VIENNA — Four times a week Mariano Gowland, his wife, Kimberley, and daughters Tori, 11, and Deanna, 6, drive to the Vienna Community Center theater, singing the same songs on the way.
The Gowlands are a family of actors. For the next few months, they’ll be living in 1940s Argentina, the setting for the Vienna Theater Company’s upcoming production of “Evita.”
The Washington area boasts about 30 community theater groups. They are full of people like Mr. and Mrs. Gowland, who have always loved the theater, but detoured off the road to Broadway to become firefighters, lawyers, engineers and government employees. The groups also include a few theater professionals, who participate for fun or to give back to the communities that nurtured them.
“There are a lot of people who have this urge and have this talent to share and communicate. Community theater is a good outlet for it,” says Darryl Winston, artistic and managing director of the Mount Vernon Players in Washington.
Of the many community theaters in the area, each puts on from two to seven shows a year. Community theater productions have small budgets and are mostly presented in community centers and school theaters. The cast and crew are rarely paid for their work.
That’s where the “amateur” side of these productions ends. Actors and crew members work long hours for many months rehearsing for plays. The work is the same as in any professional production and is taken just as seriously. Community theater also has its own annual awards program for actors, directors and technical achievement, the Washington Area Theater Community Honors, or WATCH awards.
But what keeps many coming back isn’t the awards. It’s the joy they get from performing for an audience, or the friendships formed with other theater lovers.
“It’s all a big family,” Mr. Gowland says.
It’s certainly not the money. Mr. Winston says his Mount Vernon group is one of the few Washington-area community theater groups making a profit, benefiting from the increased traffic from downtown redevelopment.
“Little by little, we are getting recognition,” he says.
? • • •
Community theater groups have no shortage of would-be stars. Mr. Winston says his group attracts actors from 8 to 80 years old, including professionals seeking to hone their craft.
Indeed, while many actors spend most of their time in one theater group, they’re not limited when it comes to auditioning for others.
The Gowlands were among dozens who showed up at the Vienna Community Center Feb. 7 seeking a chance to be part of “Evita,” the Andrew Lloyd Webber-Tim Rice musical about Eva Peron, legendary wife of Argentine dictator Juan Peron. The 1979 musical covers her rise to fame as an actress and lover of the powerful Peron, through their ascent to power and her untimely death at 33 in 1952.
Mr. Gowland had recently wrapped up a leading role in the company’s last production, Larry Shue’s “The Nerd,” in which his elder daughter, Tori, also performed. Many of the other would-be actors seeking auditions recognize Nano, as Mr. Gowland is known, and come over to say hello to him as they fill out the audition form and pose for a photograph.
Mr. Gowland, 44, a firefighter in Anne Arundel County, a part-time massage therapist and Spanish translator, has been acting for 30 years and appeared as an extra in the movies “Deep Impact” (a 1998 movie about scientists’ efforts to save humanity as a comet hurtles toward Earth) and the 1999 “Random Hearts” (a film based on the 1982 crash of an Air Florida flight into the Potomac River after it took off from what is now Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport).
Mr. Gowland knows director Gloria Dugan and musical director David Rohde, both of whom he worked with last year in The Arlington Players’ production of the Frank Wildhorn-Leslie Bricusse musical “Jekyll and Hyde,” a production that earned a WATCH award for Mr. Rohde and a nomination for Ms. Dugan.
Still, he’s nervous, he says. “It’s not a given. There are certain roles that you want, but it’s not certain that the director will see you in that role.
“We’re nervously second-guessing ourselves all the time.”
The nervous energy is around him and the others as Ms. Dugan greets them and says: “Please don’t get up there and just sing. You have to act.”
As he steps onstage, Mr. Gowland makes a last-minute switch of audition songs, abandoning one he had practiced for “The Barber’s Song,” from “Man of La Mancha.” It’s a piece less suited to his voice, but one that allows him to showcase his acting talent with a lot of movement.
Afterward, he realizes his mistake: “I didn’t do as good as I thought I should have done,” he says. He hugs the directors.
