The Butler Did It

WRITTEN BY: Walter & Peter Marks
TO HAVE BEEN PERFORMED AT: various venues
TO HAVE BEEN PERFORMED ON: February, 2002
DIRECTOR/PRODUCER: Gary Yoggy
STAGE MANAGER: Martha Baker
SPONSORED BY: Mystery a la Carte
CAST:
ROBERT as RAYMOND BUTLER: Gary Yoggy
MICHAEL SEVERINO as ALDO THE BUTLER: David Alan Scott Jr.
NATALIE SIMPSON as ANGELA BUTLER: Joy Hively
CLAUDIA as VICTORIA BUTLER: Amelia Harnas
ANTHONY J. LEFCOURT: Graham Howard
SAM as DETECTIVE MUMFORD: Tom Miliken

PLOT: A desperate--but clever--director (Graham Howard) will go to any means to make his murder mystery play a hit, but a scheming actress (Joy Hively) could be his undoing.

HISTORY: Though I had stopped doing (and enjoying) plays in early 1999, I had continued to act for independent movie projects, campus TV shows, and an improvisational campus comedy troupe. But once I had graduated from SUNY Fredonia, and gotten a job as news photographer/editor for WENY-TV in Horseheads, it looked like I had given up acting (and certainly plays) for good. But after one year at WENY (and a new job there as production assistant), I received a call from Corning Vintage Theater's Nancy MacCaig, who asked if I wanted to do "The Butler Did It" with former "Murder in the Air" co-stars Gary Yoggy and Graham Howard. The play was set to be performed as dinner theater, with performances taking place in various restaurants, hotels, etc.
Despite my known reluctance to do any more community theater whatsoever, I decided to go for it. The ego-related conflicts of high school and college theater groups had left me disillusioned and burnt out, but I'd always had my best moments (and best roles) in non-school productions (i.e. The Mousetrap, Noises Off, Oliver!, etc). So, since this was a non-school show, I went for it. I eventually made a deal with myself: If the overall experience turned out to be good, I would continue to do plays, though not at the abundant rate of the past millenium.
From August to December 2001, the "Butler" cast held rehearsals at once every one or two weeks, at the CCC Business Development Center in downtown Corning. During this period, we rose above various rehearsal-related snags (actors' conflicting schedules, the BDC accidentally locking us out, and other things resulting in last-minute cancellations) to further the progress of the show.
The only truly major problem that we had during the late-2001 rehearsal period was that Jillian Owdienko (originally cast as Claudia) had vanished after only a few rehearsals, prompting Nancy and the rest of us to search for a new actress.
That void was filled in December, when I asked my "Retro Man" co-star Amelia Harnas to take Jillian's place as Claudia. However, another void was created when medical reasons kept Norine Barnett from playing Natalie. Fortunately, Nancy had talked Joy Hively into joining the cast, and both replacements came to the first January 2002 rehearsal.
With a full cast in tow, "Butler" rehearsals were now taking place two to three times a week. However, further snags crept in by mid-February, mainly when Gary and Graham joined the cast of Clare Reidy's annual Shakespeare show, which was set to perform at CCC in March. This meant that "Butler" would have to wait until at least April or May for its initial performance.
This would not have been a problem for me had I not decided (in January) to move to Texas in mid-March. I had hoped that our play would have had a few performance dates before my set date of departure, but this was apparently not to be. I told the cast about my moving plans, offered them a tentative replacement (Amelia's boyfriend Eric), and agreed to continue rehearsing with them until they could ease someone else into my role.
After that, rehearsals dwindled due to schedule conflicts, last-minute cancellations, Clare's play, and the not-always availabilty of rehearsal space. The projected performance dates (originally planned for February) continued to be pushed back, with talk of the show debuting in the summer, and continuing into the fall (not a good situation for Amelia, who only planned to stay with the show until May). And, due to other obligations, Eric opted not to take my place.
By the time I left Corning, the rehearsals had come to a complete halt for weeks on end. The play was ultimately postponed until the coming Fall (about a year after rehearsals had originally begun).
Had the show been set for a handful of specific performance dates, all within the same month, then perhaps the show would have opened (and closed) a lot sooner, with me and Amelia still in our respective roles. But the ambitiousness of making "Butler" a dinner theater show had caught up with Gary, Nancy, and--by result--the rest of those involved in the show. On this occasion, hindsight was clearer than foresight.
Amidst all this, I had at least attained memories of an encouraging cast, crew, and fiancee (Cindy, who attended most of the rehearsals with me). For an entire half a year, the show gave me people to hang out with every week, a renewed friendship with Amelia, and the confidence that I could pull off being an actor again. Unfortunately, since rehearsals had stopped so shortly after I announced my impending departure, I was unable to take photos of the people I had rehearsed with for so long.
With Corning behind me, and Dallas ahead of me, I left "The Butler Did It" with good memories. However, the end result of the experience made me question if I would (by fate or choice) ever appear in a play again....
EPILOGUE: "The Butler Did It" was eventually performed, during Elmira Little Theater's 2002-2003 season, albeit with an entirely different cast and crew. In late 2004, I moved back to Corning. In early 2005, I got a role in Gary's annual "Golden Age of Radio" production with ELT, thus beginning my true return to live theater.

PHOTOS:
* none (see above)