PRINTSmall city lights
Lyceum Theatre brings big Broadway hits to mid-Missouri
IVY ASHE
David Caldwell, right, director of Annie, guides 9-year-old C.J. Fam (sitting) and 6-year-old Elly Scheuerell through a scene from the musical. Fam plays the title role, and Scheuerell portrays Molly.
June 17, 2009 | 12:00 p.m. CST
The sleepy town of Arrow Rock is famous for more than its rustic charm and tiny population. It is also home to the acclaimed Lyceum Theatre, highly regarded by New York critics for its extensive list of stage successes. It’s not surprising then that professional talents flock to join this repertory theater.
Even so, anyone who has taken exit 98 off I-70 West, driven past luscious green fields and chanced upon Arrow Rock’s sleepy blink-and-you’ll-miss-it Main Street would undoubtedly question the sanity of the Lyceum Theatre’s location.
Despite C.J. Fam’s pensive demeanor, she’s not shy. The star of Annie spent the last three years touring Asia and studying dance, voice and drama. Ask her about it, and the cogs spin, her dirty blond Shirley-Temple curls gently sway with her head until she looks at you and delivers a thoughtful response. You might forget she’s nine.
How did you get started acting?
When I was really young, my grandpop discovered I could sing. I started acting when I was 6 and a half, but singing is mostly my passion. When I was 5, I sang at a rodeo.
Who’s your favorite singer?
Well, I like classic music, but my favorite singer is Barbra Streisand.
Do you like rehearsals?
I always want to come two hours before! I get up in the morning at 6 and get dressed by 7, and I want to go right away. But my mom’s like, “Oh my God, we have four hours!”
What do you like most about your character, Annie, in this play?
She’s tough, but she’s very warm.
Will you pursue an acting career?
My dream is to be on Broadway.
Have you seen any Broadway productions?
I’ve seen Mary Poppins. If I were in it, it’d be — I mean, to even see it —
just to see everything is amazing!
--SARAH JO ALBAN
“Fifty years ago, someone decided it was a good idea to build a 408-seat theater in a town that didn’t even have enough people to fill one show,” says Quin Gresham, artistic director at the Lyceum Theatre. “On paper, it looked bad. But they had a dream and heart, and as it turns out, it worked.”
Since its inception in 1960, the Lyceum Theatre has put on large and small productions, from Cats to Children of a Lesser God. Their commercial success, coupled with critical acclaim, has extended beyond mid-Missouri.
“The wildest thing about the Lyceum is that it works in a town of Arrow Rock’s size, but we also have a fantastic reputation in New York,” Gresham says.
A year shy of its 50th anniversary, the Lyceum Theatre offers an assortment of productions this season, which opened on June 3 with Hairspray and will conclude on November 22 with It’s A Wonderful Life. Despite its fame, the Lyceum Theatre has managed to keep costs relatively low, which has translated into affordable ticket prices.
Gresham, who is the brains behind this season’s selection, says that he picked many of the productions for their overarching themes of hope.
For one, there’s the theater’s production of Annie. Set in an orphanage managed by a gin-soaked bully and surrounded by the Great Depression, Annie could very well have been a dreary play. Instead, it has become a heartwarming symbol. Cheesy escapist fare? Annie director David Hemsley Caldwell begs to differ.
“There is no better time in our recent history when we can use the inspiration and whimsy of the musical Annie,” Caldwell says.
Yet, as Gresham freely admits, the intention remains to amuse and entertain.
For instance, the Pulitzer Prize-winning play, You Can’t Take It With You, is a screwball comedy that never sacrifices the laughs for plot development. Similarly, the Christmas favorite It’s A Wonderful Life is a reminder that one life touches many others.
Featuring professional actors from auditions held all over the country, the productions are elaborate affairs.
Cast and crew live in Arrow Rock for the summer and enjoy the perennial beauty of small-town Missouri amidst their hectic schedules.
With such talent only a short forty-minute drive outside of Columbia, the Lyceum Theatre’s productions are a splendid way to spice up your summer night.
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