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Thursday, August 2, 2001
Season of change
Harbor Playhouse executive director wants edgier plays and diversity on stage and in the audience
By Brendan Walsh
Caller-Times

David Pellerin/Caller-Times

Pam Earley, executive director of the Harbor Playhouse for the past year, wants to increase the number of contemporary and edgy performances, increase the ethnic diversity of her cast and audience, and expand the use of the theater’s smaller studio stage.

When Pam Earley became executive director of the Harbor Playhouse about year ago, the first thing she did was buy a can of paint. She and her husband devoted themselves to painting the theater's lobby, which for some time had been covered in primer, but never painted.
   She's known to get down on her knees to scrape gum off chairs, to work the concession stand when the demand for popcorn is high and then to be there at the end of the evening vacuuming up the spilled kernels. Morale is up, as are the number of volunteers, people auditioning for plays, and the number of performances, according to board members and theater supporters.
   When she took over the position, Earley's goals were to increase the number of contemporary and edgy performances, increase the ethnic diversity of her cast and audience, expand the use of the theater's smaller studio stage, and buy the Harbor Playhouse a new roof.
   About a year after her appointment, the playhouse that Earley built is still in need of a new roof, but audiences are growing, the new season is more cutting edge, performances are scheduled for nearly every weekend and an ambitious new budget has been approved.
   "I think we're doing better financially, have higher quality productions and have some aggressive goals for continued growth," said David Weatherston, president of the Harbor Playhouse's board of directors.
   Drawing in the masses
   The theater continues to face challenges, though. Balancing the desire to do more controversial plays with the reality of living in a relatively conservative community is still tricky, and Hispanic audiences and actors remain elusive.
   For the 2001-2002 season, the Harbor is banking on large increases in ticket sales (41 percent more individual ticket sales, 88 percent more subscription sales) to balance next year's budget of about $430,000, a nearly 20 percent increase from last season's.
   The significant budget increase is due, quite simply, to the Harbor Playhouse putting on more plays, Earley said. The theater did 11 plays in 2000-2001 and plans on doing 19 in 2001-2002.
   Earley describes the budget as "adventurous" while maintaining that she's confident about being able to pull it off.
   Battling stereotypes
   To help ensure increased sales, the board doubled the amount of money budgeted for public relations and advertising and also approved a plan to send out 10,000 season brochures, something that hasn't been done in several years.
   Earley is blunt about her problems in bringing Hispanics to the Playhouse.
   "Unfortunately, the number of Hispanic audience members isn't where it

David Adame/Caller-Times

Pam Earley discusses a ticket matter with Jesse Gonzalez in the box office of the Harbor Playhouse.

should be, though I can say it's improving. We have more Hispanic last names on our mailing list," she said.
   And though the Playhouse practices color-blind casting - an actor's ethnicity isn't considered, unless it's absolutely essential to the part - Earley would like to get more Hispanic actors involved.
   Earley says that part of the reason is that Hispanics have traditionally felt unwelcome in Western European-dominated drama. Essentially, Earley and others say, the Harbor Playhouse is working against years of stereotypes, but things are improving.
   Broad appeal
   When Linda Montoya, who is a member of the theater's board, first started volunteering at the Harbor Playhouse about nine or 10 years ago, the demographic makeup of those involved with the theater did not reflect the community, she said. But by doing plays that "require Hispanic involvement, by holding workshops around the community to prepare kids for auditions and by increasing its presence around town," the theater is becoming more diverse, Montoya said.
   While the theater tries to broaden its appeal and move in a more creative direction, it sometimes needs to tighten the reigns on more controversial works.
   "We can't afford to do shows we're not going to sell tickets to," said the board's treasurer, Robert McCarty.
   "Corpus Christi" - a contemporary retelling of Christ's life with homosexual characters by Corpus Christi native Terrence McNally - for example, is still at least three years away from being performed at the Harbor Playhouse.
   "We're not ready for it, not yet," Earley said. "Corpus Christi is very conservative, church-oriented and religious, and sexuality and religion are both hot-button topics. It's a beautifully written script, but I can't afford to have people picketing outside my theater."
   New season
   But Earley also points to the new studio season to show what changes she has brought. Opening in late September in the studio theater, Margaret Edson's Pulitzer-Prize-winning "Wit," a play about a woman dying from ovarian cancer, contains "new, in-your-face, difficult material presented without an intermission and with a little nudity," Earley said.
   "Prom Queens Unchained," which opens in May, features an alien running for prom queen and a zombie boyfriend. It's another b-movie spoof along the same lines as the always-popular "The Rocky Horror Show."
   In April, the studio theater will devote two weeks to showcasing new works by local playwrights. Last season included two works by local authors, "Three Opinionated Sex Bombs Explain it All ... Sort Of," written by Molly Cox, Kelly Grochow and Heidi Hovda, as well as Pete Lutz's "Science Fiction Double Feature."
   Serving its mission
   Lutz said working with Earley was a great experience from beginning to end. When Lutz first approached Earley about his desire to write and direct his own play, the new (at the time) executive director didn't know Lutz from Adam. But still, Lutz said, she was incredibly supportive from the get go.
   Once rehearsals began, "I told her what I needed and she got it, or got it made, or made it happen," Lutz said.
   For Earley, the most important indication that the theater is serving its mission is the response she gets from audience members, as well as the increased number of people auditioning and volunteering.
   "Auditions are up, people aren't afraid of getting involved, and I've been very happy with the things I've heard from audience members," she said.
   As for the Harbor Playhouse's roof: It's still leaking. Years after the problem was discovered, the Playhouse is still relying on precarious patches and prayer to keep everything dry. Earley is applying for grants and continues to seek the $180,000 the theater needs for the repairs.


Contact Brendan Walsh at 886-3763 or walshb@caller.com

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