Bountiful Project Notes
ALUMNI NOW AT OPRFHS WILL JOIN THE COMPANY
As a final event in CAST's 30th anniversary season, a special performance of The Trip to Bountiful at Open Door Theater is planned featuring CAST staff, parents and alumni since the program began at Julian Middle School in the 1985-86 school year. ALUMS FROM CAST's FIRST YEAR TO APPEAR
Since 1986, CAST literally has grown up alongside many of its student participants, as the program has developed a reputation for keeping its own involved over the years. Program Director Bill McGlynn was a student in the first year of the program. He met alumnus Malachy Boyle when they both worked as summer counselors at CAST's popular summer theater camp. Now Malachy teaches Speech Drama and Debate at Julian in addition to directing CAST productions after school. Bill and Malachy both will appear in Bountiful alongside their classmate Erin Lynch Moran. Erin appeared in the first CAST play ever – A Christmas Carol – in December 1985. She is here to celebrate this year because, like a lot of CAST kids, she still remembers her experiences fondly, even after 30 years.
It is not surprising that a play that focuses on ageing and relationships between generations would call for a company of actors with a wide age range. CAST is uniquely situated assemble such a company as a result of its relationships with young people and their families in Oak Park over the last 30 years.
Appearing in the production or working backstage are:
Current OPRF High Schoolers (with their CAST graduation years) Viv Badynee (‘15), Matthew Layden (‘15), Eli Mead (‘13), Freya Trefonides (‘12) and Graham Wielgos (‘14).
The design and building of the set will also be handled by CAST alums Emma Binns (‘08) and Audrey Schoen (‘09) under CAST’s Technical Director Josh Prisching (‘02).
Initially, this production was designed solely as a benefit for the Henry E. Reid Memorial Scholarship Fund at CAST. However, with so many OPRF High School students and alumni involved, the company decided also to share proceeds with the Oak Park River Forest High School Alumni Association and OPRFHS Applause, which supports high school performing arts programs.
That was a pretty easy thing to do since CAST Program Director Bill McGlynn served on the Board of Directors for the OPRFHS Alumni Association and has been part of all of the recent performing arts alumni events at OPRFHS put together by one of the associations founding members, William B Sullivan. Mr. Sullivan was so intrigued by Trip to Bountiful, he agreed to take part in the production and play the Sheriff. Fresh off of his election as a Cook County Circuit Judge, this will only be the second time Mr. Sullivan has taken the stage in a CAST production, having played Captain Von Trapp from Sound of Music in 2001. Mr. Sullivan’s children all participated in CAST and his wife Cheryl was on the CAST Council so CAST has never been far from his heart but he is also excited to connect with alums from his OPRFHS days as well.
Anyone who remembers legendary OPRFHS teachers like Jack Wirtz, Robert Fuller and Jim Eithreim is bound to really enjoy this production of Trip to Bountiful. The show’s director, Ty Perry studied with all of them at OPRFHS before becoming an actor and teacher in Chicago. Mr. Perry’s long tenure at CAST is well known to all the recent alums of the program even if this show seems a bit of a departure from his usual passion for the musical theatre classics. But an education in the performing arts from CAST and OPRFHS teaches nothing so well as the great range of possibility in the world of theatre.
FORMER CAST PARENTS TAKE THE STAGE
Over three decades, CAST also has worked its magic on those in the audience. Mariana Kahn, who stars in CAST’s Bountiful production, has two sons who participated in CAST. Seeing the high quality of the productions reminded her of her own work as a professional actress. Mariana offered to help with some costumes, and she hasn’t been allowed to leave ever since. CAST has an unlimited supply of 10-13 year-old actors, and Mariana finds a fitting costume for each – on a threadbare budget. She has played bit parts for student productions when needed, but she is humbled by this chance to tackle a great role like Carrie Watts in Bountiful.
EVENT TO TAKE PLACE AT OPEN DOOR THEATER
The production team agreed early on that, in order to connect with the biggest audience at this busy time of the year, there would need to be several weekends of performances. This can be difficult to arrange at CAST’s home in Julian’s Auditorium. In addition, The Trip to Bountiful is a very intimate production, despite its somewhat epic theme, and finding the right performance venue can be very important to the production’s success. Based on these factors, the intimate and local Open Door Theater stood out as an ideal venue. The choice made all the more sense given that the Open Door Repertory Company originally was housed at CAST, and much of that early company’s history grew out of its strong relationship with the CAST program. CAST and Open Door jointly produced a number of memorable productions in those early days like To Kill a Mockingbird (1999), Rebel without a Cause (2000) and Sound of Music (2001). For many who remember those performances where middle school students appeared alongside and on a level playing field with Oak Park area doctors, newspaper editors and even village government officials like Sherlynn Reid and John Williams this spring’s production of The Trip to Bountiful is a perfect way to celebrate this important milestone.