At the end, Mr. Gowland misses the chance to win one of the coveted lead roles, but he gets a spot in the chorus, along with Mrs. Gowland and their two daughters.
• • •
For the Gowlands, winning parts in “Evita” means making an hour-long drive from their home in Woodbridge to Vienna four times a week for rehearsal over the next two months. From the time the show opens tomorrow, every weekend will spent in performances until it closes May 15.
The experience brings them together as a family, they say. The four of them practice the music from the show together in the car as they drive to and from rehearsal, and they rehearse the dances in the family kitchen while preparing dinner.
“We love theater. We grew up doing theater. We don’t want to give that up,” Mr. Gowland says. “It’s very special to us that the kids like it, too.”
Mrs. Gowland, 42, a massage therapy instructor, adds: “You can be weird or extravagant or eccentric, and everyone accepts you for who you are.”
They try to do at least one show a year.
“When you’re in a show, you put all your heart into it,” Mr. Gowland says. “When you’re not in a show, you just go through the motions of everyday life,” his wife adds.
There are some sacrifices, however. Mr. Gowland works 24-hour shifts at the firehouse and often has to go directly to rehearsals without sleep. The girls bring their homework along and work on it while waiting to perform.
“They stay up later than they’re supposed to, but they’re both doing very well in school, so we think that’s OK,” Mr. Gowland says of his daughters.
“We meet new people, and it’s really fun ’cause we get to hang out with them,” Tori says. She’s also performing a lead role in a play, “Dig It,” at her school, Christa McAuliffe Elementary in Woodbridge.
• • •
The rehearsal April 10 is the first time the two dozen or so cast members perform the entire musical and get to handle the props, which are laid out on tables at the front of the rehearsal room.
As the actors warm up, crew members build the sets in the theater and prop master Avery Burns checks off the items ready to go: flags, flowers, a camera, candles, bar glasses, piles of old Argentine pesos and copies of old newspapers and magazines. It’s not easy, she says, to find all the needed props on a community theater company’s tight budget.
“I am just at the end of my budget,” she says, with sets left to build and props yet to be bought.
“Obviously in community theater, my biggest resource is building things and thrift shops,” she says.
Ms. Burns, a retired librarian, also has found many props for free on the Internet. For “Evita,” she was able to download a telegram from a theater resource Web page and copies of authentic Argentine newspaper and magazine covers from the 1940s.
“I have learned in the past few years that the Internet is an amazing resource for props,” she says.
Another key asset for prop masters and costume directors in community theater groups is the ability to recycle items from one show to the next. As one of the oldest theater companies in the Washington area, dating back to 1930, Mr. Winston’s Mount Vernon group is lucky to have a prop and costume collection that contains genuine antiques, he says.
Still, “you do tend to be very creative,” he says.
Ms. Burns says another vital element is keeping close ties with other groups “because you usually have to borrow items a lot.”
Many of the groups perform the same musicals. The Vienna company’s production of “Evita” is not the first among Washington-area community theaters.
• • •
At the rehearsal, the actors seem to know their parts well, but Ms. Dugan challenges them to do more.
“You have to identify with this woman. You all have taken over the country. You’ve got to feel that,” she says. “I don’t feel anything from you other than what you’re doing physically. You really have to be into yourselves and into the scene and into the moment.”
Mr. Gowland’s father, Mariano Gowland Sr., was born in Argentina, and visited an earlier rehearsal to tell the cast about his experiences with Eva Peron, who had once lived in another apartment in the same building as his.
“When Evita died, my dad threw a party,” Mr. Gowland said. “He was glad she died.”
Eva Peron was widely disliked by Argentina’s middle and upper classes, who felt that she and her husband had turned the country into a fascist state and ruined its economy.
Ms. Dugan will continue to tinker with the production right up until Friday’s showtime. After that, she says, you have to just let it go and trust that everything will be OK. .
“Community theater is a hit and miss,” she says. “Some shows you go to are actually wonderful, but you can see some real bombs, too.”
