The smell of pine tar and freshly cut grass is in the air as the Heritage Repertory Theatre kicks off its Summer 2005 Season with two baseball-related productions, Richard Dresser's "Rounding Third" and Richard Adler and Douglass Wallop's "Damn Yankees" musical production. Founded in 1974, the HRT is a seven week summer professional theater under the umbrella of the University Drama department. Close to 100 acting and technical personnel are hired for the theatre, which plays to 18,000 spectators each summer, according to Chapel.
Of the 40-plus actors hired for the summer, 12 are University students.
According to Company Manager Jane Mayer, actors from all over the country come to the HRT for five or ten weeks, depending on the number of shows in which they are slated to act in.
"Heritage is one of the premier regional summer stock theaters that people want to work at," Meyer said. She added that the HRT provides housing for the actors -- union actors live in off-Grounds apartments while non-union actors spend the summer living in fraternity houses. Each actor makes anywhere from $250 to $600 per week, depending on their union status.
The play "Rounding Third," with a plot based on two little-league coaches with very differing philosophies on the importance of victory in the pint-sized sport, opened last night in the Helms Theatre. "Rounding Third" runs through July 29.
According to the play's director Douglas Sprigg, "Rounding Third" raises many ethical questions on raising children and societal habits in general.
"You have two images of sports, two images of competition, two images of behavior in America," Sprigg said. "To what extent should we be out to defeat our enemies, glorify ourselves? To what extent should we be focusing on nurturing or children? To what extent should we teach them that it's a dog-it-dog world and focus on winning?"
Sprigg added that the play's two actors, Richard Warner and Martin Beekman, were former little league coaches in Charlottesville and had previously coached against each other on the diamond.
Starting tonight, the theatre will also feature Major League Baseball rivalries. "Damn Yankees," a musical based on the struggles of a baseball fan who sells his soul to the devil for a chance to lead the unlucky Washington Senators to victory over the New York Yankees, will open tonight at the Culbreth Theater.
"We decided [doing "Damn Yankees"] was a great idea this year with the establishment of the Washington Nationals in D.C. because this play deals directly with the Washington Senators," HRT's producing artistic director Bob Chapel said.
Chapel said "Damn Yankees" was written in 1955 and was revived on Broadway in 1994.
"It has been one of the greatest crowd pleasers of all time," he said. "It's kind of like good-old American apple pie and Chevrolet -- it's Americana at its best."
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