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Highlands Today

Life's A Stage For These Tanglewood Actors

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By BILL RETTEW JR.

Highlands Today

Published: December 3, 2008

SEBRING - Even the stage crew gets into the act sometimes.

Tanglewood Actors Guild crew members got a chance to "practice" during a dress rehearsal last week as they moved props and changed sets for a pair of upcoming plays the guild is hosting.

Director Suzanne Schilffarth was so impressed by the crew's teamwork that she plans to leave the stage lights beaming so that the audience can better watch a set change.

More than 600 theatergoers will jam the clubhouse at Tanglewood for three soldout shows of two, one-act plays, but don't tell these actors and crew that it isn't a Broadway production.

The actors have been learning their lines and practicing for several months.

Neil Simpson, guild chairman, watched the actors rehearse last week. He said the two yearly Tanglewood plays help actors and crew at the age-restricted community stay active.
Memorizing lines and acting keeps older minds sharp and bodies healthier, he said.

"It gives them a chance to do something in retirement," said Simpson, about the cast of eight and crew of 60. "Sometimes you think about things you'd like to do, but work and family got in the way.

"For some of these people, it's a dream that they didn't expect would ever materialize."

Phil Pluta portrays a mattress salesman in "The Footsteps of Doves" and has been performing at Tanglewood since 2005, the first year the subdivision started presenting plays.

He talked about the joys of acting after he chatted with his wife.

"When you get on the stage, it energizes you and you feed off it," said Pluta. "Every time I watched movies or TV, I said to my wife, 'I could do that.'"
Theresa Reynolds plays "Jill," a menopausal wife who takes her disagreeing husband to the mattress store to trade their large communal bed for twin beds in "The Footsteps of Doves."

Reynolds said the play is a "naughty comedy," with life lessons thrown in for older audiences.

"There's a lot of truth to it," said Reynolds. "The people who have been married for a while will know how it feels. People are really going to relate to it."

Dianne Suder-Lane stars in "Blind Alleys."

The setting is a pencil factory where everyone is blind, including the chauffer.

Suder-Lane talked about acting in a comedy and eliciting laughter from an audience composed mostly of neighbors and friends.

"When you believe in the play and you understand your part, it's easy and natural to be funny," said Suder-Lane.

Schilffarth said some actors might experience some stage fright for a moment when the curtain rises for three nights of consecutive shows Wednesday.

She explained how as an actress she got through nervousness.

"You really step into the part," she said. "So focus on what you need to happen."

A director's job is nearly done when casting and rehearsals are finished.

"I want to be sure my vision is being perpetuated," she said. "I get to see the written word turn into action - the way I visualized it."

Bill Rettew Jr. may be reached at 386-5857 or wrettew@highlandstoday.com

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