few who have lines in almost every scene are within a few days of having their lines down.

Our production has received two grants with the hope of at least one more. (News on these coming later in the week.) We'll use grant money to further our educational outreach efforts with local schools. Our hope is to go into local middle and high schools to talk about the play, how it differs from the book, and how we as a cast have worked through issues like racism, sexism, class differences, not to mention the language. Grant money will allow us to either provide free or greatly discounted tickets to students whose classes have studied the book. We sent out a mass invitation to more than 20 local teachers of English, literature, social studies, and drama. Spread the word — if you know teachers who might be interested in bringing classes to our play and/or having us come into their classes to talk about it, have them contact the director.

A quick note on some of our symbols. Our show's logo makes use of a large, silhouetted tree with a lone mockingbird flying off. For us, the dying tree symbolizes the old attitudes of Maycomb. Scout says to Miss Maudie, "Maycomb is an old town, isn't it?" We like to think that the racism and sexism that for so long defined the town are beginning to die, and that people like Atticus, Scout, and Miss Maudie represent the town's future.

For us, that lone mockingbird could be Atticus, for he alone has been chosen to "do our unpleasant" business, as Maudie says. Perhaps the mockingbird is Tom Robinson, who sits alone in a jail cell waiting for a trial he knows he will lose. Maybe the mockingbird is sad, old, Mrs. Dubose who suffers her addiction alone. Dill feels very much alone, "I'm little, but I'm old," he says of himself, while telling his friends that his parents aren't mean, but they don't have much interest in him. The obvious mockingbird is Boo Radley, shut up in his house and kept largely in solitude. And as Harper Lee tells us, "It's a sin to kill a mockingbird."

Our production will also incorporate the state flag of Alabama, with its large red X running through its length. The basic structure is the same as the flag of the Confederacy. The flag will be larger and far more prominent than even the American flag in our Maycomb courtroom, signifying Alabama's independence. And while not fully intentional, we think that large red X works like a target on Tom Robinson's back — as he gets shot from behind 17 times.

Eighteen days until opening night!

Anybody See This?

We're in good company in this photo of a library, the facade of which features the great books of all time — including To Kill a Mockingbird!

Pictures from March 22

It occurred to me early this morning that when our cast is all together again this Sunday, we'll be exactly 20 days away from opening night. We're making progress, but we've got a long way to go. Some actors are off book and others are close. The set continues to come together and by Sunday, we should be pretty close to having all of the pieces assembled -- if not finished!

Plan now to get tickets for the Sugar Creek Players' production of To Kill a Mockingbird. Tickets go on sale Monday, April 11 and the play runs consecutive weekends — April 15-17 and April 21-23.

Damon Lincourt and Matt Mayberry

Jill Rogers and Heather Olin

Sammie Amidon, Damon Lincourt, Trey Rogers

Niki Hutson

Sammie Amidon and Conner Smith

Meet the Cast: Part 4

As we wrap up our first full week of rehearsals — and blocking the play — I'm pleased to wrap up cast introductions for the Sugar Creek Players' production of To Kill a Mockingbird.

Reverend Sykes: The good Reverend Sykes is played by Jerry Bowie, who will make his stage debut in Mockingbird. Jerry has served on the Board of Directors of the Sugar Creek Players for the last three years, and a year ago co-produced the Vanity Theater's amazing production of The Women. By day, Jerry works at Wabash College, where he wears many hats as the coordinator of activities for the Center of Academic Enrichment. He also has a strange habit of wearing a new hat every time he visits the Vanity Theater's costume or prop rooms, but that's a whole other story. In addition to playing Reverend Sykes, Jerry is co-producing Mockingbird with Nancy Rodenbeck.

Helen Robinson: The young woman playing Helen Robinson in our production is Crawfordsville High School student Rebekah Kirts. She's very busy as a member of the award-winning Blue Illusions Dance Team, and has appeared in Peter Pan and The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. We're very excited to welcome her to our cast, fresh off a national dance competition.

Calpurnia: This important role in Mockingbird will be played by Debbie Reed, who will make her acting debut in the show. Recently married, she answered the call to come read for the part, and we immediately liked what she brought to the stage. Her poise, posture, and pace under the lights were all impressive, especially considering that when she read for the part, she was literally standing on a stage for the very first time. We're excited to watch her develop throughout our production.

