Even a theater critic such as myself gets sentimental when he learns that Santa Maria Civic Theatre is celebrating its 50th season this year.
I have some personal experience with the organization’s history. My first (and, thus far, only) appearance on a Santa Maria stage was in the theater’s production of the suspense thriller Veronica’s Room (2000), in which I played the mysterious, fake-mustache-wearing “Young Man.” Three years later, the Sun assigned me to review its holiday show Kringle’s Window—my first review for a real, honest-to-goodness newspaper—and I’ve reviewed all of their shows for the Sun ever since.
SMCT President Carolyn Lori (who directed Kringle’s Window) began attending shows as an audience member in the early 1990s. In 1994, she began acting in SMCT’s “Summer Fairy Tale” children’s theater productions.
“When I auditioned for the fairy tales,” Lori said, “I was like, ‘Okay, I can do that for the children,’ because I hadn’t acted since high school. When I realized that there were parents in the audience, too, I thought, ‘Wait a minute, what are those adults doing out there?’”
Once Lori got on stage, she was hooked.
In subsequent productions, she worked backstage with props, lights, and stage managing before moving on to directing and performing in regular season productions. She became president of the organization in 2000.
Lori, a longtime hairdresser, commented that her day job helps her keep in touch with SMCT’s audience.
“My clients keep me informed about what they like and don’t like in theater,” she said. “They all know I’m involved.”
“Not one person has been paid in 50 years,” founder Meg Smith said, commenting on the volunteerism that keeps SMCT running. “[Lori] has attested to that. She’s down there working her heart out, bless her heart.”
So is Smith excited about the 50th season?
“Oh, you bet, you bet,” she said. “It’s really kind of unique in community theaters, which have worked with all volunteers. Most theaters get burned out pretty soon. It’s really miraculous to have it last for 50 years.”
It turns out that SMCT has its roots in the Golden Age of Hollywood. Smith (ne;e Cole) attended the Actors Laboratory at UCLA, where “Cary Grant took me under his wing.”
Later, while working in the publicity department at RKO Pictures, Smith was asked to stand in for Ingrid Bergman for a few shots in Alfred Hitchcock’s film Notorious. Smith was subsequently offered an acting contract of her own, and went to her mentor, Cary Grant, for advice. He asked her why she wanted to be an actress, and she replied that she hoped to gain a better understanding of other people.
“He said, ‘You’re too idealistic for this rat race. Go to a small town and work in community theater,’” Smith remembered. “[Years later] he asked me, ‘What the hell are you doing in Santa Maria?’ and I said, ‘I’m doing what you told me to do 25 years ago.’”
Smith actually came to Santa Maria because of her husband Tom Smith (whom she had met through another local legend, her friend actress/singer Jane Russell). Tom was a photo coordinator at Lockheed Martin and was transferred to Vandenberg Air Force Base. After a time in Lompoc—during which Meg helped form what would later become Lompoc Civic Theatre—the Smiths moved to Santa Maria.
While she was still unpacking, she got a visit from the town “welcome wagon.” One of the first things she wanted to know was, “Is there a little theater in this town?” She was told that there wasn’t, so she and her husband decided to found one.
The Smiths ran an ad for locals interested in theater, and 35 people showed up. Within six weeks, they put on their first production in the “cafetorium” of a school on Alvin Avenue.
Under the direction of “master craftsman” Tom Smith, scenery was built in various SMCT members’ garages. The cast didn’t see the set until opening night. Lights were mounted on a crossbar that spanned the front of the auditorium, because the stage had only two overhead lights.
Meg directed the first production, The Tender Trap, which was “a huge success, and ran for three nights,” she said.
“We were flying by the seat of our pants,” she said. “We didn’t know whether we’d have another production. ; The place was absolutely packed. The ticket price was a dollar and half—we didn’t feel like we could ask an audience to pay more than they would pay for a movie at the time.”
After years of performing in other venues, SMCT acquired a permanent home at 1660 N. McClelland St.—the old Pacific Telephone relay station—in 1965. It was purchased for $8,000 with the help of local grower Will Souza and his wife, Lynn. Santa Maria Civic Theatre has held performances there ever since, though it’s gone through some transformations.
“Things change,” Lori said, “but things stay the same. It’s interesting to me—all the different people that come and go, and that’s what makes it community theater.”
She noted that the one thing that’s changed is attendance—or, now, a lack thereof—by younger audience members, particularly 20- to 30-year-olds.
“We try to do a wide variety of new and older productions,” Lori said. “That’s been our goal. By doing the older productions, it introduces the newer generation to theater. And then, we try to do newer plays to entice the younger audiences.”
She added that she believes the Summer Fairy Tale program helps introduce children to live theater so that when they grow up, they will attend theater performances.
“We all like movies,” she said, “but there’s nothing like live theater.”
The first production of SMCT’s 50th season will be the world premiere of Sugar! Oh, Sugar!, a “Hawaiian meller-drammer” with original musical numbers. The play was written by Wil Welsh, with music by Ed Dato and Jerome Gilmer.
Wil’s wife Jo (ne;e Brewer) had previously been involved with SMCT. Though Welsh lived in Lompoc around the same time, they didn’t meet until Jo produced one of Tom’s plays in Hawaii.
Welsh said that the play is “kind of a national endeavor.” The Welshs live on the Hawaiian island of Kauai. Dato is from Austin, Texas, and Gilmer is from Denver, Colo.
“We welcome people to take time out of their busy schedules, and enjoy the shows we have this season,” Lori said. “And if anyone out there who has any aspirations of acting or being involved—don’t be shy, just come out there and give it a try. There’s no experience necessary. It’s a fun, fun place to learn to act, to learn about backstage, costuming, lighting, etc.”
INFOBOX: Get a taste
The world premiere of Sugar! Oh, Sugar! will take place with a celebration of Santa Maria Civic Theater’s 50th anniversary at 6 p.m. on Sept. 13 with pu pu and mai tais, wine, and dinner served at 6:30 p.m. and dessert at intermission. Curtain is at 8 p.m. Cost is $50, with the proceeds to benefit the Capital Improvement Fund. For more information, call 937-2522.
Freelance writer Brent Parker can be reached at penchantpoetry@aol.com.
This article appears in Sep 4-11, 2008.