At the end, it’s the experience that matters, Mr. Winston says.
“Everybody learns from everybody else,” he says. “In my program, the directors have as much fun as the audience.”
What to see on stages in D.C. area
Community theater is thriving in the Washington area, which boasts more than two dozen community theater groups. Here’s a list of the groups, along with performances and ticket information.
District
• Performs at Mount Vernon Players Theater at the Mount Vernon Place United Methodist Church, 900 Massachusetts Ave. NW (three blocks north of the Gallery Place Metro station). Presenting “Naughty Marietta” on selected dates June 11-27. Tickets $10-$12. Call 202/783-7600 or see www.mountvernonplayers.org.
• St. Mark’s Players: Performs at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, 118 Third St. SE (corner of Third and A streets). Presenting “1776” on selected dates April 30-May 15. Tickets $6-$15. Call 202/546-9670 or see www.stmarksplayers.org.
Maryland
• The Hard Bargain Players: Performs at Hard Bargain Farm Amphitheater, 2301 Bryan Point Road, Accokeek. Presenting “American Buffalo” on selected dates April 30-May 8. Tickets $10-$12. Call 301/645-0001, e-mail reservations@hbplayers.org or see www.hbplayers.org.
• Kensington Arts Theatre: Performs at Kensington Town Center Armory, 3710 Mitchell St., Kensington. Presenting “Tick Tick Boom” on selected dates April 30-May 22. Tickets $13-$15. Call 301/547-7107, e-mail kat-tickets@katonline.org or see www.katonline.org.
• Montgomery Playhouse at Asbury: Performs at Asbury Methodist Village, Asbury Cultural Arts and Wellness Center, 201 Russell Ave., Gaithersburg (near Lakeforest Mall). Presenting “Charley’s Aunt” on selected dates through April 25. Tickets $12 play, $14 musical. Call 301/977-5751 or see www.montgomeryplayhouse.org.
• Port Tobacco Players: Performs at Charles County Government Center at the intersection of US Route 301 and Charles Street, La Plata, while their theater is undergoing renovations. Presenting “Don’t Drink the Water” on selected dates May 7-16. Tickets $10-$12. Call 301/932-6819, e-mail info@ptplayers.com, or see www.ptplayers.com.
• Rockville Little Theatre: Performs at F. Scott Fitzgerald Theatre, Rockville Civic Center Park, 603 Edmonston Drive, Rockville. Presenting “Run for Your Wife” on selected dates April 30-May 16. Tickets $6-$12. Call 240/314-8690 or see www.rlt-online.org.
• Rockville Musical Theatre: Performs at F. Scott Fitzgerald Theatre, Rockville Civic Center Park, 603 Edmonston Drive, Rockville. Presenting “High Society” on selected dates July 9-31. Tickets $8-$14. Call 240/314-8690 or see www.r-m-t.org.
• Silver Spring Stage: Performs at Woodmoor Shopping Center, 10145 Colesville Road, Silver Spring. Presenting “Art” through May 1; “Master Harold and the Boys” May 14-June 12. Tickets $11-$15. Call 301/593-6036 or see www.ssstage.org.
• Tantallon Community Players: Performs at Harmony Hall Recreational Center, 10701 Livingston Road, Fort Washington. Presenting “Ragtime” May 14-30. Tickets $12-$15. Call 301/292-2228 or see www.tantalloncommunityplayers.com.
Virginia
• Aldersgate Church Community Theater: Performs at Wesley Hall, Aldersgate United Methodist Church, 1301 Collingwood Road, Alexandria. Call 703/765-6555 or see www.aldersgate.net.
• American Music Stage: Performs at Ernst Cultural Center, Northern Virginia Community College, Annandale Campus, 8333 Little River Turnpike, Annandale. Presenting “Chicago” on selected dates May 14-30. Tickets $12.50-$15. Call 703/425-9280 or see www.americanmusicstage.com.
• The Arlington Players: Performs at Thomas Jefferson Theatre, 125 S. Old Glebe Road, Arlington. Presenting “Saturday Night” on selected dates May 7-22. Tickets $12-$15 plays, $15-$18 musicals. Call 703/549-1063 or see www.thearlingtonplayers.org.
