Canfield

Victorian Players host 'Arthur and Merlin'

By Emily Gianetti

POSTED: July 24, 2010

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The Victorian Players Theatre in Youngstown will be performing "Arthur and Merlin: The Making of a King" at 8 p.m. July 23, 24, 30 and 31.

The show, the first of a trilogy written and directed by Carol Weakland, is not a part of the regular season for the theater. Weakland rented the theater for the production.

The church on the West Side of Youngstown that the Victorian Players call home was purchased in 1994. It is located on Mahoning Avenue near the old B&O railroad station. Built in 1890, the church seats about 125 people, a small and intimate setting for the plays the troupe performs.

As the Victorian Players Theatre is for community theater, volunteerism is relied on heavily to get actors and actresses. Many of those involved in the theater balance jobs and acting, treating acting as a hobby. However, they still must work long hours to rehearse and prepare for the shows.One of the 14 cast members is Denise Bayer, playing Guenevere in the production. Bayer is also an in-house lawyer with Cafaro Management Company.

“I think a lot of it is just time management,” said Bayer on how she balances being an attorney and an actor at the same time, “My position as a corporate attorney is pretty demanding, so it is best that I don't do shows back-to-back. I would definitely burn out!”

Bayer said she got into acting at age 14 when she auditioned for "Sleeping Beauty" at the Youngstown Playhouse Youth Theatre. It was her first audition, and Bayer was cast in a leading role.

“The director, Paul Kimple, placed a lot of confidence in me and truly made my first acting experience wonderful,” she said of the production.

But what really makes community theater special is, according to Bayer, the people she gets to meet.

“I love the spirit in those that are involved with community theater. We are doctors, lawyers, business owners, teachers, yet each of us realizes the importance of the arts in keeping a community alive.”

Bayer currently serves on the board of directors for the Oakland Center for the Arts, where she has performed many other plays, including "Six Degrees of Separation," "She Loves Me," "The Book of Liz," and "Dog Sees God."

Her feelings for community theater, however, remain the same.

“And the end result, performing a good show for local audiences so that they don't have to travel or spend a lot of money to see great theater, is extremely rewarding.”