Community Theater

In the late 1990s, Brett Rohrer decided he wanted to be onstage and headed off to an audition at a community theater. He got as far as a nearby parking space. "I just sat in my Jeep," he said. "I drove to auditions several times and never went in. But eventually, I did go in, and I got hired for a role in 'Oklahoma.' Now, the theater is my sanctuary. This keeps me even. If I didn't do this, I might go postal at my job. " Rohrer, a 30-something whose day job is with a printing company, did laugh as he said that, before heading back into rehearsal for "The Great American Trailer Park Musical," which opens Friday at Spotlighters Theatre . That company has roots stretching back to 1962.

Tidewater Players, the community theater of Havre de Grace, is tackling the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning drama, "Proof," by David Auburn. The plot revolves around a brilliant theorem, or proof, discovered after the death of a famous mathematician. But the former professor was mentally ill during the last years of his life, when he was cared for by his younger daughter, Catherine. Is it possible that he wrote the proof? If not, who did? Robert Oppel directs. For Tammy Crisp Oppel, who plays Catherine, it's not the first time she's been in a play directed by her husband.

Mary Lee Davis, a retired secretary and former Dundalk resident who enjoyed performing in community theater, died Dec. 21 of heart failure at her Clearwater, Fla., home. She was 81. The former Mary Lee Brown was born and raised in Rivesville, W.Va., where she also graduated from high school. In 1949, she married John Walter Davis, and the couple moved to Dundalk when her husband went to work at Bethlehem Steel Corp. in Sparrows Point. Mrs. Davis worked as a secretary in Bethlehem's public relations department for many years, and spent the last decade working for McLean Contracting Co. in Curtis Bay, until retiring in 1996.

Mary Lee Davis, a retired secretary and former Dundalk resident who enjoyed performing in community theater, died Dec. 21 of heart failure at her Clearwater, Fla., home. She was 81. The former Mary Lee Brown was born and raised in Rivesville, W.Va., where she also graduated from high school. In 1949, she married John Walter Davis, and the couple moved to Dundalk when her husband went to work at Bethlehem Steel Corp. in Sparrows Point. Mrs. Davis worked as a secretary in Bethlehem's public relations department for many years, and spent the last decade working for McLean Contracting Co. in Curtis Bay, until retiring in 1996.

Greasepaint and anxiety-filled opening nights was exactly the life Baltimore actress Patti Singewald dreamed of and was able to lead.Mrs. Singewald, whose actual name was Edith E. Singewald, died Saturday from complications of Alzheimer's disease at Beechwood, an assisted living community in Providence, R.I., where she had lived since 1995. The former Hunting Ridge resident was 90.A fixture in Baltimore theater, Mrs. Singewald was regarded as a versatile actress whose insightful and carefully crafted roles thrilled audiences at the Vagabond Theater, Theatre Hopkins, Severn River Players and the Village Players.

Hilda E. Uhlig, a homemaker and former secretary who was active in community theater, died Oct. 17 of heart failure at Carroll Lutheran Village. She was 86. Hilda Eleanor Drexler was born in Munich, Germany, and moved with her parents in 1928 to Flushing, N.Y. After graduating from high school in Flushing, she graduated from the Berkeley School, a private junior college in New York City. During the 1940s, she worked as an executive secretary for a New York law firm before marrying Karl H. Uhlig, a manufacturing manager, in 1945.

When the acting bug bites, theater enthusiasts often relinquish their careers to pursue their new-found calling.But members of the Columbia Community Players, the oldest theater group in Howard County, shrug off the rigors of combining full-time work with a grueling six-week rehearsal schedule.Without promise of salary or even a playhouse to call their own, they prepare nightly for their upcoming weekend production of the intense courtroom drama, "Nuts," at the Drama Learning Center in Jessup.

Understudies in the Liberty Showcase Theater often don't know they are understudies until they get a phone call. In 1995, June Hitt hid her lines in magazines on the beauty parlor set of Steel Magnolias when the actress playing M'Lynn had a heart attack at the last rehearsal. In 1999, Hitt replaced Ginni Hain as Mama Rose for the second weekend of Gypsy when Hain went in for emergency gall bladder surgery. Last Saturday, it was Hain's turn to go from behind-the-scenes "kid wrangler" for the group's production of Annie to the on-stage role of Grace Farrell after the original actress left the show a few hours before curtain time.

John Bruce Johnson, a retired teacher whom friends called the "patriarch of community theater in Baltimore," died of dementia Sunday at Seasons Hospice and Palliative Care. The Canton resident was 77. "The Vagabond [Players] claim to be the oldest continuously running little theater in the country, and Johnson is really only the second long-term leader it has had in its 82 years," said a 1998 Sun profile of him. The paper's story went on to describe him as "an oddly typical old-time amiable Baltimorean with old-time Baltimore idiosyncrasies.

Evening sun lights the marquee outside the restored 1926 Prince Theatre in Chestertown. Patrons, casually elegant in silk and linen, spill out of the theater's pre-concert reception to chat on the brick sidewalks. Tom and Grace Hopkins sip wine while Tom McHugh, who books acts for the Prince and the Mainstay, in nearby Rock Hall, describes the Eastern Shore supper he gave the New Orleans Preservation Hall jazz group when they played here last fall. "They sat down in front of plates of oysters -- raw, fried, Rockefeller, you name it -- and they didn't talk for about an hour.

