For the first 24 years of its existence as an entertainment hub for Delray Beach, the Crest Theatre — a component of the Delray Beach Center for the Arts — has relied on touring shows and imported acts for its eclectic performance mix.
But now, in the popular arts complex’s 25th anniversary season, Delray Beach Center president and CEO Joe Gillie embarks on a risky experiment, forging its first-ever, in-house theatrical production. Partnering with Marcie Gorman-Althof and Michael Lifshitz (MNM Productions), the center opens a 12-performance run of the backstage musical A Chorus Line, beginning Friday.
“At the 25-year mark, I think it’s time to step back and look at where you are, where you’ve been and what you’re doing,” says Gillie. “From our perspective, everything lined up — working with Michael, doing the productions they did with their other company, the non-professionals, then developing this new company with Michael. There’s enough South Florida talent now to go around to really create a phenomenal production.”
Having sufficient onstage talent was not the only impediment to the center rolling up its sleeves and turning producer. “I just don’t know that we were ready — financially or technically or from an artistic standpoint — to be able to handle it,” he concedes.
Becoming independent of the rental road companies that happened to be touring through South Florida has long been a goal of Gillie’s, but he understands the importance of gauging his audience’s reaction. “We’ll certainly poll our audience and see how they feel about it after we do this, because Michael and company have some great productions that they want to do in the future, and why not?” he asks.
Gillie is determined to produce show that are at least as high-quality as those he books. “Oh, absolutely. That’s the point. I have to produce the quality that this audience expects and demands,’ he says. “And I think they’re going to deliver that.”
In selecting the show to debut the in-house producing effort, it did not hurt that A Chorus Line has minimal scenic and technical requirements. But more than that, Gillie feels, it is one of the all-time great musicals to which audiences keep returning. “It’s theatrical gold. ‘A Chorus Line,’ even if you’ve seen it, you’ll go back and see it again. The actors make it a whole new show.”
So it was an easy choice. “It just came to mind as the right thing for us to do,” says Gillie. “If we can make some money on this and make it work, I think it’s the right thing to do, for this community and this theater.
“‘A Chorus Line’ also allows some of the up-and-coming artists, who may not be right for the principal roles, to be involved and be onstage as well. I think we have an obligation to nurture that talent as well. Even to be in that rejected bunch,” the auditioners who are dismissed after the opening scene, “at least they’re given that experience. That’s what makes ‘A Chorus Line’ the perfect vehicle for us.”
The cast includes veterans of Broadway as well as national tours, yet all of the 23 company members have “direct ties to South Florida,” according to the Delray Beach Center for the Arts.
Typical is Courtney Arango, who plays Cassie, a former featured player and former girlfriend of the show’s director, trying to land a job back in the chorus. “She was raised in Miami and went to the New World School of the Arts for musical theater,” says Gillie. “But she’s also worked in New York on shows like ‘Shrek’ and ‘The Addams Family.’ Courtney’s going to be a great asset to the company.”
He also mentions Rebecca Jiminez, who plays Diana (“What I Did for Love”) Morales, another New World School of the Arts graduate, and Shane Tanner, a fixture of the area’s theater community, playing the tyrannical director who sadistically grills the auditioners.
Directing the production will be Kimberly Dawn (KD) Smith, who previously staged many shows for Lifshitz’s amateur troupe, Entr’Acte Theatrix. Smith is expected to stick closely to the late Michael Bennett’s original staging and choreography.
“You’ve got to remember that Kim was in the original show and she does have the rights to do (Bennett’s work),” says Gillie. “And I think if you’ve got that opportunity you should take it. I think she’s trying to be as true to that as she possibly can. I think that’s key to the success of the show.”
Gillie feels confident that the Crest’s audience will be drawn to this experiment in self-production. “I do, and I’m pleased with the firm footing this will put the theater on,” he says. “I’ve got to make sure that it’s all strong and solid, as I pass the torch to the next group.”
Gillie has announced that he will be retiring from the center at the end of this season, perhaps to return to performing. “And just because I’m leaving doesn’t mean I’m stepping away and going to a Third World country,” he says. “If they want my opinion, my expertise and advice, I’m always here for them. It’s been 25 years of my life.”
A CHORUS LINE, Delray Beach Center for the Arts’ Crest Theatre, 51 N. Swinton Ave., Delray Beach. Friday, December 5 through Sunday, Dec. 14. Tickets: $45, plus $2 historic preservation fee. Call: (561) 243-7922, ext. 1.