19
THeAltmnont Enterprise — Thunduy, October 2*, 19t9
show," he said.
Dolly Tat*
Amy Osterhout, a tall and Strikingblonde, plays £>olly Tate, Frank
Butler's assistant, who tries to
come between him and Annie.
"This seemstobe the part I always
get," said Qsterhout, who also
played Adoo-Annie in Oklahoma.
"It's the sleezo-part...when you've
playedoneflirt, you've played them
all," she said.
. Her life is a far cry from the
jaded, show girl she plays. Being
crowned Miss Altamont Fair in
1985 was one of the greatestexperiences of Osterhout's life. "I was
on cloud nine," she said. "All my
family cried/ Never having been
in a pageant before, she didn't,
expecttowin, and had to ad lib the
acceptance speech, The public
relations specialists admits, at 21,
she wouldn't "starve on the streets
for an acting, career," but loves
being on stage. She reports: "Five
minutes before the play goes on
I'm so nervous I don't know my
own name, but once I'm on, I'm
transported." She said community
theater adds something to her life
she couldn't get anywhere else:
excitement.
Buffalo Bill
Carlton Schiller says he's had
fun with the part of Buffalo Bill,
"He's the elderly gentlemen, the
courtly old fellow who likes the
attention. And, he's a real showman,fromhis costumes on down."
Schiller chuckled to describe, the
"flashy sequined suit with a 10gallon hat," in which Buffalo Bill
firstappears. It's not whatSchiller
himself would wear to work as a
micrographic systems saleman at
WX.Goughtry. .
"I like playing the character
part of someone so different than
myself," he said. Schiller said he
got involed in community theater
because ofhis wife, Jo-Anne."She'd
be put working on a play and I'd
stay home and babysit, or help
buildscenery. Finally, they twisted
my arm to try a part, Once you
start, it's so much fun," he said.
Schiller is currently serving as
president of the Players.
Sitting Bull
Tom Smith is a grandfather,
with "a lovely wife and five chil*
.dreh — all grown," who feels
comfortable playing a fatherly,
protective type. He play* the part
of Chief Sitting Bull, whom he
describes historically as "the man
of the day, haying conquered
Custer." He said: "The partis about
an Indian who sees a girl—Annie
—• likes her, wants to protect her,
and takes her into the tribe as his
daughter. He makes her an In-.
dian." He plays the part sparingly,
with few words, and those gruffly
spoken. He points but that he's
played the part of protector to
Penny Conklin'scharacters before
— as Sarah's uncle in Guys and
Dolls, and as Marryin' Sam to her
Daisy Mae in L'ilAbner. And, he
says, it's a role he enjoys.
Frank Butler
Tim Norray plays the male
lead.vaudeville star Frank Butler. He describes the character as
"a good guy who doesn't like to lose
—• especially to a woman." He said
that playing Frank involves "a lot
of tips and downs, turning suddenly from sweet to hasty." He
added: "If you want to see Which
side wins out (sweet or nasty),
youll have to see the play." Norray, a Berne native, Starred —
again, opposite Conklin — in the
Hilltowns Players'first production,
L'il Abner. When he moved back to
town to run the Agway in Berne,
he said, "They hit me up to audi-.
tion for this play." He thinks* the
Players are "a great bunchtowork
with.'end enjoys the singingmost.
"Anything You Can Do, I Can Do
Better" is his favorite from this
show.
Irving Berlin wrote Annie Get
Your Gun, his most popular BroadWay musical, in 1946. And in 1989,
the year of Berlin's death, the
Hilltown Players decided the time
was right, to bring Annie to the
Helderbergs. Said production
manager Jo-Anne Schiller:
AlUmoot Knterprue — Moliua Hale-Spericcr
"There's no business like •howbuainen!" BuffaloBill (Carlton Schiller, standing in striped shirt),
Charlie Davenport (John Drahzal, in bowler hat) and Frank Butler (Tim Norray, seated) surround Annie
Oakley (Penny Conklin) to woo her into joining the show.
"Annie is particularly close to
my heart. The Annie character is
wonderful: She's ahead ofher time,
yet trapped in her time. (In the
play), she ends up missing her
shot at the end so Frank Will marry
her. But she is still his equal. It's
typical of musicals, where a man
and Woman get together at the
end. But there's no doubt she's
just as good as he is."
Schiller predicted Annie would
play well in the Hilltowns. Brushing aside feminist concerns (Why
does a woman in a 1940s musical
havetomiss a shot to win a man?),
she said:
"The point of doing the show is
to have fun. We're a theater group
Who draws from people right in
our community, people whphavea
wide variety of talents. And we
put on a show that's entertaining,
for people who might not otherwise see live theater. It's a lot of
fun for everyone."
James Meyers, who has directed
a number of shows for The Family
Players, a community theater
group based in Guilderland, is
making -his Hilltowns directing
debut with Annie, "He brings a
different level ofenergy than We've
been used to," said Schiller. Meyers was enthusiastic in return: *I love working with the Hilltowns Players," he suid. "They are
a great group of people, willing to
learn, willing to try anything.
We're going to give the Hilltowns a
show h*ke. they've never seen ."
