It was June, 1938 – with the darkness of the Great Depression still very much in the air – when 26 men and women gathered to organize the Racine Theater Guild. They each contributed fifty cents so the organization would have the princely sum of $13 for its capital fund, and away they went – hopeful, to be sure, but with no way to be certain of where this would lead – and with no way of knowing that right around the corner was a new darkness: World War Two. But somehow, this fledgling theater company persevered through those challenging early years And thanks to the vision and passion and perseverance of those founders, to say nothing of the many generations of volunteers who followed them, the RTG is alive and well – 75 years later. And because such an accomplishment deserves a party, over one hundred of us gathered last night for a banquet that was just the right mixture of elegance and good fun.
And at least some of the credit for that, in my admittedly biased opinion, goes to Kathy – who as vice president of the RTG Board was responsible for much of the coordination of the event and for hosting and emceeing it. My wife will tell you all day that she has no knack for the whole master-of- ceremonies thing, but it’s all a lie; Kathy is delightful, with a warm and relaxed manner as well as a knack for deflecting undue attention away from herself and on to the matter at hand. . . although when the opportunity presents itself, she can have the whole room roaring with laughter.
There was plenty of laughter throughout the night, but there was tremendous poignancy as well, thanks to the eloquence of just about everyone who took the microphone throughout the evening – especially those moments when it was time to honor people who have volunteered for the guild for 25, 30, 35, or 40 years. Most of the guild’s volunteers come and go at the RTG, for one reason or another – but then there are those hearty souls who give of themselves decade after decade. They are RTG’s Rock Stars, and the end of the year banquet is our opportunity to thank and honor them. And on this particular occasion, when we were especially mindful of our history and the essential role that volunteers have played in that history, it seemed like the applause for our award winners rang out with special vigor. It was also nice to hear, as usual, from our current artistic director, Doug Instenes, as well as past director Norm McPhee – who between them represent almost 2/3’s of the guild’s history, and who love the guild and the people who give her life.
My part in the proceedings was fairly limited- and in some ways the most important thing I did was keep the house afloat and the dogs fed while Kathy dealt with a myriad of last minute details. My other responsibility was to put together and lead a singalong that would feature songs from some of the musicals done at the RTG. I’m so glad I was asked to do this, because I had a fantastic time researching the musicals that the guild has presented. One surprise- although their first season was in 1938, they didn’t do a musical until 1949. And incredibly, that first musical was an original – composed by someone in Racine. Not every community theater would make their first musical a world premiere, and the fact that the RTG did that says something about how serious they were (and are) about everything they did. It was also intriguing to me that so few musicals were done in the guild’s first 50 years (there were several different stretches of about ten years in that half century where no musicals were done at all), when now we are usually doing two or three each season, without fail.
I ended up putting together a singalong of songs from eleven different shows that have figured in the RTG’s history- The Fantasticks, Bye Bye Birdie, Wizard of Oz, Joseph & the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Oliver, Annie, You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown, The Music Man, Beauty and the Beast, Gypsy, and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. Except for the first two, which I swapped (so “Try to Remember” would get us started and serve as the theme) the songs were sung in the order that those shows were done at the guild. And you should have heard how folks raised the roof, singing their hearts out! And I know that for a lot of people in the room, it was a fun way to relive past productions in which they had taken part.
Ahead of the actual singing, I said a few words about the musicals that the guild had done over the years, and to mention some important shows that for one reason or another would not be represented in the singalong. As I made mention of the guild’s very first musical, “Adam Loves Eve,” a voice from the back of the room called out “my father wrote that musical!” What a great moment that was! And afterwards, I spoke to Michael Clickner about the musical his dad had composed and whether or not he still had the score. Sadly, he told me, he does not – just the script. I hope the score turns up someday; otherwise, it saddens me greatly to think that this work has effectively vanished, never to be done again. (It might be fun, if nothing else, just to resurrect a song or two. But we can only do that if a score is found.) I was also glad to be able to acknowledge two of the guild’s previous music directors, Frank Mueller and Judy Gasser, which was only right on such an occasion. (I’m so glad they both were there.)
It was a long night …. dinner was at 7 and the singalong didn’t start until after 10 …. but it’s not easy to be brief and succinct when talking about a place we love so much and which has had such a long and rich history. And thanks to the many laughs along the way, people didn’t seem to mind too much as the evening stretched on and on. After all, live theater requires many things: and one of them is patience! But much more importantly, it requires great people who are talented, dedicated, generous, and passionate. And as I looked around that room (and thought of other great members of the RTG family no longer with us – or with us but absent on this occasion) I realized anew just how richly blessed we are in that regard. That, plain and simple, is why the Racine Theater Guild is still around after 75 years. And if we’re going to last another 75 years, it will take still more great people who love community theater and who are willing and able to help make it happen.
Pictured above: I love this photo which Kathy snapped during the singalong. That’s Kate Potter Barrow – whose memorable impersonation of Patsy Cline headlined two of the guild’s most successful productions – next to Kathy’s dad, who was in the barbershop quartet for our production of The Music Man, and was a heartwarming Feziwigg in “Scrooge.” Don’t they look like they’re having a grand time?!? Just to his right are Kara Ernst (RTG’s chief choreographer extraordinaire, who has also begun directing shows there), Gary Stamm (who has lit up our stage as Scrooge, Willy Wonka’s grandfather, Mayor Shin in the Music Man, FDR in Annie, Fagan in Oliver – just to name a few), Pam Hudson, a faithful behind-the-scenes volunteer, and Anne Mollerskov (taking a sip from her drink) who’s been in a number of shows, but who for me will always be the woman who sang “I’m Still Here” with Kathy in Side by Side by Sondheim and brought down the house. I love thinking about all of the warm RTG memories that come to mind just from looking at those few faces.