The History Of The Actors’ Group (TAG)

1999-2000

Compiling the history of any organization can be a great challenge, particularly when the core group is small and rather than chronicle events, had spent their energy towards merely keeping alive. So is the case with TAG. As it evolved from a creative curmudgeon to become one of Hawaii's finest community theaters, all TAG could do was focus on its next production, for it had little time for anything else. Hence, this history has been cobbled together utilizing the recollection of participants at the time, dog-eared old files containing memorabilia and other forms of information, photos, newspaper articles, and recovered video footage that is often way past its prime if not damaged. Nonetheless, these have been the sources to create the history of TAG - The Actors' Group, told in a series of posts chronicling time periods unique to its development.

Code Of The West

In 1999, Brad Powell, who first became associated with TAG through its “Actors Showcase” produced the previous year, started to become more involved with TAG. His involvement is due in part to a couple of personal requests. The first is made by his son, Mike (who subleases the theater space to TAG and so serves as its landlord), who asks his dad to help lend direction to the group so “they can pay their rent.” Powell steps in to direct the next play, which on the recommendation of Sam Polson (who personally knows the playwright), is “Code Of The West,” a play by Mark Geist, which is a comedy about Joshua Norton of San Francisco, who once claimed to be the Emperor of America.

The Promotional Flyer For “Code Of The West”

“Code Of The West” opened on Thursday, July 8th, 1999 and continued for three weeks (Thursday, Friday, and Saturday shows at 7:30 pm), and closed on July 24th, 1999. It played to mixed reviews. Honolulu Advertiser critic, Joseph Rozmiarek, by this time, quite familiar with many of TAG’s previous productions, wrote in his review, “The Actors Group hs generally been more successful with its own original material, which allows for some improvising and a greater reliance on method acting. Pulling off a pseudo period piece filled with accents and impersonations, but lacking in character introspection, causes everybody to work hard without a real payoff.” Regardless, “Code” represented a true diversion from what TAG had always been used to doing. Hence, this play, recommended by Sam Polson, was a big step towards changing TAG into a different direction.

TAG Transitions: “Code Of The West” holds the distinction of being the very first production performed by TAG that was not written by any of its members. It was also a play, unlike every production before, which, while being the first time that it had been produced on a Hawaii stage, was not a worldwide premiere, as it had been produced previously in other theaters, in Chicago, Washington, D.C., and New York.

Wayne & Fran Ward – The Benefit For TAG

Often, when looking back at the development of any successful organization, it can be assumed that events that, or people who, truly contributed to its development had to have been associated with the organization on a longtime, continuous basis. This is certainly not the case with respect to the significant contributions of Wayne & Fran Ward, whose primary association with TAG was to put on, “America! A Patchwork Quilt,” for two evenings, Friday, September 17th, 1999, and Saturday, September 18th, 1999, 7:30 pm curtains, as a benefit for TAG. The Wards, good friends of Brad Powell, accepted Brad’s request to step in and provide a show for TAG. While it played for just two performances, the impact of this production was truly memorable. “Quilt” came at a time when TAG’s coffers were always near zero, and it provided Brad Powell with a readily prepared production to continue TAG’s transition towards being a legitimate theater. The husband and wife team of Wayne and Fran Ward, were professional actors (Wayne had been one of Hawaii’s best acting teachers for years) who had a repertoire of romantic plays that they had performed across the USA (the others being “The Fourposter,” “Sea Marks,” “John Thomas And Lady Jane,” “Love Letters,” and “For Love’s Sake Only”), and who graciously stepped in to act within TAG’s small performance area. As described in their brochure, “America! A Patchwork Quilt,” was a living history of America, adapted and brought to life by Fran and Wayne, from the rich heritage of American prose and poetry. This was a first glimpse of America as the pilgrims saw it, through the seeds of revolution and war, continuing on to the pioneering and flooding of immigrants. It is a program of expressions and impressions offering “patches” of literary history. Excerpts include passages from – Stephen Vincent Bennet’s “The Western Star” and “John Brown’s Body,” Chief Joseph, Tom Paine, dramatic scenes developed from short stories by Letha Ritter, a delightful meeting with Peter Finley Dunne’s satiric character Mr. Dooley, as well as other selections that recapture the warmth, love and excitement of watching our country grow. The Ward’s donation of their time and efforts in producing and performing “Quilt,” as a fundraising vehicle for TAG, is a gesture that is greatly appreciated for these are the early days of TAG when the group has literally no money in its account.

