A conversation with the ‘beating heart’ of Theatre Albany

ALBANY — They come from various backgrounds, these seven people — six full-time volunteers, one employee/volunteer — who are a large part of the beating heart that is Theatre Albany. Yet there is a common thread that binds them.

Their love for theater — in particular, community theater — is what draws Jenny McNair, Gordon Wright, Mike Keeley, Dianne Giddens, Nancy McLendon, Diane Lamb, Randy Henry — and others like them — to the quaint theater at 514 Pine Ave. throughout the year, preparing for a series of live productions that helps define southwest Georgia’s entertainment hub. It’s that love that is ever-present in each action they take to keep alive a part of the community that started in 1929 and has endured — proudly — to this day.

As the aforementioned seven gathered with a visitor to talk about the “rebirth,” if you will, of Theatre Albany after a year-plus shut-down, of on-stage performances at least, forced by the coronavirus, the passion they exhibited, as individuals and as a group, offered evidence as to why this essential element of Albany’s cultural DNA is ready for a quick reboot. Even during the pandemic, the group continued to meet and plan.

“We held a couple of Zoom meetings, but then we just continued our meetings here at the theater under certain restrictions,” Theatre Albany Volunteer Committee member Jenny McNair said. “And we even held a Zoom production of ‘Clue’ that was well-received. Even with the virus, this was something all of us wanted to keep doing.”

As the principles who gathered for a Friday-morning conversation talked of their various roles within the Theatre Albany hierarchy, their excitement became palpable. And it became obvious to the visitor that their primary concern was for the theater, not necessarily the estimable roles each played in its continued productions. As a group they conceded that one of their primary tasks is to “find the next generation” that will maintain what has become a hallowed tradition.

“We’re always looking to find the next group of young actors, young volunteers and young spectators,” Gordon Wright, the Theatre Albany Volunteer Committee’s archivist, said. “Some of us may long for the classics, but that’s not what is going to bring younger people to the theater.”

That is the primary reason, the group concedes, that the theater group’s first post-COVID production is “Mamma Mia!,” a play built around the music of the pop group Abba. That show is set for the weekends of Sept. 17-19 and 24-26. Dianne Giddens, a former educator, will direct “Mamma Mia!,” her third shot at the helm of a Theatre Albany production.

“This is a way for us to get younger,” Giddens, who directed “10 to 15” plays at Deerfield-Windsor School in Albany, said. “You find plays that appeal to that generation.”

McLendon, who is outgoing president of the theater’s board of directors, added that the pre-COVID production of “Annie” drew 40 would-be actors to tryouts, none of whom was older than 18.

The mix of Theatre Albany supporters and volunteers is an interesting one, drawing some who have been involved in theater as far back as age 4 and others, like Board President-Elect Randy Henry, who has no theater background whatsoever.

“This one’s going to be a little hard to believe, but I had never even been to the theater,” he said. “I woke up one morning and told my wife, ‘Something’s telling me to go to the theater, and I don’t know why.’ When I had a second dream about it a couple of weeks later, my wife said, ‘You need to go by there and see what’s going on.’

“So one day I just drove up to the theater and told the people there, ‘I’m Randy, and I think I’m supposed to meet the people here.’ They told me there was a board meeting that night, so I went. There were four people there. I went to the next few board meetings, and I saw at the time that they were struggling. I told them I didn’t really know anything about the theater, but I thought they needed to take more of a business approach. That was all I knew.”

So Henry got involved.

“I watched a couple of plays, and I saw how heartfelt everyone involved was,” he said. “They’d spend hours down here working on everything to get ready. I was amazed. And I also so how much this group meant to the community, so I got actively involved.”

Keeley, who is Director of Music and Communications at Porterfield United Methodist Church in Albany, said an organization like Theatre Albany is vital to a community because it provides an outlet for those who have an affinity for the arts.

“I’ve been a professor of music my whole adult life — even when I was in the Navy,” the board member/communications director for Theatre Albany said. “And what I’ve seen is how the arts speak to people. It’s a chance for bankers, lawyers, doctors … everyone to perform. You take the cast of ‘Mamma Mia!’ … you’ll have, for the most part, 20 people who’ve maybe never met before, and after months of rehearsals, they become the best of friends, like a family.

“That’s why I think this particular play is important to the theater as we get ready for the first post-COVID production. I think, to rebuild the momentum we had prior to the pandemic, we need to be big coming back.”

Auditions for “Mamma Mia!” will be held at Theatre Albany July 13-14 from 6-8 p.m. at the theater. Each person trying out for the play must prepare one minute of an Abba song. Interested persons may email [email protected] with audition questions.

McLendon, who said she has been involved with the theater since 1966, warned would-be volunteers that they’re apt to get hooked on the goings-on at Theatre Albany, much as she did.

“It’s a thrill to think back on all the plays I’ve been involved with here,” she said. “There’s nothing like the atmosphere of the theater. You become part of a family.

“And it’s not just those who are up on the stage, performing. It takes about 80 people to put on a play … the actors, director, choreographer, makeup, yes … but there are people backstage, front-of-house, ticket-takers, the people doing the lighting. The interaction with all those people is why I love it so much.”

Diane Lamb, the lone paid employee among the group, is also a theater lifer. She was introduced to theater when she was “5 or 6 years old,” and has maintained that relationship everywhere she’s gone in her life. She, in fact, said she helped start up community theater groups in two communities where she relocated.

“I told my ‘was-band’ that I’m not moving anywhere else unless they already have a community theater,” she said. “When I moved to Albany, I found out about Theatre Albany, knocked on the door of the theater and told them I wanted to volunteer. I served on the board for two terms, a started the volunteer organization, I’ve done costumes, marketing and I even acted in a couple of plays.

“When I lost my job, I asked if the theater needed an employee, so I’ve worked here the last three years. But I am also a volunteer; I spend much of my free time here.”

While McNair laments that Theatre Albany was “ready to fly when COVID hit, in a financially good position with good shows and excellent audiences,” the group shows little interest in looking back, other than at the work Wright is doing in archiving the theater’s history.

“The first play was ‘Children of Earth’ and was presented on Oct. 26, 1932,” Wright wrote in a partial summary of Theatre Albany’s history. “The Little Theater (as it was originally named) has been in continuous operation since then with the exception of a period of time during World War II.”

The archivist also noted that he’d accounted for 283 productions and 73 directors over the theater’s lifetime while researching the history of the organization.

Even without the historical knowledge to draw on, though, there is — for some — just something about Theatre Albany that makes it special.

“I know nothing about theater, but I know business,” Henry said. “That’s my involvement. But even I can see how important it is to the community. It doesn’t matter what your background is, when you get involved in something like this and you see the level of love there is for theater and the community, you can’t help but feel that it’s something special.”

While plans for the coming theatrical season remain ongoing, the board has decided that there will be no season tickets sold this year, due to the uncertainty that still surrounds the coronavirus. But all tickets for “Mama Mia!” will be $15, the theater’s “gift” to its supporters and the community.

Special Photo: Theatre AlbanySpecial Photo: Theatre Albany

Special Photo: Theatre Albany