A Golden Anniversary for a PVD Theater Company

If you live in Providence, you probably have a Trinity story. A fond memory. A favorite show. A personal experience that remains relevant even years later. After five full decades of powerful performances and transformative productions, Trinity Repertory Company has touched us all. And for those of us who grew up under this regional theater’s spell, it’s impossible to imagine the city without it.

Like so many Providence natives, I find examples of Trinity’s influence right in my immediate family. My mother Marjorie Lederer, who resides in the Wayland Square area, still remembers the 1977-1978 season, when Richard Jenkins starred in Ethan Frome under the direction of Adrian Hall. So she’s particularly excited about Jenkins’return to the theater later this season to co-direct and choreograph Oliver! with his wife Sharon (February 20–March 30). And my brother, Dr. Benjamin Lederer of Cole Ave., recalls, “I’ve enjoyed many Trinity performances over the years, but my fondest memories are from childhood, when my entire elementary school grade made our annual pilgrimage to see A Christmas Carol. The single most memorable moment was when the Ghost of Christmas Present lifted the hem of his robe and two of my classmates popped out!” Summit resident Luba Zaydes laughingly found her “15 seconds of fame” during one of Trinity’s interactive takes on Shakespeare a few years back. An actor approached her seat during the play, and the spotlight followed him. As the whole audience turned to look in their direction, she recalls that she and her husband simply froze. It happened to be press night, and the “two confused patrons” ended up well documented in the next day’s newspaper review.

Trinity’s talented resident acting company, the last of its kind in the country, includes many an East Side resident. The same actors you see onstage, you may bump into on the street or at the store. This proximity is part of what makes it easy to feel so personally connected to Trinity. Stephen Berenson, Brian McEleney and Fred Sullivan, Jr. have long called Fox Point home. Barbara Meek abides near Gano. And two of the newest members, Rebecca Gibel and Charlie Thurston, moved to Benefit Street this past August. Others involved with Trinity whom you might see around the neighborhood are retired actor Barbara Orson and Board members emeriti Elizabeth Chace and Geoffrey Davis.

The former Chair of the Board ofTrustees and a current Board member at Trinity Rep, Judge John “Jack” McConnell, is also a proud East Sider. He cites one of his favorite Trinity memories as the ’94 production of Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grille, featuring a nightclub set and starring Rose Weaver: “In doing one of her singing numbers, she came and sat in my lap and sang to me—truly audience participation, which is Trinity at its best.”

Another highlight for McConnell came while chairing the search committee to find the theater’s then-new Artistic Director. He notes, “I was astonished by the national (and international) interest in the position. So many talented, accomplished people from all over the world wanted to be our artistic director — we, of course, hired the best in Curt Columbus.” (Pictured left.)

This December marks Curt Columbus’ eighth year as Artistic Director at Trinity Rep, the place newly honored as the State Theater of Rhode Island. Rather than feeling too retrospective, either about his anniversary or Trinity’s 50th, Columbus considers this season an opportunity to build upon the theater’s proven strengths. One of these, and a particular passion of Columbus’, is education. Accordingly, Trinity is expanding its offerings of “Project Discovery” matinees for local schools, studio classes for young actors, in- ternships for college students, and graduate programs (in conjunction with Brown University) for MFA candidates. And Trinity has newly added “Lifelong Learning” courses for adults, as well as classes for children with learning disabilities and special needs. Through continued growth in this area, Columbus hopes “to open our arms even wider in terms of the audience that we serve.”

Columbus also hopes to build upon the strength of the resident acting company. He notes that the actors are doing more than ever before — Janice Duclos will direct later this season, and others will follow suit. Stephen Thorne, fresh from the success of his 2011 play about Edgar Allan Poe, continues to flex his writing muscles with a new work, Veronica Meadows, premiering in Trinity’s Dowling Theater this spring (April 3–May 4). “And,” Columbus adds, “I love that we’re adding three new company members. I think that’s a great gift both to our audience and to ourselves.” Mia Ellis, Rebecca Gibel, and Charlie Thurston, all graduates of the Brown/Trinity Rep MFA program, enthusiastically join the 13 existing company members as the first permanent newcomers in years.

