Wednesday, May 30, 2007 1:06 AM CDT
Stars reunite for 50th anniversary celebration of Sullivan theater
Stage and screen stars come out for Little Theatre's production of 'Follies'
By KATE HENDERSON, Staff Writer
editorial@jg-tc.com
Colleen Zenk Pinter, well-known for her role as Barbara on “As The World Turns” for more than 25 years, appeared in and sold out “They’re Playing Our Song” in Sullivan 23 years ago.
But the first time she auditioned for Guy Little, founder of The Little Theatre on the Square, she was turned down.
“I first auditioned for Guy when I was 19 and he didn’t cast me,” she said. “I haven’t let him live that one down.”
Zenk Pinter, who currently lives in Connecticut, has fond memories of the theater, despite the one hiccup when she wasn’t cast.
“What I loved was the fact that there was this wonderful theater out in the middle of a cornfield that had such an incredible history,” she said. “I hope the people of Central Illinois realize what a treasure they have in their midst with having a theater that’s been around for that many years. It’s a difficult industry and Guy Little has championed it all these years and it’s really something to be proud of.”
Zenk Pinter, from Barrington originally, said she can remember standing in a Sullivan cornfield to find out if the corn was as high as an elephant’s eye by the fourth of July.
She will now return to create new memories with other past Little Theatre performers for the 50th anniversary of the theater this weekend.
She will play Phyllis in Stephen Sondheim’s “Follies.”
The musical focuses on two couples, Buddy (Bill Hayes) and Sally Durant Plummer (Anna McNeely), and Ben (Mark Pinter) and Phyllis Rogers Stone (Zenk Pinter), who are attending a reunion of Broadway stars.
The two couples interact with each other and other partygoers, and throughout the first half, musical numbers from the old “Follies” are performed by the characters, sometimes accompanied by the ghosts of their former selves. The Pinter’s children, Dylan Pinter and Kelsey Crouch-Pinter’ will play the younger versions of Ben and Phyllis.
Returning performers include Ann B. Davis, best-known for her role as Alice on TV’s “The Brady Bunch”; McNeely, who originated the role of Jennyanydots in “Cats” on Broadway; Bill and Susan (Seaforth) Hayes, who were stars on “Days of Our Lives” for many years; Joan Roberts, who originated the role of Laurey in “Okalahoma!”; Zenk Pinter and Mark Pinter, who most recently played Captain Von Trapp in the Syracuse Stage production of “The Sound Of Music.”
Mark Pinter has also appeared on television’s “Law and Order: SVU” and Law and Order: CI”, and in long-running roles on “All My Children” (Roger Smythe) and “Another World” (Grant Harrison). His film credits include “Other People’s Money,” “Eden Myth,” “Season of Youth” and “Vanilla Sky.”
Charleston’s own celebrity, Therese Kincade, owner of What’s Cookin’, also will be appearing in the cast.
And as many of the stars return or appear at the Little Theatre for the first time, all said they are looking forward to it.
Anna McNeely
“My first memory of Sullivan was coming with my mother in 1959 when she was appearing in ‘Bloomer Girl’ with Margaret Hamilton,” McNeely said. “I would come with her during the shows to keep her company.”
McNeely, originally from Tower Hill, was born in Shelbyville. As a little girl, seeing the glamour and glitz of show business in Sullivan opened the curtain for her career.
“I would wait back in the alley and see the girls with their makeup and costumes and I was star struck,” McNeely said. “I knew I wanted to do that some day.”
While working on her degree in music, McNeely was accepted in 1971 as an apprentice with Little. She did five musicals the summer between her junior and senior year of college.
“I met these interesting people. Most of the cast was from New York, so I met people pursuing show business as a career and there I was going to be a music teacher.”
After teaching for several years, McNeely took a chance on New York in 1975. She came back to Sullivan for one more season in 1976.
It wasn’t long before she scored a role in the Broadway production of “Cats,” in which she originated the role of Jennyanydots, the jolly cat who teaches the mice music, crocheting and tatting.
“It was very exciting, but kind of tedious at times,” McNeely said of her seven-year run with the production. “People had done it in London, so there was somewhat of roadmaps going on, but my role was very different. They took a lot of my personality with Jennyanydots. I had never tap-danced in public before, so it was a little pressure.”
McNeely, who married Steven Roland, a New York City Fire Department lieutenant 10 years ago and now lives in Florida, has also appeared in the revival of “Gypsy” and the original cast of Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast.” She also appeared in the TV movie of “Gypsy,” starring Bette Midler.
Like many of the other performers returning to the Little Theatre, McNeely puts a lot of stock in summer stock theaters like the Little Theatre used to be.
“Without the experience of Sullivan, I wouldn’t have known you could make a career out of show business,” McNeely said. “It was there that I honed in on my talent and knew I could do this.”
Bill and Susan (Seaforth) Hayes
Bill Hayes said he, too, enjoyed summer stock experiences like those of the Little Theatre and he’s sorry that there’s not as much summer stock as there used to be.
“The Little Theatre is one of the few that’s continued it,” he said.
The Hayeses have many memories of The Little Theatre, but most vivid are the weekends they would spend flying in on Friday night, doing five shows, and flying back out on Sunday to return to work taping “Days of Our Lives.”
Mrs. Hayes remembered one particular incident during a show she’d like to forget.