Hilda E. Uhlig, a homemaker and former secretary who was active in community theater, died Oct. 17 of heart failure at Carroll Lutheran Village. She was 86. Hilda Eleanor Drexler was born in Munich, Germany, and moved with her parents in 1928 to Flushing, N.Y. After graduating from high school in Flushing, she graduated from the Berkeley School, a private junior college in New York City. During the 1940s, she worked as an executive secretary for a New York law firm before marrying Karl H. Uhlig, a manufacturing manager, in 1945.

The Cockpit in Court Summer Theatre is in the midst of its 40th anniversary season, a significant milestone for a company that has tackled a sizable breadth of repertoire, from "Lysistrata" to "Hairspray," and maintained wallet-friendly ticket prices the whole time. This year, the troupe, based at the Community College of Baltimore County in Essex, has offered productions of "The King and I" and "Steel Magnolias," as well as a children's show, "Dr. Dolittle. " An eager, if uneven, production of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical "Sunset Boulevard" opened last weekend on the main stage; "Laura," a play version of the hit 1940s film, opens Friday in the cabaret theater.

The first time Rain Pryor visited the intimate Strand Theater, she knew she was in the right place. "I thought, 'It smells like theater. I'm home,'" says the actress, comedian, writer and musician who has just been named artistic director of the Strand. This 55-seat venue, part of the artistically bustling Station North district, was founded in 2008 by Jayme Kilburn to showcase women - performers, directors, writers, designers. Pryor, who relocated to Baltimore from Los Angeles about five years ago, only recently became acquainted with the theater, but she seems thoroughly comfortable there already.

Check the web site for the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., and you'll see an array of performances on the boards for this weekend alone that would make for a wonderful summer season in Harford County. Tickets for performances range from $18 for the hour-long family play "The Wings of Ikarus Jackson," to $130 for a box seat for a performance of "La Cage Aux Folles. " The demand for what might be characterized as high art is substantial in this area, and the general success of the Kennedy Center is a testament to how successful a major high-end arts venue can be. Scale down, and the success of organizations like the Havre de Grace Arts Commission has long been evident.

The opening scene went something like this: Setting: Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab building 17 cafeteria -- Fall 2009 Rocket Scientist #1: I do community theater. Rocket Scientist #2: I almost minored in theater in college. Rocket Scientist #1: Really? We should start a drama club here. Rocket Scientist #2: I'm in. Rocket Scientist #1: OK, good. For Big Science types at APL, tilting too far to their logical, self-controlled left brains could be hazardous. But that's less of an issue since the curtain was raised on the APL Drama Club by mission designer Chris Dong and fellow space department member Dawn Moessner, a mission design analyst.

One singer crooned like Sinatra. One twanged in true Conway Twitty style and another gave a credible gravel-voiced impression of Louis Armstrong. And, of course, an Elvis entered the Cow Palace at the Maryland State Fairgrounds in Timonium with a guitar and had most of the audience swaying in the seats Thursday before he left the building. The show was called "Baltimore County Seniors Got Talent," and 11 performers proved it in a contest loosely based on the similarly named TV reality show.

Omar V. Pulliam II, a retired Dulaney High School foreign language teacher and election judge who was active in area community theater productions, died Sunday of multiple organ failure at St. Joseph Medical Center. The longtime Ruxton resident was 76. Omar Vernice Pulliam II was born in Asheboro, N.C., and moved with his family in 1942 to Victory Villa in Essex. He graduated from Kenwood High School in 1951 and served in the Army from 1954 to 1956. Mr. Pulliam earned a bachelor's degree from the Johns Hopkins University and a master's degree from George Washington University.

In the theater, often you have to make your own breaks. That's what Rebecca Kotraba is doing by forming her own troupe, the Long Reach Players. Kotraba, 23, explored some of the area's established community theaters. "They were really not open to new people," she says. "It was like banging my head against a brick wall." As she met other people who said they'd had a similar experience, Kotraba decided to create a new outlet for would-be theater artists. The Players held its initial interest meeting last month - another is scheduled for Oct. 19 - and will present its first production, "As It Was," on Nov. 11. As the name implies, the company is based in Columbia's Long Reach Village Center, where Kotraba has been working as a program coordinator with the Long Reach Community Association for nearly a year.

When emerging artists ache to share their most creative impulses, the folks at Laurel Mill Playhouse listen. Every year in early fall, the community theater invites budding playwrights, directors and actors of all ages to take part in its One Act Festival. Formerly known as the Burtonsville Players, the nonprofit theater began hosting the annual event as Laurel Mill Playhouse almost 10 years ago. Veteran board members Marvin and Maureen Rogers, of Laurel; and Larry and Diana Simmons, of Burtonsville, are producing this year's festival.

Alger Zapf Jr., former president of the George H. Wahmann Manufacturing Co., died July 22 from complications of Alzheimer's disease at his home in Sarasota, Fla. The former North Baltimore resident was 86. Mr. Zapf was born and raised in Royal Oak, Mich., and graduated in 1942 from Dondero High School. He enlisted in the Army after high school, and part of his military training was at Western Maryland College, now McDaniel College, where he met his future wife, Frances Virginia Wahmann.