Meyers said that the theme he
Inspector Turscott(Paul Richer)
with nurse Fay (Benita Zahn) in
ACTi Loot. Richer broke his arm
in rehearsal, but his grip on the
part was so firm that the cast
teemed part of the props.
meaning of family to stage
By Michele Liberti-Lansing
Foxfire is about a family as
American as apple pie — but not
without dissension, as members
are called upon to reflect on their
heritage.and come to grips with
the true meaning of family. Premiered on Broadway in 1982 by
Susan Cooper and Hume Cronyn,
the play .is loosely based on the
Foxfire books of Appalachian
Mountain folklore. Its focus is on
the conflicts and triumphs of a
20th century mountain family.
Terry Paulson directs the Schenectady Ci VicPlayers'production
of Foxfire, which opened last Friday.
Ultimately, Foxfire }n a heartwarming account of family triumphing over locale. Early in the
play, real estate developer Prince
Carpenter (John L. Gilson) visits
the Nntions'hilltopfarm in Rabun
County, Ga. for the second time in
five years, On his previous visit,
he had offered $50i000 for the farm.
Hector Nation (Jack Ryan) had
refused. "You can't put a price on
my dirt; myland." \
Thedevetoper has now returned
to double his offer,
Annie Nation (Kathy Yezzi) say s
no; iheis adament about preserving her husband's memory. Al- .
though Hector diedfiveyears ago,
Annie remainsemotionally bound
to him, conti nUally seeking advice
and support from his spirit
'"Ma, when you talk to Pa can
you see him?" asks her, son,Dillard (David Bacheldor),
"Clear as clear," replies Annie.,
"Don't.you ever hear him in your
head?"
"All the time, Mama, telling me
things I don't want to hear* says
Dillard,
\x
\\
Dillard, a musician, is home to
stage a concert at the local fairground. He also hopes to convince
his mother to move from the
mountain arid settle with him in
Florida;
As her son preparestoleave the
mountainforFlorida, Annie states
the theme of Foxfire, "Place or
family, is that the choice?" she
asks Dillard.
We see in flashbacks the conflicts in the family •— a father
Whose bullheadedness drove his
three children from the mountaintop as fast as. circumstances permitted, and a nurturing mother,
Who tried to protect them, whose
husband's behavior frustrated her
longing for family cohesi veness.
The flashbacks recount significant moments in the family's; history -r^Hec.tor'sproposal,Dillard>
birth, Dillardfogiutar;performance
for money (a school dance) and —
a vivid scene — the conflict between father and son about
Dillard's preference for music pver
working the farm land as his father and grandfather had done,"
the beating when Hector discovers his son disobeyed him by playing at the dance, and finally
Hector's death.
The play is less about a developer trying to procure land, than
About a mother clinging tomeirio^
lies of her dead husband, of the >
family that was only dreamed
about -7, never realized. "Old
people are hanging on like foxfire
on rotten wood," Prince remarks
to Dillard when Anniehas resisted
his fiM offer,
, By Bryce Butler_•
The mother does eventually
A foli dly anchored performance
decide to sell out, not tooccommo* of Joe Orton'8 Loot got the 1989date the developer, but to reclaim *90 Ajbany Civic Theater season
(Continued on Pagev20)
off" ton propitious start It wasn't a
is trying to get across in this production is: "People have to be taken
for What they are: They can change,
but only if they want to." Meyers
thinks Afiriie Get Your Gun will
have great regional appeal' "This
show is timeless. It goes back to
basics: It's about family; it's about
love; it's about self-esteem. These
are tenets the Hilltowns are
founded on. And it's. Why doing
thisshow comes soeasjly to them."
Dpih' what comes naturally, he
might have said;
Annie Get Your Gun will play
Nov. 3 and 4 at the Berne.-KnoxWesterloHigh School Auditorium..
Curtain time is 7:30 p.m.. Tickets
cost $5, $4 for senior citizens and
students over 12, and $1 for children under 12.
Irreverent Orton play
good ACT opener
dazzling performance*, but Paul
Richer'* mobile face and overbearing presence as Inspector Truscott
of Scotland Yard gave it the
strength it needed most.'
\
>>.,
In Loot, Orton's last play before
his murder at 34 by his jealous
roommate, the author refined his
art from the wildly outrageous to.
the focused absurd. The logic is
always one line thick — the dialogue turns on a dime to follow the
second meaning of a line.
His eyes narrowed to ledge-like
•lite in a craggy face, Richer
managed these non-sequaturs
with the manic assurance of the
buttressed bureaucrat. "These
deceptions," Truscott explains
when he has admitted that he is
not from the Water board, but only
Said he was because the water
board isn't subject to the same
warrent requirements as the police; "These deceptions are not
intended to deceive."
Richer can get off a thing like
that, and he did throughout the
performance. Since; this absurd
logic ^- aimed at the government
and the Catholic Church — is the
heart of the play, and since Truscott gets most of it, his trenchcoated shoulders carried the burden of the play. But he wasn't left
alone with it.
Benita Zahn, wljo $cored a perfect hit in last year's private Lives
at ACT, Was nearly as good as the
mercenary and (probably) murder-*
otis nurse Fay. Her wide-eyed guise
of innocence was a near-perfect
foil for Richer's penetrating squint.
Donald Germntvfilled the role of
the bereaved McLeavy with the
necessary density and petulance,
but to this viewer lie lacked brilliance. His blows in the logical
farce are delivered from the rcligiousrnther than the secular arm.
(Continued on Pag^ » )
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