Friday, June 27, 2003 | 9:20 a.m.
What: "Hello, Dolly!"
When: 8 p.m. through Saturday.
Where: Spring Mountain Ranch State Park, State Route 159.
Tickets: $7 and $8 in advance; $10 at the gate.
Information: (702) 594-7529.
Super Summer Theatre, a nonprofit outdoor theater experience at Spring Mountain Ranch State Park, is in its 28th year. Following are this summer's productions at Spring Mountain Ranch State Park, State Route 159:
What: "Hello, Dolly!" through Saturday.
What: "Oklahoma!" July 9 through July 12; July 16 through July 19; July 23 through July 26.
What: "Smokey Joe's Cafe," Aug. 6 through 9; Aug. 13 through 16; Aug. 20 through Aug. 23.
What: "Ballet Meets Broadway," August 29 and Aug. 30.
Information: 594-7529.
It's 5 p.m. on a Wednesday and two dozen cars are idling near the entrance of Spring Mountain Ranch State Park.
The grass in the meadow has been marked for seating blankets on one side, chairs on the other. Volunteers slip into their designated yellow vests.
Wearing a white hat with orange flowers, Adrienne O'Donoghue, a Super Summer Theatre board member, cuts across the meadow as staffers sort out a seating dispute.
"We have 800 tickets sold tonight," O'Donoghue remarked as she sped past. "Seating is important."
Equally important are the volunteers who agreed to distribute programs, collect tickets and work concessions.
Super Summer Theatre, a nonprofit outdoor community effort in its 28th year in Las Vegas, relies heavily on the promises made by those who signed on months prior.
"At 5:30 we get nervous if we're short a few volunteers," O'Donoghue said. "Twenty-five is a really nice number."
There's no doubt that late afternoons in the meadow 18 miles outside of Las Vegas can be hectic.
The stage can be less than ideal. There have been wind gusts. There have been bats. There have been critters scooting across the stage and bugs (reportedly) the size of small aircraft have harassed performers during the evening shows.
But a greater spirit is at work.
"It's a tremendous spirit," said Betty Sullivan-Cleary, director of Sullivan-Cleary productions, who is directing "Hello, Dolly!" through Saturday at the state park. "No matter the condition or what's happening, the big thing is the production.
"The first week of this production there was a terrible gust of wind. It looked like we were doing a remake of the flying nun. But it's just part of what happens. I mean, my God, we're out in the desert."
Out in the desert, in the cool of the meadow, under the stars and away from the city. For patrons of the annual productions that continue through August, there's no better way to see community theater.
"On Saturdays they're out here at 3:30 and 4, waiting to get good seats," O'Donoghue said. "They have tailgate parties."
When the floodgates finally open at 6 p.m., there's a rush for the meadow. Blankets are spread, wine is poured and picnic baskets are opened. A sellout of 1,100 is commonly reached on weekends.
Setting the stage
The growth of the amenities and the Super Summer Theatre audience, which tallies nearly 35,000 by the end of the season, is a testament to the devotion among the returning production companies, volunteers and audience members whose dollars have helped build sidewalks, put locks on bathroom doors and improve stage conditions.
What once was a wooden platform has become a full-service enclosed stage with props, lighting, sound and room for a live band. The dressing rooms below have replaced the blankets tied to trees.
"When I started out there as an actress, the dressing rooms consisted of a bush or a little pup tent or a makeshift 'Hooverville' out of cardboard," Sullivan-Cleary said. "I knew all of the burros on a first-name basis.
"One night I came back looking for my pup tent. It was washed away in a flood. Now we have a beautiful stage with nice dressing rooms underneath.
"I miss the old days. But it's kind of uptown now."
Passing the hat
Thespians first performed in the meadow in 1976 as a project coordinated by the Las Vegas Junior League and the Nevada Natural History Association. The first production company was a Shakespearean group from San Francisco. Actors were responsible for collecting tickets before going onstage.
Now scores of volunteers, a few paid employees and contracted lighting and audio technicians tend to venue operations. O'Donoghue, who has been involved with productions for 17 summers, is one of 39 volunteer board members who organize the summer productions.
"A lot of us are teachers. A lot of us are retired," O'Donoghue said. "When I was a little girl, I used to put plays on in my back yard. I did the tickets. I had my mother make lemonade. So I guess I'm just continuing on. You feel so good when you're done.
Referring to the audience, she said, "It's kind of a mutual admiration society. We are happy to have them. These people are our guests."
Grants help pay for improvements at the site. A $90,000 grant from the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation was used to renovate sound and lighting systems. Las Vegas architect Homer Rissman designed the stage as a gift in the 1980s.
Otherwise, the audience, which helped put the "community" in community theater, has helped fund some of the provisions.
"The tickets pay for our next year's production," O'Donoghue said. "Then every night, we pass the hat. That's our gravy. That pretty much pays our upkeep. We have an enormous stage door. We got that by passing the hat a couple of years."
The hat is actually a few green buckets passed through the audience before shows.
"It used to be a straw hat," O'Donoghue added. "But it wasn't deep enough. We need deep. And people will put in the money, especially if they know what we're doing, where it's going.
"This year we're passing the hat because we want to pave the general parking lot. We tell the people, 'This is what we did with your money last year.' One year we needed six locks for the bathroom so we started talking that up.
"They don't care about backstage so much. One of the things we did with their money is we bought a scrim (cloth used as a curtain) for the stage. That doesn't fly with the audience at all. But I tell you, if we tell them we're trying to pave the parking lot, it will probably be paved by the next year."
All in the family
Those tied in with Super Summer Theatre credit its success to low ticket prices, popular family productions and the outdoor theater experience, which offers access to Spring Mountain Ranch and its facilities.
In addition to "Hello, Dolly!" this season's productions include Nevada Theatre Company's "Oklahoma" in July and PS Productions' "Smokey Joe's Cafe" in August. Past performances have included "Peter Pan," "Annie," "L'il Abner" and"Godspell."
"They like the tried and true," O'Donoghue said. "Phil Shelburne of PS Productions gets a little edgy. He's at the other end of the spectrum. He'd be bored to death with 'Annie Get Your Gun.' "
But, O'Donoghue added, "You miss something when you miss his productions. If that man wanted to produce a phone book I'd back him up."
Sullivan-Cleary used to present shows wherever she could find a roof. Now her productions are presented solely at Spring Mountain Ranch State Park.
"It's difficult to do lighting and sound outdoors," Sullivan-Cleary said. "But it's an amazing challenge. And it's a lot of fun. I lovingly refer to it as summer camp with auntie Betty. It's like an extended family. We all have one big show we do every year."
Besides, she said, "The sound is better than its ever been.
"And it's a great thing for a community and where else could an actor perform for 1,000 people in community theatre ... You can't very often reach out and touch that many people at one time."
Despite the bugs, the outdoor setting is a refreshing change for Joy Demain, longtime actress and director of Jade Productions. Demain gives a solid performance as Dolly Levi this month in Super Summer Theatre's "Hello, Dolly!" production.
"I love it because it's beautiful to be on the stage and see the mountains," Demain said. "And you get to see the stars."
But, she added with a smile, "Some things are too big to ignore. Last year there were donkeys that used to hang around here and would be baying during the middle of the performance."
This year crickets chimed in to join Demain. The burros kept quiet.
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