• CAST in McLean: Performs at Alden Theater, 1234 Ingleside Avenue, McLean. Presenting “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum” on selected dates July 16-31. Tickets $14.50. Call box office at 703/790-9223 or Ticketmaster at 202/432-7328 or see www.castinmclean.org.
• The Castaways Repertory Theatre: Performs at A. J. Ferlazzo Building Auditorium, 15941 Donald Curtis Drive, Woodbridge. Presenting “Laundry & Bourbon” and “Lone Star” on selected dates April 23-May 15. Tickets $8-$12. Call 703/508-5418 or see www.cast awaystheatre.org.
• Dominion Stage: Performs at Gunston Arts Center, 2700 S. Lang St, Arlington. Presenting “Merrily We Roll Along” on selected dates in October. Tickets $14-$15. Call 703/683-0502 or see www.dominionstage.org.
• The Elden Street Players: Performs at the Industrial Strength Theatre, 269 Sunset Park Drive, Sunset Business Park, Herndon. Presenting “Complete Works of Shakespeare (Abridged)” on selected dates June 4-26. Tickets $11-$14 plays, $14-$17 musicals. Call 703/481-5930 or see www.eldenstreetplayers.org.
• Fauquier Community Theatre: Performs at Vint Hill Station, 4225 Aiken Road, Warrenton. Presenting “The Wiz” on selected dates April 30-May 16. Tickets $12-$15. Call 540/349-8760 or see www.fct stage.org.
• Little Theatre of Alexandria: Performs at 600 Wolfe St., Alexandria. Presenting “The Music Man” July 26-Aug. 16. Tickets $12-18. Call 703/683-0496 or see www.thelittletheatre.com.
• Port City Playhouse: Performs at Nannie J. Lee Center, 1108 Jefferson Street, Alexandria. Presenting “Tartuffe” on selected dates April 23-May 8. Tickets $10-$12. Call 703/838-2880 or see www.telgo.com/pcp.
• Prince William Little Theatre: Performs at George C. Round Elementary School, 10100 Hastings Drive, Manassas. Presenting “Killing Dante” on selected dates May 7-22. Tickets $10-$12. Call 703/330-7796 or see www.pwlt.org.
• Providence Players of Fairfax: Performs at Frost Middle School, 4101 Pickett Road, Fairfax, and James Lee Community Center, 6131 Willston Drive, Falls Church. Presenting “The Man Who Came to Dinner” May. Tickets $7-$12. Call 703/425-6782 or e-mail providenceplayers@cox.net.
• Reston Community Players: Performs at Reston Community Center, Hunters Woods Village Center, 2310 Colts Neck Road, Reston. Presenting “The Laramie Project” on selected dates April 30-May 15. Tickets $11-15. Call 703/476-1111 tickets or 703/435-2707 information, or see www.restonplayers.org.
• Springfield Community Theatre: Performs at Immanuel United Methodist Church, 7901 Heritage Drive, Annandale, Whaley Auditorium at Bishop Ireton High School, 201 Cambridge Road, Alexandria and Greenspring Village, 7470 Spring Village Drive, Springfield. Presenting “The Sunshine Boys” in October and November. Call 703/866-6238 or see www.sctonline.org.
• Tapestry Theatre Company: Performs at Nannie J. Lee Center, 1108 Jefferson St., Alexandria, and George Mason Middle and High School Auditorium, 7124 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church. Presenting “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” on selected dates June 26-July 11. Tickets $10-$12 plays, $14-$15 musicals. Call 703/566-0009, e-mail info@TapestryTheatre or see www.tapestry theatre.com.
• The Vienna Theatre Company: Performs at Vienna Community Center, 120 Cherry St. SE, Vienna. Presenting “Evita” on selected dates April 23-May 15. Tickets $8-$9. Call 703/242-6423 or see www.httpcity.com/vtcshows
Please read our comment policy before commenting.