A Page From The Play Program From “America! A Patchwork Quilt”

In the early days of TAG the great challenge is to secure adequate lighting and other accoutrements for Yellow Brick Studio. These were the times when Mike Powell would put up any type of lighting that he had successfully scrounged to obtain, and when Brad Powell secured a very large stage drapery from his good friend, Abigail Kauananakoa, Native Hawaiian-American heiress, equestrian, philanthropist and supporter of culture and the arts.

Broadway Comes To TAG With Glengarry Glen Ross

Sometime after “Quilt,” Brad Powell’s continuing involvement is influenced by a second request, when Eric Nemoto, the de facto president of the group since the departure of Dave Winston Barge and the rest of the actors ensemble that did the first set of plays, formally asks him to be TAG’s artistic director. Powell accepts, and the union proves to be a double win. TAG officially again gets someone experienced in theater leading its productions, and Brad, until then primarily known to be one of Hawaii’s premier choreographers and musical directors, can now venture into directing dramas. As for his first directorial effort as artistic director, Brad is asked by Eric Nemoto (on the suggestion of actor Steve Cedillos, who first acted with TAG in “The Committee”) to direct David Mamet’s Pulitzer prize winning drama (1984), “Glengarry Glen Ross.” The choice is very ambitious as the leap from performing the original work of local and regional playwrights to one of the best works of one of the stage’s greatest playwrights, complete with Mamet’s extensive street laden and guttural dialogue, is unlike anything that TAG actors have ever done before. “Glengarry” involves the lives of four desperate Chicago real estate agents over the course of two days, who are prepared to stoop to lies, flattery, bribery, threats, intimidation and burglary, in order to sell real estate to unwitting prospective buyers. The cast includes Steve Cedillos (Roma), Brian Fowler (Aaronow), Gary Kau (Lingk), Eric Nemoto (Moss), Sam Polson (Levene), George Russell (Baylen), and in a switch from Mamet’s intentions, which stipulated a male, Dorothy Stamp (Williamson), played the role of the office manager. Brad also felt a need to interject a walk-on character, that of a restaurant waitress in the scene with Moss and Aaronow, and for this role he cast Eric’s 13-year-old daughter, Kristen Nemoto.

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The “Glengarry” Cast (L-R) – K. Nemoto, Fowler, Cedillos, E. Nemoto, Russell, Polson, Kau, Stamp

 

“Glengarry” turned into a major challenge as Mamet’s work would prove to be extremely difficult for a number of the cast to master, and going into opening night, a couple were literally still not totally off book. For Brad Powell, used to actors being off book weeks before opening, it was near maddening. Years later, Eric Nemoto would jokingly comment that, “The experience almost chased Brad away before he really ever got started.” Be that it may, the production did come together at the last minute and opened on Thursday, November 4th, 1999, and closed on Saturday, November 20th, playing for nine performances in total (Thursday, Friday, and Saturday performances at 7:30 pm, for three weeks), with one performance being bought out for a private performance, which was reported by Honolulu Advertiser entertainment columnist, Wayne Harada (see inset photo), sometime during the middle of the run in his “Show Biz” column. “Jonathan O’Neill, Embassy Vacation Resort’s director of sales in Waikiki, wanted to see how ‘theater’ views the world of real estate, so he bought out the house (24 seats) at a ‘Glengarry Glen Ross’ performance at the Yellow Brick Studio so his sales staff could watch The Actor’s Group, directed by Brad Powell, bring David Mamet’s searing look at the unscrupulous world of land salesmen to life. They so loved the evening, TAG actors Dorothy Stamp, Steve Cedillos, and Brian Fowler were invited to join the Vacation group for apres-show talk.” In fact, “Glengarry” went on to receive rave reviews. John Berger, the Honolulu Star Bulletin critic, wrote, “This is not a show for people who are squeamish about gutter-speak but overall this production is TAG’s most impressive show to date. Mamet demands good acting and direction, and Powell and the cast deliver on both counts.” In addition, Honolulu Advertiser critic, Joseph Rozmiarek, summed up his review (see full article below) with this ending conclusion, “Glengarry Glen Ross is a big success for this small theater. Squeeze yourself in to share some of it.”

