“They want to be there,” Sharkey said.
He brings an impressive resume of Broadway and off-Broadway shows to his role as guest director of the Lewiston Civic Theatre’s coming production of “Oklahoma!” but he harked back to his days coaching Little League in Montana when he visited by phone earlier this week about coming to Lewiston.
Volunteer community theater actors and crew members might not have the talent of a Broadway star, he said, but their enthusiasm is unrivaled.
Several local community theaters, in different ways, have been pairing that enthusiasm with professional instruction to elevate the experience for participants and audiences.
Liesbeth Powers/Inland 360 file
The Troy Community Theatre cast for Rodgers & Hammerstein’s “Oklahoma!” rehearses at the Troy City Park Gazebo last summer.
Coming home to teach: Troy Community Theatre
Abigail Rebekah was on a train returning to New York City from doing shows upstate while she visited about her dance and choreography career and her coming return to her hometown to work on Troy Community Theatre’s annual summer show.
This year, Rebekah will both choreograph and direct the small town’s production of “Joseph and the amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,” with performances from July 23-26.
It’s great to come home, she said, but more than that “it’s influencing the next generations of artists.”
Rebekah, the professional name she uses in her dancing and choreography career, graduated from Troy High School in 2015 as Abigail Raasch. Not long after, the newly formed, nonprofit Troy Arts Council launched Troy Community Theatre, and she has been returning to participate in it for several years.
She praised the Troy Arts Council for providing high-quality opportunities for young people in rural communities to experience performing arts.
When she was in high school, Rebekah said, “there was nothing.” Now, she returns to “help an amazing team provide a base of arts education. And I think that’s pretty important, actually.”
August Frank/Inland 360 file
New York-based actor and singer Henry Thrasher, shown in a scene with actor Stephanie Frost, performed in Regional Theatre of the Palouse’s 2023 production of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “South Pacific” in Pullman.
Creating a network: Regional Theatre of the Palouse
Pullman’s Regional Theatre of the Palouse always has had professional involvement, Executive Director John Rich said, including Jim Sato, a professional actor based in Pullman who has long participated in RTOP’s productions.
About 10 years ago, the nonprofit theater company began occasionally hiring professional actors from around the country to perform alongside community members, then a few years later made it a regular part of its shows.
“I think having trained professionals, it really adds to the knowledge of our local talent, and also we can give polished performances to our audiences,” Rich said.
Most recently, Andres Felipe, the Los Angeles-based actor who played the lead character in RTOP’s February production of “Tootsie” is returning to choreograph “An American in Paris,” opening April 24. New York City-based Morgan Sheehan, set to play the female lead in the show, also starred in RTOP’s 2023 production of “White Christmas.”
Regional Theatre of the Palouse
Andres Felipe, a professional actor from the Los Angeles area, performed in February in Regional Theatre of the Palouse’s “Tootsie” and returns next month to direct its production of “An American in Paris.”
The network the theater has built within the national performing arts community helps RTOP bring a “Broadway style experience” to the Palouse, Associate Director Michael Todd said.
And it means local performers have the opportunity to stay current with the industry as they learn from professionals.
“We’re bringing teaching artists,” Todd said.“Local actors are learning that they can hone their craft right here at home.”
Austin Johnson/Inland 360 file
Guest director Scott Thompson, right, gives instruction to actor Abby Seward during a rehearsal for the Lewiston’s Civic Theatre’s 2022 production of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical “Cinderella.”
Guest director series: Lewiston Civic Theatre
Sharkey returns to the show that started it all for him, directing “Oklahoma!” for the Lewiston Civic Theatre. It was his first show, he said, playing Curly when he was in college at Montana State University in Bozeman.
He’s coming to Lewiston for the first time as part of the civic theater’s guest director series, which Executive Director Nancy McIntosh launched three years ago with Los Angeles-based actor and director Scott Thompson directing “Cinderella.“
“It’s really exciting, because these people work in the professional world and have stories to tell and things that people can learn,” McIntosh said.
Her network of theater connections stems from her time in the Missoula, Mont., theater community, where she met another recent guest director, Andy Meyers, who directed “Annie” for the Civic earlier this year.
She and Sharkey also go way back (he’s known her since he was 12, Sharkey said), and he said he’s eager to experience her current hometown and the community theater she leads.
Working with enthusiastic volunteer community actors, he said, can be “more interesting than working with super talented people who aren’t super involved.”
“In New York, we’re actors and it’s our living, and it can be a job like any other job,” he said.
He’ll be joined by Becky Stout and her husband, Todd MacIntyre, from the Los Angeles area, who will choreograph and music-direct the show, respectively.
Stout, whose resume includes performances in a long list of musicals — and even as a Rockette — said she developed a love for teaching as a ballroom dance instructor on cruise ships.
She’s excited to be working with Sharkey, who she’s known for years, and to experience Lewiston’s theater community.
“We’re hoping for some great talent to show up for the auditions, and overall we just want an enthusiastic group of people,” she said.
It takes community support
Paying for professional involvement in a show isn’t something the Lewiston Civic Theatre can do every time, but McIntosh said she hopes to do so at least once a season.
The theater, a nonprofit organization, has sought sponsors to support bringing in guest directors and will be building the cost into its budget in the future, she said.
Rich, at Regional Theatre of the Palouse, said community members sometimes make donations toward bringing in outside talent, and generally the theater works to balance its expenses with reasonable ticket prices.
An actor’s perspective
Micheal Keene, of Clarkston, frequently performs with the Lewiston Civic Theatre — including in “Cinderella” under guest director Thompson — and with Regional Theatre of the Palouse.
He’s enjoyed working with a variety of directors, volunteer and professional, through his years with community theater, Keene said via text.
“Every director has a different process of putting a show together, which keeps things new and exciting for not only actors, but a production’s crew as well,” he said.
Guest directors bring the added perspective of having worked with professional and semiprofessional productions in different parts of the country, Keene said, explaining the same goes for the professional actors he performed alongside with RTOP.
“While I’m a volunteer actor, these people act for their livelihood,” he said. “I’ve been blessed to work alongside some pretty amazing people who take every step professionally. They’ve really pushed me to better myself as an actor.”
Stone (she/her) can be reached at mstone@inland360.com.
Lewiston Civic Theatre “Oklahoma!” auditions
When: 2 p.m. April 5, noon April 6. Callbacks 4 p.m. April 6.
Where: Lewiston Civic Theatre Box Office, 832 Main St.
Who: Actors ages 8 and older. Families are encouraged to audition.
Details: A list of musical numbers to choose from for the auditions is at lctheatre.org/auditions. Actors unavailable during listed times can email a video to lctboxoffice@gmail.com. Rehearsals begin April 21. Performances are June 12-29.
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Regional Theatre of the Palouse “Annie” auditions
When: 6:30-8:30 p.m. April 29.
Where: RTOP Theatre, 122 N. Grand Ave., Pullman.
Who: All ages.
Details: Auditions are for “Annie,” on stage Aug. 7-17, and future shows, listed at rtoptheatre.org/productions/auditions. Those unable to attend in person can submit a video vocal reel, photo, acting resume and audition form to director@rtoptheatre.org and rtoptheatre@gmail.com.
