Community Theatre in final rehearsals for “A Tale of Two Cities”

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“Enunciate, enunciate!” yelled Danielle Crosbie from the corner of the lecture hall at Maricopa High School. “I can’t hear you from here!”

Crosbie is the director of “A Tale of Two Cities,” which opens April 8 and is a production of Maricopa Community Theatre. The theatre group is on its third play since Producer Carrie Vargas put it together last year, and they are rehearsing the toughest of lines and making last minute “tweaks” before it goes live to the public.
“I’ll be tweaking it until 30 seconds before the curtain rises,” said Crosbie. “As the performances become more alive, I keep making adjustments and trying different things so that the story comes across better. Especially in these times when revolution is happening all around us, I want people to see the historical connection.”
The play, adapted by Laura Eason from the classic Charles Dickens’ novel, is set in the time of French Revolution and revolves around the characters Charles Darnay, his wife Lucie and Sydney Carlton. Like other Dickens stories, it brings to life the injustices of the world, and the possibility of human redemption.
For this production, there are nine players and 20 “monkeys.” The monkeys are the production crew that will be working diligently behind the scenes, helping with wardrobe and props. The term is said with both appreciation and humor, except when Crosbie is shouting at them to move faster.
Like everyone involved in the play, Crosbie is doing this out of love for art. During the day, she teaches history, art, art history, psychology and sociology at Maricopa High School. Her thorough knowledge of the historical era and her experience in theater made her “the right director for this play because she is the queen of historical context,” said Vargas.
In other productions, Vargas wore the director’s hat as she also has 12 years of experience teaching high school drama. This time around, she is focusing on the art direction, and continuously working on getting the community theater group officially licensed as a non-profit group so that it can receive grants and endowments.
She’s hoping that will happen soon. Once it does, she believes there will be more elaborate productions as the group will be able to receive donations—particularly from local business owners who will benefit as well.
“I fully believe there is an economical chain reaction with community theater,” Vargas said. “When people go see a play or movie, they usually go have dinner too, or maybe they go for drinks, or go to the yogurt shop afterwards. Plus, when people are leaving town to go do things, it means the businesses are losing money too. It works for everyone. People have a good time and it all goes back into the community.”
Vargas has been keeping a close eye on the building of the new performing arts center at the high school. She is already planning the fall production and expects to be performing there. The lecture hall is very limited in size and doesn’t provide the best atmosphere for producing plays, making for some creative accommodations.
“The kind of space makes us really emphasize the acting aspect,” said Crosbie.
“Because we are operating on very little money, every aspect of production challenges us,” Vargas added. “We are loaned props and costumes and all the money we make on this goes into the next one.”
Vargas thanked the City of Maricopa Community Services Department for its partnership, along with the businesses that sponsored the play: Creative Occasions, e-Maricopa and Home is Where the Hound Is. 
“We are trying to keep art alive!” said Crosbie. “It’s more important than people realize. When you look back at the great civilizations, they are represented through their art and we can’t let that past go.”
Ticket prices are $10 per person and there will be 7 p.m. showings on April 8, 14 and the 15. There will be 2 p.m. showings on April 9 and 16. Tickets can be purchased at the door or at www.brownpapertickets.com/event/167318.
To find out more about Maricopa Community Theatre visit: www.maricopacommunitytheatre.com.