The “Glengarry Review” – A Breakthrough Production For TAG

Sometime after “Glengarry,” Brad Powell, as TAG’s artistic director, gets TAG to join the Hawaii State Theatre Council (HSTC), the organization comprised of representatives of all of Hawaii’s community theatres. This now makes TAG eligible to participate in HSTC’s “Po’okela Awards,” the annual awards for excellence in Hawaii stage productions.

The Dare That Was “Buried Child”

Honolulu Advertiser critic, Joseph Rozmiarek, who first began attending TAG plays during the last of Dave Winston Barge’s “Actors Ensemble” performance, “On The Verge,” had seen the young theater, still in its infancy, blossom from works that were based on improvisational exercises (“Verge”), to originally written material (“The Committee,” “Trees,” “Code Of The West”) to its breakthrough performance with “Glengarry Glen Ross.” In seeing its quite rapid growth, Joe mentioned to Brad Powell, a play that he thought would be perfect for TAG to stage, Sam Shepard’s “Buried Child.” This play (the promotional flyer, designed by Brad, can be seen in the inset photo) is set in a squalid farm home of a family that is dominated by unhappiness and suppressed violence, and who harbor a very dark secret. The central characters are, Dodge, a ranting alcoholic grandfather; a sanctimonious grandmother, Halie, who is prone to going out and carrying on with a local pastor; and their sons, Tilden, a former All-American footballer but now a semi-idiot; and Bradley, who has lost a leg to a chain saw accident. Into this family comes Vince, a grandson none of them recognizes or remembers, and his girlfriend, Shelly, who cannot comprehend the madness into which she has stepped into. The family secret is ultimately revealed when Dodge admits burying an unwanted newborn baby, the result of incest between Tilden and Halie, in an undisclosed spot on the property. In the end, Tilden unearths the child’s mummified remains and carries it into the house, an act that suggests a purging of the family’s sin. Excitedly taking up Rozmiarek on the challenge, Brad went on to cast Sam Polson as Dodge, Nancy Kunishige as Halie, Eric Nemoto as Tilden, George Russell as Bradley, Brian Fowler as Vince, Betty Sanchez as Shelly, and Gary Kau as Father Dewis, and the production opened on Thursday, March 16th, 2000 and played for 13 performances (after opening, Friday and Saturday night performances were at 7:30 pm, and Sunday matinees were at 4:00 pm), closing on Sunday, April 2nd, 2000.

“Buried Child” Cast – (Standing) Sanchez, Kunishige, Kau, Fowler, (Couch) Polson, Russell, (Seated) Nemoto

