Nonprofit began in 1969 as Gilroy Community Theatre
Published in the July 8-21, 2015 issue of Morgan Hill Life
By Marty Cheek
Photo by Marty Cheek
“The Producers” directors watch during a rehearsal South Valley Civic Theatre actor Steven Zbin (as “Leo Bloom”) jump on the couch as he and Peter Mandel (as “Max Bialystock”) practice a scene.
As the South Valley Civic Theatre launches its musical comedy “The Producers” at the Morgan Hill Community Playhouse Friday July 10, no doubt the founders of the South Valley’s longest running theatrical group would be impressed by how far the nonprofit has come in entertaining audiences for nearly half a century.
Bringing to a close the 2014-2015 theatrical season, “The Producers” is Mel Brooks’ masterpiece comedy about a down-on-his-luck Broadway show producer named Max Bialystock who meets a mousy accountant named Leo Bloom and together they come up with a scheme to con elderly women into investing their life savings in a sure-fire flop of a musical called “Springtime for Hitler.”
“I think we have gotten a little bit more outside of the box when it comes to our productions,” said “The Producers” real producer Robin Bezanson. “We’re choosing more contemporary pieces as well as the classics … ‘The Producers,’ is definitely not on the conservative side of theater. We have a risque story. But I think we’re drawing audiences who understand that our group is not just doing the classics but also broadening our base and exploring new avenues which are bringing new audiences of people who love theater.”
SVCT was initially called Gilroy Community Theatre when it was founded in 1969 by Gilroy residents Al and Frances “Pinky” Bloom and a group of dedicated volunteers. Its first show was Neil Simon’s “Come Blow Your Horn” performed at Gavilan College in September of that year.
In time, the nonprofit group changed its name to reflect that it represents the entire South Valley region for community theater performances. Over the decades, SVCT shows have been held in diverse locations including Gilroy High School, San Benito High School, Live Oak High School, the Old Gilroy Hotel, the Pumpkin Patch in San Martin, Gavilan College Theatre, and even Morgan Hill’s Rosso’s Furniture store. Rehearsal space has ranged from the warehouse of a Gilroy paint store to the community room in a Morgan Hill mobile home park. In 2001, SVCT partnered with the city to have a 1920s church on the Morgan Hill Community and Cultural Center site moved to the corner of Monterey Road and Fifth Street and refurbished as a modern playhouse. The 186-seat Morgan Hill Community Playhouse became the permanent home to SVCT, which opened its first show there with “Lend Me A Tenor” in February 2003.
Each annual season features five productions. They include a large musical with an all-age cast, a smaller or more modern or less well-known musical, a teen musical, a children’s musical, and a non-musical comedy or drama. SVCT’s play selection committee seeks each season to create a balance of classic and contemporary theater that showcases the talents of the region. The volunteer performers often come from Morgan Hill, Gilroy, San Martin, south San Jose and Hollister. Some have come from as far away as Hayward and Santa Cruz.
Photo by Marty Cheek
South Valley Civic Theatre performers, from left, Rebecca Little, Steven Zbin, Jamie Gussman, Hayleelynn Merrill, and Nikki Cendreda rehearse a dance number for the theater group’s upcoming musical comedy show “The Producers.”
Many of the people who try out for plays have never acted on stage before, but they soon fall in love with the limelight as they learn to get into character, sing and dance, Bezanson said.
“I think we’re a very accepting group of people and we do have the regulars who are in almost every show or at least one show a year,” she said. “But when someone who is new to South Valley Civic Theatre walks in, we’re very encouraging. We really get excited about new talent coming in. And I think as a whole it’s helped our theater group grow because we get new people coming to us with new ideas. It’s been neat to see those people come in who are new to theater learning a little bit more about how we do things, which is sometimes a bit different compared to other theater groups.”
Bezanson described how she had a chat with one of the actresses in “The Producers” recently who was at first apprehensive about getting into a SVCT production. “She loved it and wants to come back and do other shows because she had such a great experience,” she said. “That’s one of the things that’s unique about SVCT — we’re so embracing and accepting in every which way, and I think that’s why people return back to the theater here.”
Bezanson got involved in SVCT when her two children, Chris and Hannah, auditioned for roles in a children’s shows about six years ago. Both of them now have each performed in about a dozen productions. SVCT has grown its children’s show program since moving to The Community Playhouse, and seeks to open a world of stage camaraderie to young people. The children not only learn self-confidence by singing, dancing and acting on stage in front of an audience, they learn the responsibility of commitment in working with other people to create a performance.
“A show is about being dependent on each other,” Bezanson said. “If you don’t make your cue, that impacts someone else’s cue and their part. So it becomes about accountability and learning responsibility and how to work with one another in sometimes stressful circumstances. We do have a lot of children in our cast for our children’s programs who maybe are special needs or maybe are shy – and it’s amazing to see how much they grow.”
Like Bezanson, Greg Colbert got involved in SVCT through the children’s show program. His daughter Melinda was cast as a monkey in “The Jungle Book Kids.”
Colbert had never been involved in community theater performances before, but he quickly saw the value of it for young people and how SVCT is “the pride of Morgan Hill in terms of performing arts.” He now serves as the president of the SVCT’s board of directors.
“It’s always been a company that really strives to provide a venue or platform for our youth of the area,” he said. “As you know, a lot of schools are cutting back on their theater arts programs, so there really isn’t as much opportunity to perform in school any more. So this is an opportunity for kids to continue to pursue the theater.”
Photo by Marty Cheek
SVCT cast members work out the steps of the dance number “Make It Gay” on the stage of the Morgan Hill Community Playhouse during a rehearsal for the upcoming show “The Producers.”
In recent years, SVCT has repositioned itself to choose not just popular plays but plays that can challenge the performers and the audience alike, he said.
“We’re trying to find shows that are a little bit of a stretch and not necessarily the same shows that everyone else is doing,” Colbert said. “We’re trying to find something that’s a little bit outside of the box or a show that was popular but that we haven’t done for a while. This year ‘The Producers’ was a little bit outside of the box. This will be a big musical that will draw some very nice-sized crowds. We’re always looking for something new or fresh that will draw or expand our audience.”
Blessed with a resident location to stage its shows for the past dozen years, SVCT volunteers have also spent much of their time and energy to enhance the quality of the shows. Much of this also has to do with the group’s rising reputation in the Bay Area’s theatrical community, helping it to raise the bar in the level of its talent by drawing trained actors and performers to auditions.
The SVCT’s reputation for high quality performances has encouraged many local residents to purchase tickets – or become season ticket members — for shows instead of traveling to San Jose, Palo Alto or San Francisco for theatrical entertainment, Colbert said. The benefit is that they don’t have to deal with a long drive and the challenge of parking — and instead they can spend their time and money enjoying one of downtown Morgan Hill’s many fine restaurants prior to the curtain opening, he said.
Colbert encourages everyone who might be interested in exploring the world of dramatic or musical theater to find a way to participate as a crew member or by auditioning for a play. The best way to connect with SVCT is to send them an email by going to the contacts page through the website www.svct.org and request to get put on the group’s audition announcement list, he said.
“So then when audition calls go out for various shows — such as a children’s show or a teen show or a musical or drama — they can go to our website and see more details on the audition process — the materials they need to bring and so forth,” he said. “It’s an open audition so we don’t pre-cast people for a certain role. All roles are open. We try to include as many people as we can.”