In selecting shows for Trinity’s 50th anniversary season, Columbus again drew inspiration from the theater’s known talents — like staging innovative literary adaptations. Columbus reveals, “It seemed important to kick the season off with a big, giant, American classic — because that’s what we are. A big, giant, American classic.” Enter John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath (September 5–Oc- tober 6). Bearing in mind how Trinity has distinguished itself over the years both with Chekhov dramas and with madcap comedies, Christopher Durang’s clever combination of the two, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, seemed a fitting follow-up (November 21–December 22).

“We’re not just looking for world premieres, and we’re not just looking for classic texts,” Columbus explains of the choice of Lynn Nottage’s Intimate Apparel (January 30–March 2). Trinity, he points out, also wants to give contemporary works like this thoughtful play a “second hearing.” Meanwhile, with crowds annually selling out Trinity’s A Christmas Carol, the company clearly knows a thing or two about Charles Dickens. Oliver! affords the group a chance to stage a Dickensian story in a new way, and add music to boot. Finally, in closing the season, Columbus looks forward to A Lie of the Mind by American master playwright Sam Shepard, whose works Trinity has explored to great effect in past years (May 29–June 29).

While keeping an eye on the future, Columbus admits that some of his favorite Trinity stories are from the theater’s colorful past. Founder and former artistic director Adrian Hall, he notes with a tone of respect and a healthy dose of humor, was responsible for many tales inappropriate for print. But one of Hall’s creeds, maintained to this day on the Trinity stage, is to demand truthfulness in storytelling. The attitude, Columbus explains, is “don’t play the idea of the thing; play the real thing.” A lack of artifice, a sense of immediacy, an intimate connection with the audience — these are all part of the appeal of Trinity productions.

Columbus attributes another significant part of the Trinity appeal to resident setdesigner Eugene Lee. “The man is in his 70s and he works like he’s 17,” Columbus notes, going so far as to say that, without Lee, “the Trinity aesthetic wouldn’t exist.” The highly energetic Lee, who lives on Angell Street, came to Trinity about 46 years ago. A lighting designer friend recommended the job, suggesting that, since both Lee and Adrian Hall were “kinda strange,” they might get along. “The next thing you know — I don’t know, 46 years,” Lee trails off, laughing.

Lee’s award-winning career includes 39 years as the production designer of Saturday Night Live, a position he still maintains. He was the scenic designer for Broadway’s Wicked. He’s currently working on a new Tonight Show set for Jimmy Fallon. In the midst of this, among other projects, he finds time to work on Trinity’s upcoming productions of Oliver!, A Christmas Carol and A Lie of the Mind. He recalls a highlight of his Trinity years being The Visit (1986-1987 season), a show that he and Adrian Hall decided to stage in a deserted train station — long before the term “site-specific theater” was bandied about. He’s even penned a book about his experiences called The Adventures of Eugene Lee, set for publication next year.

“I love regional theaters; I’ve worked in all the major ones. I like doing a few shows with Trinity each year. If I can cause a little trouble downtown, I like that,” Lee explains. And he has no plans to move from the East Side. “I think I’m here for the duration — whatever that means.”

To begin celebrating its 50th anniversary, Trinity Rep hosted a massive block party and open house this summer, welcoming arts organizations and the public alike. Artistic director Columbus hopes to facilitate more opportunities for intersection with the Downcity arts district in the coming years, and for the theater in general to be more “integrated into the cultural, civic, emotional life of the community that we make our work in.” He’d love more chances to open up the Trinity buildings to the street and to invite more people to “join the conversation.” He notes, “’Cause we always find that, once we get them in the door, they come back.”

From the first time I entered the door, Trinity has represented a place of wonder and glamour to me. As a child, any friend cast in A Christmas Carol swiftly became the living end. Attending Sylvia and Into the Woods shone as highlights of my senior year at Classical High. Working at the Avon Cinema as a teen, I was rendered starstruck whenever Trinity actor Barbara Meek came to see a film. And, while my family bears no relation, I remain indebted to Trinity’s Lederer Theater Center for making it so much easier for locals to spell my last name. In short, I can’t wait to see what the next 50 years of Trinity Rep will bring. Know the feeling?