Court Clerk and "Big Man": It was a no-brainer to cast mighty Rick James in the part of the "Big Man' in the lynch mob, which tries to storm past Atticus Finch to lynch Tom Robinson on the eve of his trial. In addition to that role, Rick will also swear in all of the witnesses in the riveting courtroom scene. Rick has a fine acting background and tells us that he was in the second play ever performed at the Vanity back in the late 1980s, and returned last month for The Wizard of Oz. While living in Jackson County, he was also involved in community theater, including roles in Dracula, Rainmaker, Spirit, Our Town, and a few others. Rick brings a warm heart and kind spirit to our cast.

Lynch Mob Member and Taunting Boy: Matthew Clark might just have the most Vanity acting credits of any actor in our cast of Mockingbird. While only 16, Matthew has been a part of 14 Vanity productions and acted in seven. Normally, he works backstage, in the light booth, or where ever he might be needed. This director would love to have a dozen actors like Matthew — willing to do anything to make a show successful. 

Link Deas and Lynch Mob Member: Mahlon Nevitt is a 17-year-old, North Montgomery High School junior who appears to have gotten the acting bug in the super-successful production of The Wizard of Oz. In Mockingbird, Mahlon will play a dual role — as Link Deas in our courtroom scene and as another of the angry lynch mob members. We're excited to have him in the show.

Maycomb Citizens: Two lovely women agreed to join our production as citizens of Maycomb, Alabama, who stroll on stage and appear in our courtroom scenes — Barbara Walden and Sharyn Adams. We love having Barb in the cast because of her good humor. At some point well into her senior years, Barb decided to begin acting with the Sugar Creek Players. Her credits include Music Man, The Women, Arsenic and Old Lace, It's a Wonderful Life, and — as a swinging grandma — The Wedding Singer. Also starring is Sharyn Adams, a nurse in real life, who has an impressive acting resume that includes It's a Wonderful Life, Oklahoma, The Sound of Music, and Music Man.

Reggie Steele, a Wabash College student, was simply thrilled to be a part of To Kill a Mockingbird. He will play a Negro citizen of Maycomb, but throughout rehearsals, he's stepped up to do what ever we've asked him to do. And that comes as no surprise because he's one of the most active students on the Wabash campus, and is the chairman of the College's Malcolm X Institute of Black Studies. He last appeared on the Vanity Theater stage in The Wedding Singer. He's also a talented musician and singer, and has agreed to work with us on music for our show.

Stage Manager and Co-Producer: I would be remiss if I didn't also introduce co-producer Nancy Rodenbeck, who brings a wealth of experience to this production. Nancy has impressive Vanity Theater directing credits, which include excellent productions of Tom Sawyer, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, and The Somewhat True Tale of Robin Hood, as well as scores of church and home-school productions. She's been acting since she could walk, but I especially enjoyed her in last year's SCP production of The Women. As the former Managing Director of the Vanity Theater, she answers most of my questions before I can ask them. Nancy will also serve as our Stage Manager.

Meet the Cast: Part 3

Greetings from Crawfordsville as we march forward toward the opening night of the Sugar Creek Players' production of To Kill a Mockingbird. We spent most of last weekend working on various set pieces and stage elements, which is a slow process in a large building with limited stage space and an even smaller budget. But the pieces are coming together and we've had good rehearsals on Sunday and Monday.

Tonight, we'll work through the scene involving "Tim" — the rabid dog who ambles through Maycomb until "Dead Eye"Atticus takes him out.

Continuing in our effort to meet the cast of our production, I'm pleased to introduce a few more of our talented actors:

Walter Cunningham: This poor farmer is indebted to Atticus for doing some legal work for him, and has no money to pay him. He resorts to sharing nuts, kindling wood, and even turnip greens to cover his debt. I like this character very much because he's upright in that he takes no "relief checks" from the government and he works hard. Later, though, he's part of a mob ready to lynch Tom Robinson — until young Scout reminds him how human he really is and convinces to walk around in Tom's skin. When Bill Hepburn, a long-time SCP Board member and dedicated volunteer, stepped on stage, it was hard for me to picture him as anyone other than Walter. Bill is physically a big man with strong hands, broad shoulders, a good back, and a nice voice. He graciously accepted the part and will return to the stage where he's previously had roles in Deadwood Dick, State Fair, and Love Thy Neighbor. Bill's family is connected to the Vanity Theater in every way possible, and all of Lois and Bill's kids have been raised on local theater stages.

