i X, Page B6 : : iT : aa os : ; Nation's Oldest Continuing Community Theatre ‘Forty Carats’ to Launch W-B Little Theatre’s 52nd Season The Wilkes-Barre Little Theatre, 537 N. Main St., is launching its 52nd season with the produc- tion of Forty Carats Oct. 4, 5, and 6. Directed by Ralph Pinckley, Forty Carats fea- tures the best of local talent. Dependent solely upon contributions for its support, the Little Theatre is the nation’s oldest continuing community theatre. Available memberships open to all residents are: subscribing, which entitles members to an unreserved seat; patron, which entitles the member to two reserved seats for each perfor- mance; and sustaining, which entitles members to four reserved seats for each performance. Memberships can be obtained by writing: Box 1553, Wilkes-Barre, Pa. 18705. script. Photos by ape inn Lewis, Judy Fried, Steven Polte, Calvin Gensell, and Ellen Eaton. / Rhein a (back row) Roz Smulowitz, gg Z and Judy Fried. RN Pinckley. by Sylvia S. Cutler Target Oct. 3. : That's dress rehearsal date for the forthcoming perform- ance of "Forty Carats,” which is now in production at Little Theatre, 537 N. Main St. Wilkes-Barre. Exciting events are afoot and the theatre is abuzz as the group enters seven weeks of horren- dous work, blood, sweat and tears. In the interim, much needs to lines! Last week I attended tryouts. Hordes of people appeared for the first two tryouts, and they read for director Ralph Pinck- ley. Ralph then called some of them back for ‘‘callbacks’ or final casting. A total of 45 appeared for the first two tryouts; final select- ions numbered 11. It was a tough decision to make in some instances, because to this (untutored) ear, many of them were excellent. Cast in the principal role of Ann Stanley was Roz Smulow- itz; Calvin Gensel was cast as Peter Latham. Supporting actors are Steven Polte as Billy Boylan and Dorris Miller Rumbel as Maud Hayes. Others include Judy Fried, Gordona L’'Dera, Ray L’Dera, Ellen Eaton, Lorraine Drapiewski, Ralph Lewis, Warren Cox, a very talented group. The title of the play, Ralph explains, comes from a quote from the play. Since Ann is 40, her ex-husband tells her to regard each year as A a carat, hence ‘Forty Carats’. Ralph Pinckley is a native of Louisiana, has a B.S. from University of Southern Mississi- ppi; M.A. from Northwestern University of Louisiana. His specialty is speech pathology, i.e, leaching people who've lost their voice boxes to speak again. He works with the adult population of the Veterans speech problems, primarily aphasia, loss of language due to brain damage. the Air Force for seven years ing and acting at various stations where he was assigned, as well as local community theatres, in approximately six locations throughout the United States and Labrador. He established a military theatre while he was in Labra- dor, a station with 5000 military and dependents. Having worked in theatre for 15 years, Ralph has appeared in “Harvey’’, ‘Teahouse of the August Moon’, “Odd Couple’, “Rainmaker’’, and ‘‘West Side Story’; and has directed ‘Long Day's Journey Into Night”, “The Boyfriend’’, ‘‘Anniver- sary Waltz”, ‘‘Sabrina Fair’, and others. Ralph has been in the community 2!» years and directed ‘‘Last of the Red Hot Lovers” here last year. Roz Smulowitz was the star last year of ‘‘Applause’. Roz “A Far Country”. 9 ) Roz did ‘song and dance things” in high school, but her first introduction to drama was al the Drama Guild at the Jewish Community Center where Dorothy Salsburg coerced her into playing the ingenue lead in ‘All My Sons’, directed by Joe Salshurg. A moment when Roz was “wiped out’ was when her daughter Mike came up to her after ‘Applause’ and burst into tears saying ‘Mom, you were great! Roz and Mike ski to- gether, and Roz swings, plays tennis and golf. Ellen Eaton who got the role of Trina Stanley, is a senior at Wyoming Valley West. She played Alice Sycamore in “You Can't Take it With You” at Valley West, and Blanche in “Rowdy Kate”, both directed by Bob Graham. Ellen is from Forty Fort, the daughter of Margaret and Ray- mond Eaton. She’s been acting since ninth grade, has worked backstage at Little Theatre doing makeup and building sets. She takes singing lessons from Harriet Santos and takes drama in school. The play ‘‘Forty Carats’’ is an intriguing one, highly relevant to conditions today. It has to do with relationships between people of different ages, women over 40 with younger men, young girls with older men. The point it makes is that age is irrelevant, a fact that America has long ago accepted.
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