By Kate Hill
Staff Writer
Maria Curley, co-founder of Present Company Productions — an Oneida-based theater company — has directed and produced biannual dinner theater productions for 34 consecutive years.
Curley is the mother of Cazenovia resident Colleen Prossner, theater operations manager at the Catherine Cummings theater.
Now 85-years-old, Curley continues to run her theater company and stage plays for the enjoyment of the community.
The company’s spring dinner theater production of “Lend Me a Tenor” — a Tony Award-winning comedy by Ken Ludwig — ran April 25-28 and May 3-5 at Theodore’s Restaurant (formerly the Rusty Rail), 3231 Seneca Turnpike, Canastota.
According to Prossner, Curley’s popular dinner theaters often draw more than 1,000 attendees over two weekends.
“I have worked many times with my mom where over 200 people were in attendance [enjoying] an amazing buffet and a great afternoon of theater,” Prossner said.
Many of the attendees are senior citizen groups that are bused in from around 25 area senior centers.
“It’s such a great thing for them to be able to get on a bus, come here, see the show and have dinner, and then get back on the bus and go home,” said Curley. “They all seem to really love it and I am so happy to do it for them.”
Curley was born in Syracuse, where she spent much of her childhood. She discovered her love for theater through her participation in the Syracuse Children’s theater on North James Street.
In her early teens, Curley and her family moved to Rome, New York, where she became involved in the Rome Community Theater.
In 1957, she married Robert Curley, a reporter for The Syracuse Newspapers. Twelve years later, the couple relocated to Oneida.
Curley, her husband and David Pexton — a family friend and theater enthusiast — created Present Company Productions in 1985 and began putting on shows.
“We were doing plays with David at the old church (now Greystone Castle) in Canastota and he suggested we start a dinner theater,” Curley said. “He was the one who really got it started. He did all of the set design and programs and posters . . . He was our teacher; he motivated us and I would really like to posthumously thank him.”
Curley recalled that the company put on a few plays at the now-closed White Elephant restaurant prior to switching to the Rusty Rail. Since changing venues, the dinner theater has returned every fall and spring.
Curley attributes the dinner theater’s longevity to the continued support of several different parties.
“I just want to give a big thank you to everyone,” she said.
Throughout the years, Curley’s six children have offered continued support — attending as many shows as possible and assisting with everything from publicity and set construction to hospitality.
“Watching our mother present such a wonderful gift to the community has been such an honor for [us],” said Prossner. “Our mom is an inspiration to all of us . . . We are all extremely proud of her and are in amazement at her accomplishments. We would be lucky to be just like her. Bravo!”
Robert Curley, who passed away in 2010, was active in the dinner theater from the start, playing a particularly important role in advertising and ticket sales.
Curley said all of her children are now involved in the arts in one way or another, from directing children’s theater and performing music to teaching dancing and raising money for the arts.
In addition to acknowledging her family, the director also expressed gratitude to her casts and crew, the advertisers, the restaurant, the patrons and her brother Peter Henry Schroeder — a professional actor who provided her with guidance, advice and unceasing support.
Typically, Curley said, she selects lighthearted comedies — rather than deeper, more complicated dramas — for the dinner theater performances.
“[The joy of theater is that] you can sort of turn off life,” she said. “ . . . It can take you away from your everyday life and problems. I think that all of the people who come [to the dinner theater] feel the same way. It takes them away for a couple of hours.”
In addition to producing and directing each show, Curley chooses the plays, designs the sets, holds auditions, runs rehearsals, takes reservations, helps to advertise the performances, contacts and organizes the senior centers, and oversees the lighting and sound.
The spring production of “Lend Me a Tenor” featured eight cast members, who hailed from Canastota, Cazenovia, Syracuse, Oneida and Chittenango.
Present Company Productions will hold its next dinner theater in November.
For more information and reservations for future shows, call Maria Curley at 315-363-8010.
