"WHO'S AFRAID OF THE BIG BAD WAYNE? NOBODY!"
SPOTLIGHT
on shows
RLT. Real. Live.Theatre
BACKSTAGE PASS AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2013
I
had an hour or so to sit down with my busy friend Wayne Jones recently, the director of “The Three Little Pigs and The Trial of the Big Bad Wolf.” This caring, dedicated Rome Little Theatre volunteer could never evoke fear in anyone, so no matter how many frustrations he may experience, nobody could be afraid of this big, bad Wayne! Wayne is the long-serving Treasurer of the Rome Little Theatre Board of Directors, and he has been volunteering at RLT since 2001, when he made his first appearance onstage as an actor in the ensemble of “Oliver!” I was privileged to share the stage with Wayne in that production, and even more privileged to work with him for several years on the staff at Floyd College (now Georgia Highlands College) and on multiple productions since. I count him as one of my most trusted stage managers when I direct, and we both won Roman Awards together for “It’s A Wonderful Life” the first time it was presented, and we most recently appeared onstage together in the 2012 production of “The Sound of Music.” Theatre is Wayne’s passion, even though by day he is a mild mannered accountant with a new office above Traditions at the corner of Second Ave and First Street. “The Three Little Pigs and the Trial of the Big Bad Wolf” is Wayne’s eighth directing venture at RLT. He also has directed for the former Triple Threat Arts Company, a comedy called “Radio T.B.S.” He has appeared in numerous shows for them, for RLT and for the Junior Service League Follies, winning two Roman Awards along the way for leading actor in “It’s A Wonderful Life” and for featured actor in “Twelve Angry Men.” His first show to direct at RLT was the Christmas musical, “The Homecoming,” followed by two more Christmas shows, “The Christmas Angel” and “Dad’s Christmas Miracle.” His late wife Wanda produced all of these shows for him, and they were a very strong team. But Wayne’s next show to direct, “Alice in Wonderland,” was the RLT selection for the annual children’s show, and Wayne recognized
Pass A bimonthly newsletter for Rome Little Theatre and Friends of the DeSoto members and contributors
ROME LITTLE THEATRE
AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2013
By Wendell Barnes the need for kids to learn theatre basics and get some experience on stage, so he has directed several children’s shows since then. We both acknowledged the contributions of the late Sherrie Bacon and the Creative Playhouse, who for years provided basic theatre instruction and experience for young Romans, and some of those same children are now adults on the RLT and other stages. So as he would do, Wayne came to the rescue to direct these large cast shows with lots of children because he saw a need for a director and he wanted to help out the theatre in any way he could. And so here he is once again, directing a show with a cast of 39, mostly children and young adults. “The Three Little Pigs” and “The Trial of the Big Bad Wolf” are actually two one-act plays which Wayne has put together into a full evening of theatre as a two-act play. He even added in some lines and put characters from one play into the other one so that the production would appear to be two acts of the same play! When I asked Wayne what the worst experience was in directing this show, he listed the younger actors as a challenge, since you have to start with the most basic stage directions, projection and body positions and work from there, usually with a young experienced actor who has a short attention span. It also is difficult for people new to theatre to understand about the commitment: I often have said theatre is such an erratic hobby, because you have to work very hard and continuously for several weeks and then it’s over and you might not work in another play for several months or years. Because of the summer rehearsal schedule, he also had to work around vacations and camps, and said that it was last week before he had a rehearsal with the entire cast present! But that is why RLT starts with a children’s show in the fall: so that the rehearsal period can be longer due to interruptions. It is difficult to make first timers especially understand the need to come to every rehearsal for which they are called. He also shared that the fall children’s show always has a preview in mid-July at the library, and it is always a challenge to get the lines memorized and costumes and props built in time for that preview, although in the long run it puts you ahead of the game for opening night.
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