Bob Ewell: We had many good actors read for this role and I liked several of them for very different reasons. When Stephen Morillo, a Wabash College History Professor, took the stage, we saw something behind the goatee that caught our attention. How cool would it be, we thought, to have a Rhodes Scholar and Oxford-educated man play the perfectly disreputable Bob Ewell? Well, very cool, actually. Stephen is a prolific textbook writer, international expert on military history, a musician, artist, father, and a very fine teacher. He tells us he acted in "stuff last century," but we remember him in the Wabash production of the very creepy, haunting play, Pillowman, a couple of years ago. And we figure that as a teacher of bright and talented Wabash guys, he probably has to do a good bit of acting in class every day. We're glad to have Stephen in our show.

Mayella Ewell: This was the second toughest choice I made when casting the play. The character of Mayella is complicated. She's the oldest in a large and motherless family, and she is abused by her father. Her home is near a dump and Harper Lee describes it in stirring detail in the book (early in courtroom section). Lee tells us the only bright light in Mayella's life is the gleaming red of her potted geraniums that surround the Ewell home. So desperate is she that Mayella saves nickels for an entire year to get her siblings out of the house so that she might share her first kiss — with Tom Robinson. We wanted an actress with a strong appearance — to have managed the heavy labor of her daily life — but with the mind of a child being manipulated by her father. We're pleased that Alli Aldrich accepted the role, for we think she brings all of those qualities to the stage. She has appeared in the last two plays produced by the Sugar Creek Players — as the Ghosts of Christmas Past and Future in A Christmas Carol and as an Ozian in The Wizard of Oz. A student at Ivy Tech, she performed extensively at Southmont High School and was a five-year member of Southmont's show choir, Panache.

Nathan Radley: The elder Radley, Nathan, is played by Alex Livengood. While Alex has a pretty small role in our play, no person has been more eager or excited to be a part of the cast than Alex — almost always the first or second person to rehearsal and always fun to be around. Alex's acting credits come almost exclusively from high school, when he performed in six plays in addition to skits as a 4-H member. Alex will also play in our lynch mob scene.

Arthur "Boo" Radley: The role made famous by Robert Duvall, Boo Radley has only a couple of lines, but he is clearly near the center of the story — from the children trying to coax him out his house to the final scenes when he rescues Scout and Jem from murderous Bob Ewell. While Harper Lee gives us plenty of examples to highlight her theme of "walking around in someone else's skin" — Dubose, Cunningham, Robinson, even Ewell — Boo is the mockingbird we shall not kill. Our Boo is played by Clayton Mikesell, a freshman at Wabash College. He's a member of the College's Glee Club, and previously appeared in Arsenic and Old Lace. He was also in high school musicals ranging from The Sound of Music to Jesus Christ Superstar.

Tom Robinson: Brock Peters put a mighty big stamp on this role when he played the part of Tom Robinson in the Academy Award-winning film. His is one of the finest screen performances I've seen from that era. We had three very good actors audition for this part, and two were so good I decided to double cast the part, which is not something I had planned to do going into auditions. So two young men, both Wabash College students, will share the part — each playing Tom for one weekend run of the show, and on the opposite weekends, the actors will play another part. DeVan Taylor is a Wabash sophomore from Indianapolis, who previously worked with the College's production of The Bacchae. At Brebeuf Jesuit High School, DeVan appeared in Teach Me How to Cry, Murder's in the Air, High School Musical, and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat, among others. Our other Tom Robinson is Wabash freshman Larry Savoy, who hails from Missouri City, Texas. Larry is a member of the Wabash Glee Club and is fresh off a spring tour — and performing three concerts this week! In high school, he was in the cast of Grease, The Shadow Box, and Chicago, to name a few.

