What first interested you in theater?
I grew up in Eastwood right next to the Palace Theatre. I fell in love with the theatre: I would catch a double feature on Saturdays, a new double feature on Sundays, and during the summer, new double features were presented on Wednesdays as well. Since my uncle owned the theatre that was six free movies a week.
I can’t remember when I didn’t want to entertain. I made myself director of the neighborhood backyard plays. It was at Blessed Sacrament Church in Eastwood, when I attended junior high, that I got my first chance on stage. I sang “You Can’t Get a Man With a Gun” in the annual musical revue. I then moved on to creating, and I wrote a musical to replace the yearly variety show. When I got the lead in my high school show, I was really bitten by the “theatre bug.”
How did you get started?
My parents definitely did not encourage me to be an actress and did not allow me to major in theatre in college. However, I managed to sneak in a minor in drama. After honeymooning in California, my husband Richard and I decided to stay on the West Coast. While there, I did my first national tour playing Smitty in “How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying.” I also performed in local theatre and directed for the high school where I taught. I received my Equity and SAG Cards, which are memberships in organizations of professional stage and film actors.
Upon return to Syracuse, I began performing with several local community theatre groups, most often Salt City Center for the Performing Arts, Limestone Players, and Syracuse Musical Theatre.
How did the company begin?
In 1980, I formed a company with two very good theatre friends, Barbara Gibbons and Rex Henriot. We mostly secured talent for local commercials and industrials. By1984, they had moved on to other endeavors, and I retained the company name and changed the focus of the “talent” to theatrical productions. As founder and executive producer, The Talent Company became my foray into producing musicals and comedies. The company had humble beginnings with dinner theatre at the Marriott Hotel in Syracuse and the Sheraton Hotel in Liverpool. It since has become a Syracuse-based semi-professional theatre company that has presented well over 200 productions at numerous venues including The Civic Center, Landmark Theatre, Springside Inn, Three Rivers Inn, Turning Stone Resort & Casino and NewTimes Theatre and has toured numerous dinner theatre shows to major hotels and restaurants throughout central and northern New York.
In 1994, The Talent Company renovated a space on the New York State Fairgrounds that became known as The Empire Theatre. For the first five and a half years, we were the exclusive tenants in the theatre and did year round productions in two venues in the Art and Home Center – The Empire Theatre and The Broadway Bistro. As an example, during the first full year of occupancy, Talent Company did nine musicals in the Empire and 4 small musicals or comedies in the Bistro in addition to two others at the Mulroy Civic Center. During the past 17 years, I have produced almost 80 shows at the Fairgrounds, several shows at the Civic Center including one production in the Crouse Hinds Theatre, and a half dozen shows in The Showroom at The Turning Stone Casino. Since 2004, Talent Company has scaled back to approximately three productions a year in the NewTimes Theatre.
What is your fondest memory of your involvement with the company?
I have earned two Lifetime Achievement Awards: One from the SALT Academy (Syracuse Area Live Theatre) and one from SALTY (the youth division of the SALT’s) and also I have been honored as actress-director-producer for “outstanding individual contributions to area theatre” by the Syracuse Theatre Alliance.
In 1985, I got a huge break when I was the first in the country to obtain the rights to produce “A Chorus Line” while it was still playing on Broadway. I have produced that show five times, and each time it is very special to me.
Is the company looking for actors, people who work behind-the-scenes?
I am always looking for talent for both on and off the stage! I work hard to try to keep The Talent Company website updated, and it is a good place to look for upcoming auditions. I also always submit audition notices to the “Post Standard,” “Syracuse NewTimes,” and the “Eagle” newspapers, but I can’t guarantee they will be printed. Of course, electronic communication is becoming the way of the world so I always post on facebook, theatre forums, and other media sites. Interested people can always e-mail me at [email protected] or write me at: The Talent Company 7331 Barberry Lane, Manlius, NY 13104.
What are the things that make the company special and successful?
My motto has always been to present “quality theatre at affordable prices.” I try to keep the ticket price down and still do justice to all the demands of a show. That’s the foremost thing for me, but at times this is very difficult to achieve. Costs can be quite high, and there are always unbudgeted needs that crop up. It is important to me to keep high standards for “production values.” If you are doing a show that has specific costume, prop, or set needs, you have to do it if it is needed to make the show right. I feel if you can’t do it right, you shouldn’t do it. As an example when Talent Company presented “The Full Monty,” we needed a marquee that lit up for about five seconds. So even if it cost $1,500 to build for five seconds of use, I felt we had to do it because that’s the way it should be done. You have to go that extra mile and/or buck so as not to cheat the audience. And therefore, as a result, I think Talent Company has enjoyed a reputation for quality shows. I might add, that I too have a well-deserved reputation as a “perfectionist.” I was brought up that way and its carryover to my productions has helped me attain my goals.
The Talent Company has always received excellent reviews from critics and audiences alike. We have loyal audience members who return show after show. We enjoy favorable reviews from many different critics associated with a variety of media, and since the inception of the SALT (Syracuse Area Live Theatre) Awards in 2004, Talent Company productions, actors, and staff have received 150 nominations and have taken home 52 trophies.
Jim MacKillop, Syracuse NewTimes theatre critic, has, on several occasions, called The Talent Company the MGM of area theatre companies.
What is on the horizon?
I want to do what I love, as much as I can for as long as I can. This sentiment is a line from “A Chorus Line,” but it seems to sum up where I am headed.