Looking back, contrary to “Glengarry,” this production faced a much more organized and cohesive rehearsal schedule, the kind that Brad appreciated and was most known to oversee. About the greatest challenge leading up to opening was converting the incredibly small performance area that was the Yellow Brick Studio, into an internal setting (inside the house) and an external setting (the backyard and beyond of the house). To separate the two settings, a wall was constructed diagonally across the stage, and a window on the wall peered out into the back, complete with rain dripping from the house’s “roof top.” To achieve the depth of the backyard, the production asked the building’s neighbor, Word of Life, if the door separating the stage area from their storeroom, could be opened and a portion of their space utilized. Brian Fowler served as the primary set designer, building the house wall (after Eric Nemoto and Sam Polson unsuccessfully constructed a flimsy one that could not be counted on to stand up with assurance), and Eric Nemoto created the rain special effects in the background by utilizing an empty aquarium of Mike Powell’s, filling it halfway with water, and dropping a water pump that circulated water upwards onto an unseen gutter that he drilled holes into. In terms of all the sets created for TAG’s plays to date, this one for “Buried Child,” became one of the most innovative, rivaling that of the tower deck that appeared in a forest for “Trees.” Brad was also responsible for creating the dead baby, which was a doll with eyes missing and covered with prop mud. As Eric would later comment, “The baby looked like Chucky had died and returned as a Zombie!” All in all, it was a great production, and as the resultant reviews depicted, “Buried Child” became another TAG hit and closed out a year of tremendous success for Brad Powell. He had started TAG into a different direction with “Code Of The West,” got Wayne and Fran Ward to help TAG out by having them perform one of their great original plays, “America! A Patchwork Quilt,” through all kinds of rehearsal adversity managed to hit a home run with “Glengarry Glen Ross,” and successfully met Joe Rozmiarek’s challenge by bringing Sam Shepard’s Pulitzer Prize winning (1976) “Buried Child” to life. In the wake of these successful productions, TAG, just a few years removed from almost disappearing altogether, was now looking to a grand new future.

Joe Rozmiarek’s Review Confirms That TAG Had Successfully Met His Challenge

Sam’s Whiskey Bottle: The opening scene of “Buried Child” featured Dodge (played by Sam Polson) asleep on the couch. His son, Tilden (played by Eric Nemoto), enters and picks up Dodge’s whiskey bottle to steal a swig. Tilden puts the bottle back next to Dodge and leaves. During rehearsals a prop bottle filled with water was used, and Sam, noticing how Eric was drinking his “whiskey,” said, “Eric, you don’t drink much whiskey, do you?” Eric replied that, no, he doesn’t, and that he was more of an avid wine drinker. Sam tells Eric that when he takes his swig he needed to really take in a gulp, feel it going down, and then kind of react. Sam says that he’s going to make a mixture of tea, lemon, and honey, with just a skosh of whiskey, for Eric, so that there’s just a little bite to it that will help him give the proper reaction. Eric sees the logic and wholeheartedly agrees. The concoction that Sam ultimately comes up with is terrific. It has just enough liquor in it to give one a little kick, but the honey and lemon and tea, combined in just the right combination, makes it like some kind of fruity umbrella cocktail. Eric loves it. The cast, under Brad Powell’s direction, proceeds through a typical six-week rehearsal schedule, and good ole Sam, has his terrific formula mixed for Eric every night this opening scene is rehearsed. Liking what he tastes, Eric goes insofar to start chugging down one, two, even three swigs, after which, each time, just as Sam coached him, he makes it look like it’s real whiskey going down hard. Sam would comment, “Yeah, now you got it.” So after six weeks, Eric and Sam, have developed a ritual. Sam would show Eric the bottle and say something like, “I got your medicine right here.” Eric, in turn, would smile, and then say something like, “Yep, and I’ll take it like a man.” So then, on opening night, with the audience in their seats, the lights go dark, and the two men go through their ritual. Sam then takes the stage with his bottle just as the lights fade up a tad so he can see his way. He sits and makes like he’s sleeping, tucking the bottle next to him. Eric then enters. He gets the bottle, and because it’s opening night, he’s ready to kill this moment. He takes one, two, three long hard swallows, and as he’s putting the cap back on the bottle it hits him. There’s no honey, there’s no lemon, there’s no TEA! “That f@#$%!’ Sam,” as Eric would tell the story years later, “He put straight whiskey in the bottle and I’m on stage dying!” To this day, Eric will tell you that it honestly took all of his acting ability to stay in character. And in the dark, he sees Sam, faking like he’s sleeping, obviously, but he’s turned away from the audience so they can’t see the smirk that is on his face. Nobody else ever knew what happened, except Eric and Sam, two longtime friends who would always kid each other. It would remain one of their favorite stories.