In Praise of Small Theaters

The St. George's Society's Arts Initiative hosted a panel last week that explored the importance of a robust drama scene.The panel's title said it all: "When Does Amateur Theater Become Professional? The Importance of Small Theater Companies."

The evening had two distinct parts: performance and discussion.A member of the Blue Hill Troupe since 1997, Joanne Lessner, introduced Victoria Cannizzo and Rick Hamlin, who delighted the audience with music from Gilbert and Sullivan's "The Pirates of Penzance." The Blue Hill Troupe production of that musical runs through April 8 at the Teatro Heckscher at El Museo del Barrio.The evening moved from comic opera to rock 'n' roll musical comedy with Robert Whaley and Tony Grimaldi, both members of the rock group the Niagaras. They sang songs from "Wrong Way Up," a show about a small-town boy who learns lessons about life after moving to the big city. Mr. Whaley dashed into the audience a few times, dancing down the aisle, addressing audience members using gestures, and playing off humorous lines of the songs. The Knickerbocker later asked Mr. Whaley about the origin of the Niagaras. He said that he generally refuses "to give a straight answer on that." He said it could refer to Niagara Falls (he did live upstate in Syracuse) or it could be a dry-cleaners in the Village.

The chairman of the St. George's Arts Initiative, Margot Astrachan, moderated the second portion of the evening, asking Ms. Lessner about the origin of the Blue Hill Troupe, the oldest continuously performing Gilbert & Sullivan troupe in the city. Ms. Lessner recounted how the troupe began in the summer of 1924, when a production of "HMS Pinafore" was performed on the yacht of Dr. and Mrs. Seth Milliken in Blue Hill, Maine. Car headlights from the shore provided stage lighting, and piano and violins provided music while perched on a neighboring boat. The Blue Hill Troupe moved to New York two years later. The one year it did not perform a production was 1929. This was, curiously, not due to the stock market crash but because the 1928 production came so late in the year, Ms. Lessner said.The troupe became a nonprofit in 1932 and each year gives its proceeds to charity. This year the money raised will go to the Doe Fund, which assists homeless people. How does the Blue Hill Troupe do publicity for their shows? Ms. Lessner was asked. Over the years the show has had a subscription audience, she explained.

The other two panelists were Louis Salamone and Joshua Weiss, who are co-producers of "Wrong Way Up."They have selected a 199-seat theater at 50th street and Broadway, and are raising money to stage the show.

Mr. Weiss, who was born in Canarsie, Brooklyn, told the Knickerbocker that he is managing director of the Roundtable Ensemble, a nonprofit organization that brings theater to underserved audiences. He said the Roundtable Ensemble hosts a free reading series in the summer that takes place at the Sol Goldman Y on 14th Street.

The Knickerbocker asked Mr. Weiss about the advantages of small theater. First, there is an intimacy with the audience, he said. Second, he said, small theater is sometimes more attainable for nontraditional theatergoers. Disadvantaged youth can conceive of being in or producing a small theater show more easily than a large Broadway production. Ms. Lessner said that with small theaters, the audience comes to know the actors. In fact, she said, Blue Hill Troupe audience members often eventually become players. Ms. Lessner saw a production of "Grand Duke" in 1972 and was thrilled to have worked on its production of it in 2005. Her mother, Helen Lessner, starting seeing Blue Hill Troupe productions in 1955.

In the audience were the St. George's Society treasurer, Peter Buffington; Richard Kuntzevich, who wrote the comedy "The Eggnog Talking"; the Reverend Gerardo Ramirez; and actress Dinah Steward.

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Lawrence Bogad, author of "Electoral Guerrilla Theatre: Radical Ridicule and Social Movements" (Routledge), was celebrating with friends at a bar north of Tompkins Square Park earlier this week.The reason? He recently was granted tenure at the University of California at Davis.

gshapiro@nysun.com