VPA set to debut a classic

WASILLA — For “Anne of Green Gables” fans, Valley Performing Arts’ production of “Anne of Avonlea” is likely to be a welcome blast from the past.

“This is a great, great group,” said director Kai West at a rehearsal last week. “They’re so fun, but they’re serious about putting on a good show.”

West, a music teacher at Shaw Elementary School, wasn’t speaking only of the actors. To create a consummate finished product, the actors and costumers must both know the script well enough to communicate with each other on the characters’ movement onstage, as well as how quickly they need to come on and off.

Both “Anne of Avonlea” and “Anne of Green Gables” were created in the early 1900s. Though that might not seem so long ago, veteran VPA costumer Mary Martushev said it can be difficult to find clothing appropriate to the period.

“If you look it up online for ordering, you’re gonna find nothing, and barely anything to reference,” she said.

Despite the obstacles, Martushev said she and fellow seamstresses Karen Lackey and Diane Tresham do “whatever it takes” — including weekly trips to Value Village by Martushev — to find the right outfit for each of the play’s 37 characters.

“With this large of a cast, you can see why you need to start sooner,” Tresham said.

Tresham said this is her first time doing costumes for VPA, though she sometimes teaches sewing classes at MY House, the youth homeless prevention center in Wasilla. It was there that she met Chuck West, the transitional housing coordinator for MY House, who also happened to be the set designer for “Anne of Avonlea” — not to mention Kai’s husband (the Wests’ son and daughter are also members of the cast and crew).

Though he’ll pass the costuming off to Tresham and the like, Chuck West said he’s become a “jack of all trades” over the years, working as a hunting guide and an auto body repairman, in addition to his position with MY House. He said he’s been building sets — including some for “Moose: The Movie” — since 2004, and knows the struggle of having not only enough manpower, but enough money for community theater productions.

“They’re always on a real tight budget so you have to get real creative sometimes,” he said.

The “Anne of Avonlea” actors and actresses seem to have no problem with that.

A cast for the past

Burchell High School student Raven Sikes said she “loves the classics” and prefers period plays. She said she’s studied “Anastasia” and “Jane Eyre” in school, and was in both plays of the same name at VPA.

“I really like history,” she said. “The past has always had more fun costumes and fun vocabulary.”

Sikes plays two characters in the play: Mrs. Thomas and Mrs. Donnell. The former she described as “kind of a hick” who, according to Karen Lackey, is “so poor she can’t afford a black dress for mourning.” Mrs. Donnell, on the other hand, is a proud upper-class mother who prides herself on proper pronunciation and being clean — so much so that she gives up $2 because one bill is dirty, and one is wrinkled.

Sikes said she enjoys the challenge of playing polar opposites in the same production.

“One character is easier but (two are) a lot more fun to explore,” she said.

Mat-Su Career and Technical High School sophomore Amanda Mayer, who plays the leading role of Anne Shirley, said she’s quite content with one role. Though the Wests and other crew and cast members have been impressed with her ability to memorize so many lines, Mayer said the script daunted her in the beginning.

“At first glance I thought that this was impossible,” she said.

But starting early and devoting daily time to script reading paid off.

“It’s amazing what 10 minutes each day does for memorization,” Mayer said.

However, it’s not only the lines that make the character. Mayer said Anne is “a very complex character to play,” with her big heart and tendency to accidentally get herself in trouble.

Shane Conrad, a sophomore at Wasilla High, plays opposite Mayer as Anne’s love interest, Gilbert Blythe. Though classics aren’t necessarily his favorite to read or watch on TV, Conrad said he thinks studying older plays onstage is good for a young actor’s resume.

“I think when you’re starting off with acting, you should start with them,” he said.

His role as Gilbert is also an indication of how far he’s come since he discovered his love of theater in an eighth-grade improvisation class.

“I was always such a shy kid,” he said. “Now I want to become every character, do every impression.”

Making a character come to life, he said, is its own reward.

“I have to figure out their wants, needs and likes and make it my own,” he said. “That in itself is rewarding.”

“Anne of Avonlea” opens next Friday, Feb. 19, at 7 p.m. at VPA. For tickets and additional show times, visit valleyperformingarts.org.

Contact reporter Caitlin Skvorc at 352-2266 or caitlin.skvorc@frontiersman.com.