items tagged with Steve Flanigin

“Most of our students work jobs when they’re not at school,” says Scott Community College (SCC) theatre instructor Steve Flanigin. “So when you say, ‘We’re going to do a play – who’d be interested?’, you have to see who’s available before you decide what play you can do. Because if they have to go to a job when we normally rehearse – Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, from three to five – then they can’t do the show.

“I think that’s one of the challenges of doing theatre at a community college that a lot of people don’t realize,” he continues. “What we do depends on who is here in the fall or the spring, and what their schedules are like. I mean, I’d love to do Hello, Dolly!, but not with four people.”

Happily for Flanigin, he was able to secure roughly a dozen student participants for the school’s latest production. And while that number wasn’t large enough for a Hello, Dolly!, it was perfectly appropriate for the show that he and fellow SCC instructor John Turner did choose: a new adaptation of author H.G. Wells’ alien-invasion classic War of the Worlds, running October 20 through 30.

Thursday marked the first time I’d attended a theatrical production at Scott Community College, let alone reviewed one. And it wasn’t just one, but two SCC plays I caught that night: the short one-acts To Burn a Witch by James L. Bray and A Coupla Bimbos Sittin’ Around Talkin’ by Richard Vetere. The entire experience was absolutely delightful, charming for its lack of pretension, and oftentimes just flat-out fun, my amusement buoyed by a sense that the actors were thoroughly enjoying themselves.

The phrase "glorified high school" came to mind when I saw Jake's Women - the Neil Simon comedy that opened last week at Scott Community College - and that's not meant as an insult. Rather, it's a commentary on the limited space and resources the SCC theatre department has to work with, which are a mere step up from those available to local high-school drama departments. Performances are held in the auditorium of the Student Life Center on a proscenium stage fringed by red curtains and flanked by American flags on eagle-topped poles; a rudimentary sound system hangs overhead, beside a single row of lights. (I expected, at any moment, to see Sam the Eagle stride into a scene and deliver a political speech.) Admittedly, the visuals were a bit of a sleep-inducer, but director Steve Flanigin's casting choices kept me awake.

Scott Community College debuted its fall theatre offering(s) on Thursday, a pair of John Pielmeier one-acts under the blanket title Haunted Lives. And while I'd prefer this article not be read as a traditional review - because, for understandable reason, the production wasn't really in any kind of shape to be reviewed - I'll preface with perhaps the highest compliment I can give its participants: They made it through.

The short stories of author Shirley Jackson frequently kick you in the gut. The current presentations of Jackson's The Summer People and The Lottery at Scott Community College frequently tickle your ribs.