Santa Maria Times from Santa Maria, California • 47

Santa Maria, TlmM, Sunday Aug. 4, 198513-1 Families are important at local theater J' "We were married last October 27 after a 12-year courtship and came out here the next day," said Clive The couple share a scene together in "Peg 0' My Heart" as Jarvis and Bennett and also appear in together. Chris Chernis and Richard Brandt met on stage when they "South Pacific" at a San Gabriel Valley dinner theater. Chernis was at the time married to another actor and the three developed a friendship. At the end of the season, Brandt left the dinner theater to pursue other projects.

He returned a year later to do "The Music Man" and found Chernis and her husband ex-husband started the whole thing by saying it was okay for us to date," said Chernis. The couple was married in 1984 on the stage where they met. Their wedding was staged as part of a salute to musical theater weddings with Chernis and Brandt dressed as Agnes and Michael from "I Do! I Do!" "We decided to keep it as more than a romance because we were in the business. I decided that if I married I would marry someone in the business or someone who knew enough about the, business to know the demands it places on you," said Brandt. Colm Meaney and Bairbre Dowling were married in Ireland four years ago and became part of PCPA Theaterfest this November, appearing together first in "A Child's Christmas in Wales" and again this summer in "And A Nightingale Sang.

the lovers Helen and Norman. "We invited the neighbors to "Nightingale" and they said they wouldn't invite Colm over any more since he plays such a rotten character," said Dowling. When they aren't on stage, Meaney and Dowling try to spend their spare time with their infant daughter, Brenda, who had a castful of sitters during the winter production of BAIRBRE Dowling, right, and Colm Meaney play lovers in the summer production of "And A Nightingale Sang while off-stage they are one of several married couples in the summer theater program. PhotoTom Smith-Images I amilies are an I important part of I f1. PCPA Theaterfest" LJ this summer on both sides of the stage.

This year, for the first time, a family subscription plan was offered, and now audiences are seeing plays with family themes In them ranging from Hamlet's revenge to the harmonies of the Von Trapps. Some members of the acting company take the family aspect seriously even when they aren't on stage. A quick check of the company roster reveals seven married couples and a father son combination among the friends and acquaintances that develop when people work the long hours of summer repertory together. "You don't usually find this many married couples in a company," said Richard Garvin, who met his wife, Kathy Brady-Garvin, at PCPA Theaterfest when he was a student and she was an instructor. Her career took her to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival while he finished his training here.

"He was opening in 'Camino Real' and I called to wish him luck. We got 'engaged over the phone that night," said Kathy Brady-Garvin. They were married while both had a month off between seasons and returned to PCPA Theaterfest for the 1981-82 season. This season Garvin appears in "The Sound of Music," and both he and his wife have roles in "Gypsy:" she as Madam Rose and he as Pastey. Both of them try to leave their work at me ineaier since Maaam Hose isn the type of person you'd want to have around the house," according to Garvin.

Lette Rehnolds credits the success of her marriage with composer and musical director Jack Quigley to the fact that they are both "crazy about each other." The couple met while both were going through difficult times. She helped him through a divorce and he in turn helped her recognize her talent. "He's given me confidence in my work and helped me see what kind of singer, musician and actress I am," said Rehnolds, who appears as the. Mother Abbess, in "The Sound of Music" and as Agnes in Do! I a play that chronicles 35 years of Clive Rosengren, the piano player George Stott in "And A Nightingale and his wife Catherine first met at the Cricket Theater in Minneapolis in 1972. They kept in touch through the years and met up again last year at an Omaha dinner theater.

family is very important to me," he said. Sandeen and his wife, also an actress, spend much of their time acting away from their Los Angeles home, but -this summer he and his son, Eric, are working together at PCPA Theaterfest. The experience is giving them a chance to catch up on time together, Eric has supporting roles in "Amadeus." and and will return to Northwestern to complete his degree in theater in the fall. "This is a rare coming together of family and career that may not happen again for a while. I'm glad it.

did," said Darrell Sandeen. gccib ESS "A Child's Christmas in Wales." "Everyone in the cast helped take care of her. She'd get excited with so many people around," said Dowling. Brenda now sleeps the night through, thanks to a more regular schedule and the fact that she doesn't go to the theater with her parents as often. "Our irregular schedule is a bonus for her because we're usually out in the evenings when she's asleep.

She doesn't even know we're gone," said Meaney. A career in theater and a successful family are almost mutually exclusive, according to Darrell Sandeen, the imposing Captain Von Trapp of "The Sound of Music" and Emperor Joseph II in "Amadeus." "Often you'll hear of a family' suffering for a career or vice versa. For some people a family isn't that important, but ao Tickets for PCPA Theaterfest's summer productions are available at special rates for students, the military, senior citizens and groups. Students and military personnel can pick up tickets 15 minutes before a performance for $3. Seniors can pick up matinee tickets for $3 from 10 a.m.

to 2 p.m. the day of the performance and evening tickets for the same price on the day of the performance from 2 to 8 p.m. For further ticket information, phone 922-8313 in Santa Maria or 688-7688 in Solvang. PCPA Theaterfest can be reached toll-free at 1-800-221-9469. CDQ2333HD G3ETO waySanla Maria GEOIEED 7m I 4- COMPANY 2055 So.

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