“We were doing a two-person play and working five days a week and every weekend my hair started breaking off head,” she said. “I remember in one show we were having a little tousle over a prop on stage and had to clear the stage quickly. There was this salad bowl and I tossed it off stage and it cracked in two. The stage director said that was Guy Little’s bowl. Boy, did I feel rotten! I guess the payoff is here we are again.”
Hayes’ first show at the Little Theatre was “George M.” in 1969.
“There are so many memories,” he said. “The cast was good and that was when we were working very heavily on ‘Days of Our Lives’ and did five shows on a weekend. It was exhausting, but we sold out and it was wonderful.”
The two also did “Love Letters” at the Little Theatre in the 1990s.
Mrs. Hayes said although she’s “standing on the cusp of her Golden years,” continuing to do shows like “Follies” isn’t something to avoid.
“Bringing joy to an audience keeps you alive and in touch with your humanity and your audience,” she said. “Vitamin B12 is nothing compared to live theater.”
Both of the Hayeses said they hold other memories of the area outside the Little Theatre because their granddaughter, Kirstie Campbell, owns the Firefly restaurant in Effingham.
The couple did a book signing there several years ago when they released “Like Sands Through the Hour Glass.”
“We’re looking forward to being in Illinois long enough to have a few meals there and spending time with her,” Mrs. Hayes said.
Joan Roberts
Roberts, who will play Heidi, said she is looking forward to her first visit to the Little Theatre. Since she met Little only a few years ago, she has never been to Sullivan, but welcomes the opportunity to perform for someone who “represents theater well.”
Roberts, who lives in Long Island, N.Y., will sing the show-stopping “One Last Kiss.”
She holds vivid memories of being on stage when she originated the role of Laurey in “Oklahoma!”
Roberts said she was signed to a contract for another show when “Oklahoma!” came along and was worried she wouldn’t be able to do it.
“I did 20 musicals in two years,” Roberts said. “Finally, when ‘Oklahoma!’ came along, I said. ‘If I’m lucky enough to get into the show, I won’t be able to do it.’ They had me signed for 9,000 years. So they told me, ‘If this means it’s going to help your career, we’ll release you from your contact.’”
Roberts said “Oklahoma!,” which features Rodgers and Hammerstein music, was from the “Golden Era” of theater, an era she considers long gone.
“I hardly recognize what the theater has become today,” she said. “Every number in the old shows was a hit and that goes for ‘Oklahoma!’”
Roberts commended Little for keeping the theater family-focused and said she looks forward to performing in Sullivan.
Ann B. Davis
Davis, “The Brady Bunch’s” Alice, is ready to be a “Broadway Baby” as she returns to play Hattie in “Follies.” Hattie’s big number, of course, is “I’m Just a Broadway Baby.”
Davis appeared in “Everybody Loves Opal” at the Little Theatre in 1963 and remembers discovering why it was called the Little Theatre.
“I remember I had to find out the reason it was called Little Theatre was because Guy Little started it,” she said.
The ever-familiar voice continued to recall Sullivan’s square and staying at someone’s personal house because there was no hotel.
Flash forward to today, where Davis is looking forward to performing again.
“The show is a hootin’ idea,” she said of “Follies.” “I’ve been working on the script and it’s a fascinating piece of material.”
Davis, now in her 80s, lives in San Antonio and said she keeps thinking she is retired.
“They’ll call me to do a commercial every once in a while and I still go to the Brady Reunions,” she said. “But no matter how much you love it, you want to stop doing that and do as little as possible.”
Davis said she still exchanges Christmas cards and birthday cards with some of the cast of “The Brady Bunch.” But if she ever misses them, she can always just turn on the TV.
“We haven’t shot ‘The Brady Bunch’ for 30 years and we’re still on,” she said.
Therese Kincade
Kincade comes to the theater from a little closer to home.
The What’s Cookin’ owner from Charleston performed in “Nunsense” in Sullivan in the late 1990s after being in the same show for Eastern Illinois University as the Reverend Mother.
“I saw Sullivan was doing it, so I thought ‘I’ll go audition’,” Kincade said. “They like to put people in parts they’ve done because there’s so little rehearsal time then.”
Kincade said the production was a lot of fun and she has since auditioned several times, but not this year.
“They called me this year and asked if I would do Christine in ‘Follies,’” she said. “It’s a small part with no solo and I’m OK with that. It’s a nice way to have fun and get back in it.”
Kincade said she’s most looking forward to working with Musical Director Jason Yarcho because they have worked together before.
“He was my accompanist when I was at Eastern,” she said.
Kincade said not being a professional made her a little nervous about performing. “For me, I was a little intimidated right at first. It’s like playing tennis with someone that’s better than you are,” she said. “I hope to continue to do things there. I love these neat little parts.”
Nearly all of the stars agree there was no better way to spend a summer or even just a weekend than at the Little Theatre.
“There was no better way to grow up in the theater than working at the Little Theatre,” McNeely said. “(Coming back) is a great opportunity to give back all it gave to me and I’m so happy they want to treat me like a star.”
Zenk Pinter, who has six children (five of which are involved in show business), said she and her husband are ready to come back to their roots.
“We’re just two Midwestern kids coming home to do a show,” she said.
For more information about the Little Theatre or the performances, visit the Web site at www.thelittletheatre.org.
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