The Fairfield Ledger — Page 3 — Wednesday, June 11, 2014 The

FACT: Celebrating 25 years
The Fairfield Ledger — Page 3 — Wednesday, June 11, 2014
By VICKI TILLIS
Ledger lifestyles editor
Fairfield Area Community Theatre
is presenting its 25th Anniversary
Revue celebrating the 25 years since
its revival in 1989.
This production is different than
any FACT has done in the past. It’s a
night of memories as the show’s
emcees, Tom Voorhees and Diana
Flynn, lead the audience in reminiscing about past productions, share
participants’ memories and introduce
the musical numbers.
The musical numbers ... Just a few
notes into “Follow the Yellow Brick
Road” took me right back to “Wizard
of Oz” — the first FACT play my
daughter Kendra was in (she was a
munchkin) and the first FACT play I
saw. To this day, I can’t see Fred
Hucke without thinking about him as
the Cowardly Lion, so I was thrilled
to see and hear him sing songs from
“Oz,” again, especially “If I Only
Had a Brain/Heart/Nerve.” He still
has the Lion’s expressions and movements that I can so vividly recall!
Like Hucke, many of the choir
members sing solos from the plays
they were in. It was fun how much
Jaren Fleischman has grown up since
he was co-cast as Oliver in “Oliver”
in 2005 and as JoJo in “Seussical the
Musical” in 2007.
The choir members are Carrie
Brownlee, Loretta Diers, Diana
Flynn, Jan Hunerdosse, Connie
Keller, Rachel Keller, Dee Ann
Lantz, Heather Blakely, Sally
Denney, Sharon Flinspach, Gerry
Garles, Carol Jones, Jeri Kunkle,
Tena Nelson, Lou Bolster, Jaren
Fleischman, Jon Funkhouser, John
Grunwald, David Owen, Joe Phipps,
Bruce Andre, Drew Grunwald, Fred
Hucke, Steve Lamb, Tim Lantz and
Tom Voorhees. Their names and
faces are all recognizable from past
FACT shows — except for
Brownlee. This is her debut with
FACT, and she is looking forward to
participating in future endeavours.
The revue is divided into five acts.
Each act represents a five-year time
span of FACT’s history and features
songs from the musicals presented
during those five years.
For example, Act 1: The First Five
Years includes selections from “The
Music Man,” “Bye Bye Birdie,”
“Oklahoma!” and “Damn Yankees.”
Each act also features a few costumes from plays during that fiveyear span. The costumes, like a sailor
dress worn by Emily Slechta in “The
Sound of Music” and the God outfit
and hat worn by John Grunwald in
“Children of Eden,” are displayed on
wood frames set on each side of the
stage and quietly changed by FACT
board members Mary Phipps and
Joan Salts for each new act.
In addition to the costumes, there
are props scattered about the stage
and aisles that are easily recognizable from past productions. Artistic
director Scott Slechta said the green
street car is an original piece from
“The Music Man” — the show FACT
did in 1989 as its revival production.
Plus, for each act, David Owen
and John Grunwald have assembled
a visual presentation of photos and
cast and crew lists that is shown on a
large screen behind the choir members on the stage. Owen spent a few
hours at The Ledger office going
through old negatives and CDs
searching for photos to add to the
ones already submitted by community members.
The choir members are dressed in
elegant black and white attire, with a
few splashes of color, like the blue
flower in Rachel Keller’s hair or the
red tie around Tim Lantz’s neck.
They sit at tables decorated with
white table clothes, silver runners
and red roses, where they have
access to glasses and pitchers of
water — they do a lot of singing for
this!
Sometimes they sing at their
tables, sometimes they come forward
to assemble on the risers at the front
of the stage. It’s simple. It’s classy.
It’s a wonderful journey down memory lane.
“It’s community theater at its
best,” said Slechta. “It’s a glorified
show of everything this community
as accomplished in theatre. We’ve
done new works, premieres, the classics, Rodgers and Hammerstein and
Stephen Schwartz. We want people
to enjoy it. It’s fun to have Bruce
Andre, Fred Hucke, Sally Denney,
Loretta Diers and everyone back. It’s
just cool. It’s neat to say we’ve been
part of Fairfield’s history.”
The revue is set for 7:30 p.m.
Thursday through Saturday and 2
p.m. Sunday at the Fairfield Arts &
Convention Center’s Stephen
Sondheim Center for the Performing
Arts. Tickets are $10 for adults and
$5 for kindergartners through high
school seniors.
Tickets are available at the convention center ticket office, 472-2787
or www.fairfieldacc.com.
VICKI TILLIS/Ledger photos
The women’s choir for Fairfield Area Community Theatre’s 25th Anniversary Revival
Revue are, from left, front row: Diana Flynn, Heather Blakely, Jan Hunerdosse, Jeri
Kunkle, Carol Jones; middle row: Carrie Brownlee, Sally Denney, Connie Keller, Gerry
Garles, Rachel Keller; back row: Loretta Diers, Tena Nelson, Sharon Flinspach and
Dee Ann Lantz.
The men’s choir for Fairfield Area Community Theatre’s 25th Anniversary Revival
Revue are, from left, front row: Tom Voorhees, Joe Phipps; middle row: Drew
Grunwald, Bruce Andre, Jaren Fleischman, John Grunwald, Steve Lamb; back row:
Lou Bolster, Fred Hucke, Jon Fundhouser and Tim Lantz. David Owen also is a member of the men’s choir.
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT:
Lou Bolster, who played
Flanagan in “Oliver,” sings
“Reviewing the Situation.”
John Grunwald sings “Sit Down
You’re Rocking the Boat” from
“Guys and Dolls.”
Tena Nelson, a “Guys and Dolls”
cast member, sings “Adelaide’s
Lament (A Person Could
Develop A Cold).”
Jaren Fleischman, who played
JoJo in “Seussical,” sings “It’s
Possible (McElligot’s Pool).”
Mary Phipps changes the
maniquin costumes to reflect the
shows done in each of FACT’s
five-year periods.
Sally Denny swings her water
glass during “Oom-Pah-Pah”
from “Oliver.”
Fred Hucke, who played the
Cowardly Lion in “Wizard of Oz,”
reprises the role to sing “If I Only
Had A Brain/Heart/Nerve.” The
choir members also sing other
songs from the play, including
“Somewhere Over the Rainbow.”
Jim Edgeton, right, directs band members, including pianist LeAnne Edgeton, left, for FACT’s 25th Anniversary Revival Revue. Other band
members include Betty Mayer on keyboard; Gary Roth on flute, carinet and tenor saxophone; Francis Thicke on trumpet; Roger McHone on
trumpet; Claudia Sloat on trombone; and Gerry Runyon on bass. Connie Keller, Mayer and Edgeton also were rehearsal pianists. The
Sondheim stage and the convention center atrium are sprinkled with props used in FACT productions during the last quarter century, such
as the helm used in “Titanic.”