SCR's Annual Dinner: Happy Ending, New Beginning
On Wednesday night, July 22, 2009, South Coast Repertory closed its 45th Season—in the black—honored those who made it all possible and looked toward the 46th.
The fun began when five of the theatre’s most popular actors (Kandis Chappell, Richard Doyle, Arye Gross, Hal Landon Jr. and Melanie Lora) arrived to rehearse the evening’s entertainment—a visual retrospective of the theatre’s 45 seasons, themed “The Collected Stories of South Coast Repertory.”
As members of the Board of Trustees emerged from their Annual Meeting, they were joined by the actors (now numbering six, including Mary Beth Adderley, an early member of SCR’s company and a current Trustee). After cocktails and hors d’oeuvres in the SCR lobby, the party began with dinner and “Collected Stories” (emceed by Board Presidet Wylie A. Aitken) on SCR’s Segerstrom Stage.
Going off script during the evening, the actor/narrators of “Collected Stories” included their own stories. Mary Beth remembered her initial visit nearly 40 years ago, when she pulled up to the storefront on Newport Boulevard (the Third Step Theatre) and thought, “This is a theatre?” Soon she had joined the company, hauling costumes to the cleaners, later designing them and finally appearing onstage.
Arye Gross reminded guests that he had been an SCR Conservatory student, who paid for his classes by doing odd jobs before finally getting a speaking role in Wild Oats, a far cry from his most recent appearance on Broadway in Donald Margulies’ Brooklyn Boy, which had its world premiere at SCR.
Hal and Richard, both SCR Founding Artists, brought the house down with their stories of the early days and Kandis, who came along later, added that on her first SCR show, The Crucible, she worked with Hal’s father, Hal Landon Sr., who also appeared in the film A Wonderful Life. The youngest participant, Melanie had the opportunity to talk about SCR’s investment in the youth of the community through its many outreach programs, including free performances of Theatre for Young Audiences, where her SCR career began just six years ago.
Guests took home gift copies of the just-off-the-press authorized biography of SCR, Stepping Ahead by Lawrence Christon. Party gifts also included framed production shots for major underwriters and personalized framed magazine covers for retiring Trustees.
The evening concluded with Artistic Directors David Emmes and Martin Benson announcing the plays that are coming up in SCR’s 46th Season, beginning September 11.
