CCPA seeks new performers, behind-the-scenes volunteers

The Community Council on the Performing Arts has developed a regular, even devoted, audience. It has directors and performers who have experience and have developed personal followings. It takes a lot of directors, performers and behind-the-scenes workers to put on a play. Nevertheless, finding someone to fill those slots is becoming increasingly difficult.

"We've had a hard time getting people working behind the scenes, it takes more than actors to put on a play," frequent director Al Fenske said. "We have established a nice following and it's important to have that audience but we need people helping out with all sorts of things to keep putting on the kinds of plays we, and the audience, like."

Fenske said the difficulty might be that people are busier and have more commitments than previously but doubted it.

"It's always taken a lot of time and people have always had to make the time," Fenske said. "You have to be there every time because when you're not the absence messes up everyone who is there."

Board president Linda Davidson agreed and said the group was looking at ways to increase participation, especially by young people.

"We need to set up a mentoring program to help develop new actors, directors and others," Davidson said. "We're having trouble finding people to stage manage and run props, work the lights and sound and even pull the curtain. Actually it takes some skill to pull the curtain right. These are all areas people could help us with."

Davidson said that people might shy away from participating because of the false impression that only certain people are going to get parts.

"Some people have been under the impression that only some people are cast but the reason some people are cast repeatedly is because they're the only ones who show up," Davidson said. "When no one shows up the director ends up calling and calling, trying to find some one to do the part and it usually ends up being someone who's done it before."

Both Davidson and Fenske urged anyone who might like to participate to get in touch with the group.

"There's always something they can do," Fenske said. "We need help building sets and painting them -- there are a lot of things someone can do to help out that don't involve getting up on stage."

Traditionally the board has filled in at those positions where help is needed but while the Fox Playhouse has given the group a permanent home, something they had dreamed about for three decades, along with it came additional financial responsibilities, and the board is spending more and more of its time meeting them.

"Now that the CCPA has its own home, that comes with bills that have to be paid regularly," Davidson said. "There are heating and cooling costs and the building needs to be maintained, you can't just let it go. We don't get any money from the Missouri Arts Council anymore, their funding has been cut so dramatically they just don't have it to give. It got to the point where we were spending a lot of time writing grant proposals and we would only get $1,000 a year, it just wasn't paying us to spend a lot of time and money chasing less and less in grants from them. The board needs to focus on maintaining the theater, fund raising, planning the future of the group and making sure it stays financially sound. That takes time away that they used to devote to helping with the plays."

Davidson is getting ready to hold auditions for the upcoming "Breaking and Entering," a play that features parts for a 20- to 30-year-old male and female and a "50ish" male and female. Auditions will be Feb. 25 at 7:30 p.m. at the Fox Playhouse, 110 S. Main. Anyone wishing to get in touch with the group can log on to their Web site at http://www.nevadamoccpa.org/