Volunteers keep theater vibrant

Published 9:00 pm Thursday, September 29, 2005

Volunteers are the lifeblood of community theater. Without the people backstage – painting the sets, setting the lights, working the soundboard and sewing the costumes – there would be nothing happening on stage.

There are countless examples of this in Snohomish County, including the historic Everett Theatre, a venerable old movie palace on Colby Avenue that opened in 1901 and luminaries such as Al Jolson and Helen Hayes performed before it was gutted by fire in 1923.

The theater was rebuilt and opened in 1924 only to fall on hard times decades later.

A huge grassroots community effort that began in the 1990s saved the building, restoring the theater to its former glory. The Everett Theatre Society, now called the New Everett Theatre, did the heavy lifting, and their work continues.

The group presents a series of homegrown plays, screens classic silent movies with pipe-organ accompaniment and hosts concerts. Other groups such as the Everett Symphony use the building.

It couldn’t happen without volunteers, which is why Victoria Walker, the New Everett Theatre’s artistic director, hosted an open house this summer and invited the public.

“We did it because it hadn’t been done in years, if at all,” said Walker, who said the theater’s core group of volunteers – stage hands, directors, people to run the concession stand – was down to about 20 people

“We needed a shot in the arm.”

She was surprised and delighted by the response; more than 60 people attended. They came from all walks of life and all ages, Walker said, many drawn by their love of theater.

A computer analyst at Boeing with an interest in photography and prop construction showed up. So did a computer security worker who wants to do lighting. A parole officer was interested in serving on the board of directors.

One woman told Walker she would have volunteered before, but no one ever asked.

The infusion of volunteers come as the theater opens its 2005-2006 of performance season on Oct. 6, and they join a core of longtime volunteers who have kept the theater alive. Their stories give insight into the life of theater volunteers.

“My background has absolutely nothing to do with the theater,” said Lee Haines, a retired medical photographer for the University of Washington who has been a volunteer at the Everett Theatre since the beginning.

“I was there the night we acquired the building, and I’ve been there for 15 years,” said Haines, who has done everything from scrubbing walls and cleaning toilets to helping to install the pipe organ.

Today, the self-described “oldest surviving member” is the technical director, responsible for coordinating the lighting, the sound systems, costumes and sets with the help of other volunteers.

Haines first visited the theater as a patron, seeing such first-run films as “Star Wars.” He loves the classic silent films, and it turns out that the projectors he learned to operate in high school are just like the ones at the Everett Theatre.

There have been high points – among his favorite are the solo performance by the gifted New York theater artist Bill Irwin and the musical “Angry Housewives” – and some disasters.

“Once we opened up with a show and had no heat, so we passed out blankets to the audience as they came in.”

“I discovered something I enjoy and can do it,” Haines added. “It gives me something to do in retirement.”

Rachel Bowen was 4 years old when she discovered the joys of performing. She studied theater arts in college, got involved in community theater in the Kansas City area, does stand-up comedy and has worked as disc jockey.

She made a beeline for the Everett Theatre when she moved here eight years ago.

“The building attracted me more than anything. I wandered in one Saturday when the doors were open and they were working on a set. The bug hit.”

Painting sets was her first job; since then she has acted in plays (including a holiday show in which she was joined on stage by her son) and is directing the season-opening production of “The Vagina Monologues.”

In some places, you almost need an agent to tap into community theater, Bowen said.

Not so in Everett.

“This is probably one of the more accessible community theaters. It’s easy to get involved,” Bowen said.

Among the most important volunteers is the Everett Theatre’s Board of Directors, whose duties include fundraising. This is a hands-on, working governing body, Walker said. “They go out and get the money for us.”

Dan Gunderson is an Everett businessman who is chairman the board, which means he is frequently the public face of the Everett Theatre.

He signed on in the late 1990s as he launched a career in real estate because he wanted to get involved in the community.

Gunderson followed the first wave of volunteers – the people “who got their hands dirty” to save the building – and he’s seen the difference a vital arts scene can make in a community.

Raising the public profile of the Everett Theatre, as well as raising money, are among his priorities.

“I’d like to see our subscription and donor bases triple,” he said, and he encourages the community to come on out and see a show.

“These are exciting times and more things are coming,” Gunderson said.

“Embrace this 104-year old building. It needs your support.”