[NEohioPAL] Mercury Summer Stock hopes Parma patrons follows theater group to new home (Parma Sun Post)

[Mercury Summer Stock]

Mercury Summer Stock hopes Parma patrons follows theater group to new  
home

By Bob Sandrick, Sun News

May 20, 2010, 10:45AM

Brian Marshall wants everyone to know that it wasn’t his idea to move.

If it were up to him, Mercury Summer Stock would still stage  
productions — as it has for the last four seasons — at Parma Little  
Theatre in Parma Senior High School.

But Marshall, MSS’s managing director, said he and the Parma City  
School District couldn’t reach a lease agreement for 2010.

So this year, MSS will take the stage at Brooks Theatre in Cleveland  
Play House. It’s a temporary solution until MSS finds a permanent home.

Marshall hopes that new home will be in the Parma area. MSS might  
even buy its own building here.

The audience certainly exists. MSS has done well since it moved to  
Parma four years ago. In 2009 alone subscriptions jumped by 125 percent.

About 60 percent of MSS’s audience lives in Parma, Marshall said.

MSS has other ties to the city. The company — which has more than 80  
professional, college and high school actors — includes Parma kids.

Also, MSS recently established an Advisory Board and Theater Guild.  
Of the 64 members of both groups, 52 live in Parma and Parma Heights.

Marshall hopes these connections will keep Parma residents involved  
in MSS, even though the company is in Cleveland this year.

“If the people can stay with us, we’re going to give them a great  
season,” Marshall said.

This summer, MSS will stage “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor  
Dreamcoat,” “Li’l Abner” and “The Scarlet Pimpernel.”

The season starts June 11 and runs through Aug. 21.

Finding a home


Marshall, 32, and five friends established MSS as a non-profit in  
1998 when they were students at Baldwin-Wallace College.

The six students wanted to sharpen their acting skills over the  
summer without having to travel to the East Coast, the home of summer  
stock.

Locally, Cain Park in Cleveland Heights and Huron Playhouse in Huron  
produce summer plays but Marshall and his friends wanted to create  
more acting opportunities in Greater Cleveland.

In its first year, MSS partnered with the Ensemble Theatre Company,  
which met in the Civic on Mayfield Road in Cleveland Heights.

 From the start, MSS chose to produce lesser-known or rarely  
performed plays. Even when it takes on a popular show, MSS puts a  
different spin on it.

For example, this year’s production of “Joseph” is set on an early  
20th-century film lot and features personalities like Mae West, W.C.  
Fields and Laurel and Hardy.

Also, MSS will stage the original 1954 version of “Li’l Abner.”

“The material is so strong but I can probably guarantee that 75  
percent of our audience has never seen the show or they saw it in the  
1950s or 1960s when they were in high school,” Marshall said.

After four years at the Civic, MSS had to move after the building was  
sold to a Baptist church.

MSS ended up in Heskett Middle School in Bedford Heights. At the  
time, Bedford Heights Mayor Debora Mallin hoped to bring a little  
culture to her city, Marshall said, but the arrangement didn’t work out.

“We had a hard time convincing the community of Bedford Heights to  
come see summer theater,” Marshall said.

Then MSS learned that Parma Little Theatre was available. Marschall  
said it was the perfect venue. It had about 300 seats and its own  
entrance and parking lot. It was within walking distance for seniors  
in the neighborhood.

“In our first three years in Parma, our audience skyrocketed,”  
Marshall said. “The community just embraced the company.”

Marshall said Parma gave MSS an identity.

“At the closing of ‘Me and My Gal,’ our third show last summer, that  
last weekend we sold out 285 seats every single night — and it was  
all Parma,” Marshall said.

Marshall said MSS helped local businesses. In a recent survey by MSS,  
67 percent to 70 percent of respondents said they go out to dinner  
before or after a play.

“Theater in general has a good economic impact,” Marshall said.

When it became impossible for MSS to stay in Parma, Cleveland Play  
House offered its Brooks Theater for one summer at an affordable rent.

The problem is that Brooks has only 135 seats, about half the number  
in Parma Little Theatre.

Next year, MSS will approach local theaters like Cassidy Theatre in  
Parma Heights about a possible partnership. Marshall said Cassidy was  
already booked this summer.

Ultimately, though, MSS would like to return to Parma Little Theatre,  
Marshall said.

Community outreaches


MSS does more than stage productions and collect receipts.

For example, in 2009 it established a Teen Board that organizes  
programs for teens wanting to learn more about theater.

The board is sponsoring a teen camp this summer at the Cleveland Play  
House. Participants will learn improvisation by taking questions from  
the audience during a production of “Dear Edwina.”

Also this summer, MSS will continue its My First Musical program,  
which started two years ago.

My First Musical is aimed toward lower-income Greater Cleveland  
families who normally don’t have a chance to see a musical.

The families see a MSS musical at no cost. Beforehand and during  
intermission they attend workshops to learn about various aspects of  
the show.

Last year, 34 families with a total of 64 children from the Parma  
schools signed up for My First Musical.

Marshall said one child who attended My First Musical was so excited  
he started inviting his friends.

“By the third show he was bringing a group of 25 kids because he was  
so proud to be part of this program that showed him the world of  
theater,” Marshall said. “This summer, he’s part of our main company.”


Brooks Theatre is at 8500 Euclid Ave. in Cleveland. Subscriptions to  
Mercury Summer Stock are $36 for adults and $30 for seniors 60 and  
older and students with valid identifications. Call (216) 771-5862 or  
go to mercurysummerstock.com.


Contact Sandrick at
bsandrick at sunnews.com

(216) 986-5478.

Follow him at cleveland.com/parmasunpost.





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FULL ARTICLE CAN BE FOUND BY CLICKING LINK BELOW:

http://blog.cleveland.com/parmasunpost/2010/05/ 
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