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4A ܂ WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13, 2019 ܂ APPEAL TRIBUNE Life in the Valley Mid-Valley theater is ‘thriving’ Enlightened Theatrics’ production of “Sweeney Todd” ran from Oct. 10 through Nov. 4 in 2018.. COMMON ERA COLLECTIVE Salem Theatre Network boosts local, quality productions If you go What: Cherry Blossom Theatre Festival is a three-day theater extravaganza featuring the national one-act competi- tion and nine workshops ranging in skill level from beginner to expert. When: 6 to 10 p.m. March 8, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. March 9, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. March 10 Abby Luschei Location: Various locations in down- town Salem Salem Statesman Journal USA TODAY NETWORK People are talking about it — artists, musicians, business owners and actors, to name a few. Downtown Salem isn’t what it used to be, and many organizations are trying to battle the notion that there isn’t any thing to do in town. Including a nonprof it devoted to theater. Something interesting happened from 2010 to 2013, said Jay GipsonKing, a parttime theater instructor at Che meketa Community College and Wil lamette University. The MidValley be came home to eight new theater compa nies over three years. What used to be one or two theater productions increased to five or six tak ing place on any given weekend, he said, and there needed to be a way for these organizations to communicate. That’s when the Salem Theatre Net work was born. The Salem Theatre Network is an al liance of 13 theater organizations in the MidValley with a common goal: sup porting each other and exposing the MidValley to more theater. Those in the network provide differ ent theater experiences, boost each oth er’s productions and work to bring edu cational opportunities to the area, like the Cherry Blossom Theatre Festival, taking place March 810. With more than 20 companies in the MidValley, the network is working to gether to prove that you don’t need to leave the area for quality theater. From competition to community It was a slow build, but once the net work got going, it took off. After creating the Salem Theatre Network Facebook page in 2012, those in the group met a couple of times, Gip sonKing said. It wasn’t until theater companies in the area reached a “critical mass” that they decided to incorporate. Since their 501(c)(3) status was ap proved in April of 2016, the network has met monthly for board meetings and figured out how they could intentionally work together as a collective rather than individuals. “Arts have a limited audience and limited resources,” GipsonKing said. “Instead of squabbling over our pieces of pie let’s just make a bigger pie and then everybody gets more.” “If one company succeeds we all suc ceed ... that success helps everybody.” Each company used to tell their own story, said Lisa Joyce, executive director of Pentacle Theatre. She said those at Pentacle, the oldest theater company in the region, believe more theater is better than less. David Ballantyne, a Pentacle volunteer and board member, came up with the slo gan, “Community Not Competition.” Cost: $10 Friday tickets, $20-$25 Sat- urday tickets, $15 Sunday tickets, $25- 35 weekend passes Information: www.facebook.com/ events/76171173731096 The Cherry Blossom Theatre Festival will feature the One-Act Festival and workshops. It takes place March 8-10. LONNIE & KIM THURSTON Opportunity for crosspromotion, service sharing and collaboration have come out of the network, like last sum mer when Keizer Homegrown Theatre and Aumsville Community Theatre worked together on “Shakespeare in the Park.” After a run at the Keizer Rotary Am phitheater, the production of “The Tem pest” moved to Aumsville, said Ed Stin er, the box office manager at Aumsville Community Theatre. And they plan to do it again this sum mer. Stiner said another way the network supports one another is by getting the word out about updates or changes to shows, like when they had to cancel three productions of, “There Goes The Bride,” unexpectedly. With one actor injured, three not well enough to perform and impending win ter weather, canceling the productions, which were supposed to take place Feb. 810, was inevitable. The cancellations were announced on Facebook, and the Aumsville Com munity Theatre asked others to spread the word. The Salem Theatre Network, which has more than 1,600 followers, shared the post to relay the news to the community. Working together in this way is the best thing to come out of the Salem Theatre Network, Vincenzo Meduri, founding artistic director of Enlight ened Theatrics, said. “We communicate, we talk about shows and our experiences and audi ence participation. It’s a real conversa tion,” he said. “Right now? (Theater in Salem) is the best its ever been.” A thriving theater scene After graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Musical Theatre from Elon University in 2011, Meduri, who was born and raised in Salem, lived in New York City for a year. He spent most of that time directing rather than performing, but something was drawing him back to Salem — fam ily and community. That’s when he decided to move back in 2013 and start Enlightened Theatrics, a theater company in downtown Salem producing professional productions and providing theatrical education. Meduri said they bring in regional talent, as well as occasionally bringing in people from places like New York and Los Angeles, to work with local talent through their main stage productions. They also pay their musicians, actors and technicians, he said, and although they are not an Equity house, they ad here to Actors Equity Association stan dards so they can provide a professional theater experience. Much like the Elsinore Theatre, which started producing professional shows themselves during the summer of 2017 with “Little Shop of Horrors.“ This differs from other companies like Pentacle Theatre, a volunteer based community theater, or Theatre 33 , a play development company produc ing original works from playwrights in Oregon and the Pacific Northwest. These companies are not doing the same thing, and that’s the point. Each theater in the area — big or small, newer or older — contributes something to Salem’s theater scene, which GipsonKing calls “stone soup.” “We all bring something,” he said. “We bring our carrots or our potato, and we make this stew that we share with everybody, and we get something more than we put in.” Having different kinds of theater in Salem isn’t just beneficial for the audi ences; it also provides talent with ave nues for education. Educational, not just entertaining The Cherry Blossom Theatre Festival is one of the Salem Theatre Network’s most successful collaborations, Gip sonKing said. “It’s an event we can only do togeth er, no one company could do that on their own,” he said. The festival, going into its third year, will feature nine workshops and the OneAct Festival, a national competi tion featuring three productions from companies in the area. Each company has 10 minutes to set up, 60 minutes to perform and 10 min utes to tear down. Professional adjudi cators then critique the productions in front of the audience. After deliberation, a catered recep tion and award ceremony will follow. The OneAct Festival happens every other year and was at the first Cherry Blossom Theatre Festival. Joyce said this is unlike any other theater event be cause the audience can hear the builtin feedback. The network decided to host more workshops this year instead of compa nies bringing their shows downtown, like last year, to put more of an empha sis on education rather than entertain ment. People of all skill levels are encour aged to participate, with some Splash classes available for those who want to “jump in and get their feet wet,” to more advanced workshops. Salem’s ‘Renaissance’ “If it’s in Salem, it’s not good enough” is a narrative the Salem Theatre Net work — along with other downtown or ganizations — is trying to change. While at Travel Salem for a meeting last fall, GipsonKing said someone came in because they wanted to take an outoftown friend to Ashland to see theater, more than a threehour drive from Salem. Enlightened Theatrics was putting on “Sweeney Todd“ that weekend. “There is this change going on from the Salem my parents used to talk about,” he said. “You do not have to drive hours to see some good theater; you don’t have to drive an hour to see good theater.” The next step for the network is get ting people outside of the arts scene to go and see productions in the area. Instead of deciding to watch Netflix on a Friday night, get dinner, have a drink and see a show downtown, Medu ri said, try something new and support local. The Salem Theatre Network also in cludes Brush Creek Playhouse, Capitol City Theater, Children’s Theatre Foun dation, Heart and Shine, LLC, and Thea tre Talk on KMUZ. Abby Luschei is the entertainment re- porter for the Statesman Journal; she can be reached at alus chei@statesmanjournal.com or 503- 399-6747. Follow her on Twitter @abby- luschei or facebook.com/luscheiabby.