Meet Me in St. Louis at The Western Stage

The Western Stage opens its main stage season July 15 with the stage version of the classic MGM musical Meet me in St. Louis. When Mr. Smith gets a promotion that threatens to uproot his family, they suddenly face the heartbreaking possibility of leaving the only home they’ve ever known. A charming musical comedy featuring standards like “The Trolley Song”, “The Boy Next Door” and “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”. Meet Me in St. Louis plays through August 5 in the Hartnell College Performing Arts Building. Show times are Friday and Saturday at 8 pm, and Sunday at 2 pm. Season tickets are still the best bargain. Tickets are $30 General Admission, $20 Seniors/Juniors/Military. Call the box office today at (831) 375-2111 or visit westernstage.com to reserve your seats for this family event. (134 Word PSA)

June 14, 2006—Salinas, CA

Sometimes putting up a play is a family affair.

Such is the case with The Western Stage’s upcoming production of “Meet Me in St. Louis”, the stage version of the classic MGM musical. Not only does this show have several family members working together, but according to Errol Osteraa, an actor in the production, the cast itself has become family.

In fact, “Meet Me in St. Louis”, which plays at The Western Stage (TWS) July 15 through August 5, is all about the nature of home and family.

Just like the 1941 Vincente Minneli film starring Judy Garland, the beginning of the play invites us into the Smith family’s sprawling home on Kensington Street, where the whole clan is preparing to attend the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair, otherwise known as the Louisiana Purchase Exhibition.

It’s during this first season of the play—for it is a play divided into four seasons—that we meet and learn about all the lovable characters in the Smith family, from bumbling Grandpa to dear, sweet Esther who is forever swooning over the boy next door. For director Lorenzo Aragon, however, the opening scenes reveal an individualism among the family that is about to be challenged. “At first everyone is all about ‘me’,” says Aragon, “but after the father introduces the crisis, they have to look outside of the ‘me’ and recognize common values and become a community.”

The crisis Aragon refers to is Mr. Smith’s announcement during dinner that he has just been offered a new job at a law firm and that the family will have to move to New York City. Suddenly, the family is faced with the very real prospect of uprooting their lives and leaving the only home they have known behind. It is this threat of losing their home that ultimately reveals to the family just how important their home is to them.

For the cast of “Meet Me in St. Louis”, however, no crisis at all was needed to form a family—just the common love of doing theatre. “This group had an instant loyalty and trust for each other,” says Aragon. “As an artistic family, they see the potential in each other.”

For some members of the cast, becoming a family was easy because…well, they are already family.

Not only are actors Jerry and Lynn Pearlman celebrating their fifty-sixth wedding anniversary, but this show also marks their thirty-fourth year performing in theatre together. Has doing theatre as a couple for three decades enriched their marriage? Mr. Pearlman, who is also a member of TWS’ board of directors, nods his head in affirmation. “Lynn and I have always believed in team work,” he says. “And in theatre we always work as a team.”

For choreographer Anne Marie Hunter, the dynamic is slightly different but no less positive. Her daughter Emily is among the cast, and preparing to follow her mother’s footsteps in pursuing a professional career in the theatre. “What is neat,” says Hunter “is to see how great she is naturally without me getting in the way.” Hunter, whose eyes seem to perpetually smile, especially beam while talking about the relationship that has formed between her and her daughter during this process.

“We’re working on a professional level together,” she says. The mother and daughter team find themselves talking in between rehearsals about the craft of acting, dancing, and everything theatre. “It’s all coming from her,” says Hunter, “and Emily is much more talented than me.”

Anne Marie Hunter’s sentiment is surely one actor Errol Osteraa can understand. In the past, he has performed with his daughter, Heather, and son, Troy; both of whom have grown into consummate performers in their own right. Although they are not performing with him in this show, he still feels like he is among family…his Western Stage family…and he hopes people will bring their own families to see this production.

With classic songs like “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”, “The Boy Next Door”, and “The Trolley Song”, this musical will have young and old singing along. Mr. Osteraa certainly gives the show his stamp of approval: “This is good, family oriented fair anybody could see.”

“Meet Me in St. Louis” plays Friday and Saturday at 8 pm, and Sunday at 2 pm. Season tickets are still the best bargain. Call The Western Stage box office at 375-2111 or visit westernstage.com to reserve your tickets for this celebration of the American family.

Dan Tarker Literary Associate

(Supplemental Article)