1999

The Unsung Heroes of the Fort Wayne Civic Theatre Stage:

Stage Managers Bill Wunderlin and Joyce Van Ry

By Jennifer Poiry

Audiences who have attended any of the forty community theater productions per season in the Fort Wayne area have become familiar with the actors, the directors, even the box office personnel. But almost nobody notices the most unsung of theatrical heroes -- the stage manager.

Two of the hardest working stage managers in Fort Wayne got their start at the Civic Theatre, and continue working there today. Bill Wunderlin and Joyce Van Ry, both retired schoolteachers, have worked together on over a dozen productions, and separately on even more. Van Ry was a member of the Civic Theatre Guild and started her Civic "career" in 1984 with HELLO DOLLY. Longtime Civic assistant stage manager Jane Woolery recruited her as a props crew member, and Van Ry went on to become her assistant stage manager in many shows until Woolery's death. Van Ry had learned enough from Woolery to take over her job as assistant stage manager, working most often under Bill Wunderlin.

Wunderlin has been involved with the Civic since 1977, where he began "in the flies" -- pulling the ropes to allow the curtains and the stage drops to rise and fall -- for TEAHOUSE OF THE AUGUST MOON. "I'd been wanting to [get involved] for a long time," Wunderlin says. "I had heard that you could just go down there and volunteer, but I was always kind of too shy to do that."

His road to stage managing was a bit longer than Van Ry's. "I worked all the jobs in the theatre," he says. "Floor crew, props, follow spot, lightboard, sound. I wanted to get to know it from every angle. It helped me as a stage manager so I would have a knowledge of what [the crew] has to deal with."

If Jane Woolery was Van Ry's theatre mentor, Wunderlin attributes his learning experience to Arena Dinner Theatre president Darrell Monroe and former Civic Theatre director Richard Casey. "Darrell was stage manager at Civic for Dick Casey," he says, "and Dick was a stage manager in New York. Dick taught all his stage managers [the job]."

Wunderlin and Van Ry have now been doing their part in teaching the younger generation the ins and outs of stage management. Wunderlin so inspired Josh Osbun, his young assistant in GUYS AND DOLLS last February, that Osbun decided to study stage management at Purdue.

Jennifer Root, stage manager for HAMLET and CRIMES OF THE HEART this season, has worked under Van Ry for several productions the past two seasons. "She's very good," says Van Ry. "I like having her as an assistant because she's so dependable." Van Ry will be working next with Sharon Smith, a new assistant stage manager, for the upcoming RODGERS & HART: A CELEBRATION. "She may even be calling the show," says Van Ry. "It's definitely going to be a learning experience for her, and hopefully she'll want to do more shows."

One of the tasks the stage manager is responsible for is to check in auditioners. Wunderlin prides himself in the ability to make newcomers to the Civic Theatre feel welcome and at ease at their first auditions. During the rehearsal process, stage managers must set up the rehearsal hall with props and furniture and keep track of all blocking (stage movements). They must also keep track of all props and furniture that are needed, and see that they are obtained, either from the Civic Theatre's vast storage area, from other theaters, or from the community.

But both Wunderlin and Van Ry agree that the single most important role a stage manager plays is "calling a show." The Saturday before the show opens the technical crew has an all-day "dry tech" rehearsal in which they receive their technical cues -- lighting, sound, and set change -- for the first time. It is the stage manager's responsibility to "call" the cues via headset. The stage manager must follow the script closely throughout the entire performance because the crew members operating the lights, the follow spotlight, and the sound board will not make their required changes unless they hear the cue from the stage manager.

Therefore, one of the most important skills a good stage manager or assistant must have, says Van Ry, is the ability to concentrate and pay attention. "To call a show you have to have a high level of concentration and sustained attention," she says. "You don't come across that kind of requirement in daily living."

Musicals have far more cues to be called than straight plays, and are therefore the most challenging for a stage manager. Musicals have more light and set changes to be done, drops to be flown in, and follow spots to contend with. Van Ry found this out the hard way when she had to call her first musical, GUYS AND DOLLS, with only a week's notice. "Bill was the stage manager, but he had a heart attack the week before tech Sunday, and I had to step in and learn it," she recalls. "It had so many flies coming in at the same time I couldn't always see what was happening to know what to call."

Actors can also make calling a show easy or difficult for a stage manager, depending on how well they follow the script. "You have to keep your eyes on the script the whole time because actors do make mistakes," says Wunderlin. "It kind of makes you a little nervous when they do, because you don't know if they're going to jump to a different scene or if it's going to affect your light cues." Neither have had this experience, however. "People have said the wrong lines, of course," says Wunderlin, "but they've managed to get back on track."

Accuracy is also important. If a stage manager is waiting for a particular line to call a cue, but the line is paraphrased, the stage manager has to be familiar enough with the scene to know that the cue needs to be called at that moment, with or without the exact line reading. "Recently I have been so pleased with how they stay on their lines with such accuracy," says Van Ry.

Wunderlin concurs, although neither is certain whether the actors themselves have become more conscientious of accuracy, or if it has been the influence of current executive director Al Franklin. "Al does like them to say the right lines," Wunderlin deadpans.

Like anyone involved with theatre, both Wunderlin and Van Ry have their share of amusing theatre stories. Van Ry recalls an early Civic Theatre Guild show in which she and another floor crew member, dressed in black, "actually had to go out onstage while this guy was singing and put his army uniform on. He was singing his song, and there were two of us in our little black clothes, out there dressing him."

Wunderlin's favorite story demonstrates the lengths to which theatre people will go to relieve tension during a long, difficult run. "During FIDDLER ON THE ROOF," he says, "Jim Clauser, who played Tevye, had a line about kidneys. The lightboard operator for the show worked for [Northeast Indiana Kidney Center]. She brought an artificial kidney, and we would hide it on the stage for him to find." Wunderlin knew that Clauser, a thespian of true professionalism, wouldn't miss a beat, and he never let it register on his face.

Did any of the other actors ever run across the kidney? "Um, yes," Wunderlin says after a thoughtful pause. "We put it in various places."

Wunderlin and Van Ry urge anyone in the community who has dreamed of a career on or behind the stage, to get over their qualms and join the fun at the Civic Theatre. Prospective actors or technicians can call the theater business office at (219) 422-8641 to request to be put on their audition mailing list, or they can leave a message for the current production's stage manager to volunteer their time behind the scenes.