20 ~ Sunday, July 26, 1992 - North S' a nore News ‘HIGH PROFILES all who sewed a button or played a scene NEWS photo Mike Wakefield RON AND Mari Kassel! are looking forward to celebrating the 52nd anniversary of Theatre Under the Stars. Ron and Mari Kassell: In their own words What is your theatre background? Mari: ‘“‘I started with the B.C. Opera Players. I sang in the chorus. I also worked with Otto Lowy as his assistant for the North Shore Light Opera.’’ Could you elaborate on TUTS’ financial situation? Ron: ‘‘We've made money and lost money. °89 and '90 were good years ~~ we built up a reasonable bank ac- count. But we lost half of it last year. We have to be very careful now. If we have another bad year we'll have to do some serious fundraising.’’ Who is your typical audience- goer? Mari: ‘It’s a very varied audience. And we get a lot of people from Bellingham.” What is the biggest change you've seen over the years? Ron: “I think it’s the quality of performers who audition. That has improved tremendously.”” Has additional summer theatre in Vancouver hurt TUTS? Ron: “No. | really believe the more theatre there is, the better it is for everyone.’ Where would you like to see TUTS go? Ron: ‘i'd like to see Little kids to seniors. . us continue with the pot-boilers and try something different. We want to diversify a little bit. But shows like South Pacific and Fid- dier, believe it or not, are still popular.”’ Why did TUTS change its name back to Theatre Under the Stars when it started up again? Ron: ‘*We decided that, if everybody was calling us TUTS, we might as well stay with that name.’’ Mari: ‘*That raised a few eyebrows, because people said it wasn’t the same TUTS. But we have very talented people who just don’t happen to be members cf Equi- ty.”” NOW FWO NORTH SHORE OFFICES TO THE CAULFEILD VILLAGE INSURANCE CENTRE Quioplan Tenants ° Commercial Insurance * Income Tax Service © Homeowners * Boats © Travel Accident 5315 Headland Drive West Vancouver, BC. © Boats SERVE YOU Tf ~ CREST INSURANCE SERVICES Quuiroeplian * Homeowners * Travel Accident ® Tenants ¢ Commercial insurance * Income Tax Service Westview Shopping Centre in the Cauifeild Village Mall opposite Sateway “Someplace Speciai™ Extended hours at month end for your convenience. 922-9100 North Vancouver 988-8399 Open July 30 & 31/92 9am to 8pm EXACTLY ONE week from to- day, some of Vancouver’s best- known actors will gather at Malkin Bowl to munch on hot dogs and watch a very special stage performance. It's the first major reunion of Theatre Under the Stars in 52 years, and West Vancouver's Mari and Ron Kassell are looking for- ward to running into old friends. When you've been involved as long as they have —- more than two decades — you're bound to EE NAME: Ron and Mari Kassell BORN: Sheffield, England RESIDENCE: West Vancouver POSITIONS: Vice-president of the board, Theatre Under the Stars, TUTS volunteer FAMILY: Three children; eight grandchildren run into a familiar face or two. “I know of about 500 people, but that’s a drop in the bucket when you think of everyone who’s been involved over the years,” says Mari, who joined TUTS in 1969 and now works as a volun- teer. Calls are going “ut to all former members, literally ‘‘thousands’’ who acted in a performance, sew- ed a button on a shirt or held a spotlight. Over the years, TUTS has given a start to people like Bev Fyfe, who recently retired as chorus master for the Vancouver Opera; Ruth Nichol; Jeff Hyslop of Phantom of the Opera fame; Don Kant, who is currently performing in the Australian run of Phantom; Norman Slack; Herbert Ray and Nick Orchard, now executive pro- ducer of the CBC teen series Northwood. “‘Nick was one of our lighting and sound technicians in the early days,’’ remembers Mari. ‘“‘He was just a kid.’" Mari was the first Kassell to take the TUTS plunge, and Ron, who got involved because of “her,”’? is mow vice-president of TUTS’ board of directors. The West Vancouver couple say they’ve watched the company grow up like one of their own children. “The performers usually have to compete with the seals,’’ chor- tles Ron, ‘‘and sometimes the monkeys get a bit chatty.’’ “Once a tenor took his note from a boat whistle instead of the orchestra,”? adds Mari. ‘‘Another took a deep breath and sucked in amoth.”’ UNIQUE FEATURES: By Evelyn Jacob News Reporter Thirteen years ago, after a six- year hiatus, a new theatre grew out of the ashes of the original TUTS, which operated for years as a professional theatre company. The new TUTS, now a semi- professional company, has mounted a month-long summer season ever since. The only year it missed a season was in 1982, when a fire broke out at Malkin Bowl. The company quickly organized a telethon and, thanks to the help of CKVU, rais- ed $66,000. Two Wednesdays ago, it opened the 1992 season with La Cage aux Folles, one of the company’s more ‘‘daring’’ shows, according to Mari. TUTS has been pronounced dead and resurrected, but it lives on. Maybe not as well as it once did, but it has endured. The original TUTS, which fold- ed in 1963 due to financial reasons, used to attract audiences of up to 4,500 a night in its hey- day, says Ron. . Nowadays an average evening ai Malkin Bowl draws about 600. “It was huge — the only thing in town in the summer. We were overwhelmed with people,”’ he remembers. Still, there are the die-hards who show up at exactly 5:30 each night, armed with a blanket. One 83-year-old man, says Mari, comes to every performance. “it’s when you hear things like, ‘Wasn’t that great?’ that makes it all worth it,’’ says Ron. Portmeirion dace 6 Dinnerware | International Academy of British Columbia ® SMAI:L CLASSES ® GRADES 6-12 * INDIVIDUALIZED PROGRAMS ™ Traditional approach, weil-balenced curriculum and extensive recreational programme. Small class sizes & individual attention J m& foster achievement, build self-confidence. 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