Summit Staff Reporter

Tucked into the southwest corner of the campus, The Stagehouse Theatre at Grossmont Community College has been around for 52 years. The pictures of the five founding fathers – Martin Gerrish, David Weeks, James W Baker, Clark Mires and Henry Jordan – line the wall when going right into the theater, which houses more than 140 seats. Over half of the seats are engraved with names of people who have financially contributed to the theater. There are also lots of seats for disabled students, so anyone is able to enjoy the play.

A lot of people come together to make Grossmont plays come to life. Every instructor in the Theatre Arts Department has been educated all over the country and has earned their bachelor’s or master’s degrees.

Manny Lopez is one of many who makes that happen. He manages to supervise everything and everyone in the control booth. Lopez has been working at Grossmont for 10 years, and said he doesn’t intend to stop anytime soon.

Directing the plays “Kimberly Akimbo” and “Scapin” is Grossmont’s own Brian Rickel.

“It’s a six-week production,” Rickel said. “Everything and everyone plays a big part.”

It begins with auditions and rehearsals, which start at the end of the fall semester. Then all the directors come together to pick and choose who will be in certain plays, having call backs, or additional auditions to decide who will get the lead roles.

“I have this one female student that just blew me away, so I had her play the male lead of Scapin,” Rickel said. “It’s not supposed to be cross dressing or a transgender, just a woman playing a male lead.”

When the parts are chosen for a certain play, then everyone meets for a table read, where they read through the script together so everyone understands the text or can ask questions about the words or lines. After all of the hard work and dedication from everyone it becomes “a running business,” according to Rickel.

For a play taking place in the 1800s or 1900s, costumes are a big part in the production. Esther Scankandunas is the head instructor and designer, helping to bring all the costumes to life. Before anyone makes a costume, a sketch is drawn on paper to determine what it should look like. When a costume looks completely finished on the paper, it begins to comes to life in hand and on stage, Scankandunas said. The department has hundreds of clothes to use for its plays, some which are donated from people who come to enjoy the plays.

Visualizing the background and sets is Michael McKeon’s job. He is new to the Grossmont program and said that so far loves what he does.

“It’s all a learning experience being able to teach to the students, but also being able for the students to teach me some things,” he said. Before coming to Grossmont, McKeon was in graphic design; however, he said he wanted to be able to be with people outside of the computer screen. McKeon and his students build many props with wood, creating a house or even a castle for a set, as well as all the little things that need to be built.

And whenever you need to get a ticket for any Grossmont play, Alexis Popko is your leading lady. She she sells tickets to anyone who needs some. “My job is to get people in; their job is to entertain,” Popko said of the performers.

The Grossmont Theatre is staffed by many pleasant and helpful people. If you have any time at all, then go check out one of the plays they put together for the community. The newest performance is “Scapin,” a play about when two rich men fall in love with two poor women and hire the help of the clever, crafty and possibly psychic servant, Scapin, to assist them in calming down their very angry fathers. It’s a comedy that is sure to give you a laugh.