That's it for now. We'll introduce the remainder of our cast in the next few days.

Meet the Cast: Part 2

We want to continue to introduce various members of the cast of the Sugar Creek Players' production of To Kill a Mockingbird. Yesterday, we spent a little time introducing the Finch family — and sidekick Dill. Today, we're pleased to introduce some of the "movers and shakers" of Maycomb, Alabama, circa 1935.

Mr. Gilmer: Our Maycomb prosecuting attorney is Art Lang, who brings a wealth of experience to the stage. Over the last decade, he's been an actor, director, and stage manager for the Sugar Creek Players, Lafayette Civic Theater, and the Purdue Experimental Theater. He's the only member of our cast who has appeared in an earlier production of To Kill a Mockingbird. He played Walter Cunningham and Judge Taylor in the Lafayette Civic Theater production in the mid-1990s. During Monday's read-through, he gave the director chills when he cross examined Tom Robinson.

Heck Tate: If you've never seen the movie or can block it out of your mind, when you read the script for To Kill a Mockingbird, you begin to imagine the perfect Maycomb sheriff. Maybe he's a strong, rugged southerner, or maybe he's a slightly built guy who leads with his badge and gun. But we knew we had the perfect Heck Tate moments after Matt Mayberry read for the part. We read him for a number of roles after that, but we kept coming back to his take on Heck Tate. Matt has no Vanity Theater credits on his resume, other than shuttling his children to and and from the theater. All of us behind the scenes had hoped we would discover some new talent when we staged Mockingbird, and Matt is a picture-perfect example.

Judge Taylor: Crawfordsville natives who have been around the Sugar Creek Players for a few decades will be pleased to know that Stu Weliever has come out of retirement and will return to the Vanity Theater stage as Judge Taylor. Stu is one of the few members of our cast and crew who can recall when the Sugar Creek Players staged productions at Wabash College — back before the historic building at 122 South Washington Street was gifted to the theater company. Stu knows that he was type cast — but not from his previous roles. We type cast him because by day he is a practicing attorney in Crawfordsville and serves on a number of volunteer boards in town. After Stu read for the first time, our Scout Finch piped up and said, "He sounds like a lawyer." Well, that's because he is a lawyer, and he's also going to be a very fine Judge Taylor come April 15.

Miss Maudie Atkinson: This was another role for which we had three or four actresses step up with excellent auditions. We tried several combinations of women in the various roles, and we believe we got every role just right. Heather Jo Olin will appear in her third (straight) Vanity Theater production as the Finch's closest neighbor, Miss Maudie. Heather played (at least) three roles in December's A Christmas Carol, then donned plenty of green as an Ozian in the wildly successful production of The Wizard of Oz. Heather has obviously been bitten by the acting bug, and we're excited to have her in our cast. While there are so many amazing roles in this play, we think Miss Maudie has some of the most important and enduring lines.

Mrs. Dubose: Atticus Finch teaches his son, Jem, a number of important lessons when he "punishes" Jem by making him read to old Mrs. Dubose. Harper Lee and Christopher Sergel imagine an old, cranky lady for us. But we chose a delightful, funny, lively, and humane woman to play the part — Susan "Sue" Rubner. Sue and her husband are not from this area, but have been hard-working, participatory human rights activists in all the cities in which they have lived. Sue has done commercial work in the past, but we're most excited to have her insight when discussing the racial themes so dominant in our script. Sue and her husband have volunteered to help us in our educational outreach efforts, too, so we look forward to that. Sue will get really tired of us saying, "Crankier, Sue. Crankier!

Stephanie Crawford: We had cast 13-year-old veteran Trey Rogers as Dill for our production back in late January or early February. While his mom was shuttling him to and from early pre-rehearsals, she must have gotten excited about the play. Jill Rogers surprised us when she said she planned to audition, but was not at all surprising once she took the stage. She said she'd take any part, but we kept seeing her as Stephanie Crawford, the Maycomb County gossip who knows everything about everyone in town. Jill and Dan's children, Trey and Lanie, have appeared in many local theatrical productions, so Jill is no stranger to the Vanity Theater. She did lots of work in high school, took a break, then returned to the stage one year ago in Beth Swift's amazing production of The Women.