Unsung Hero - Sara

Sara Honsowetz is the most hard working, tireless, generous, kind and extraordinary person I know.  She has been part of the Saline Area Players for about 10 years onstage in Cooking with Gus, Arsenic and Old Lace, Wizard of Oz, and You Can’t Take it With You, and behind the stage as the producer for many a show, including some gigantic ones like Gypsy and The Sound of Music. Her other backstage exploits include helping with props, board member (currently VP) and proofreading. She is amazing at selling ads and has the ability to talk people into all kinds of things and barter like crazy. You’d think that would be enough, but one of her greatest contributions to Saline Area Players is that of COSTUMER! Sara organizes our costume storage, rents costumes out, makes new finds and has costumed numerous shows. In the winter, she brings a shovel to the unit and shovels her way in to get to the costumes.

Sara holding up a Willy Wonka costume

You might hear her say “Costumer coming… beware!” as she heads to the dressing rooms. There is no time to waste as she brings in costume after costume for cast members to try on.  When Sara is costuming a show, her home turns into the costume shop.  Her living room is graced with a costume rack, her daughter’s bedroom is filled with clothes, and her car is stuffed to the gills.  She takes the job seriously and often works morning to night.

What costumes is she the most proud?  She loves the oompa loompa costumes she created for last year’s production of Willy Wonka.  She found tie dye overalls for all the loompas and then had each of them choose a color and wear matching socks, shirts, shoes, and tassles on their hats.  Another triumph was creating Electra’s costume in Gypsy. The character is a stripper with an “electrical” costume.  She bought Christmas ornaments that would light up and had another SAP member wire a battery pack to them.  Then she sewed them to the costume and when the battery was turned on, the lights would pop on in rotation.  And then there was Willy Wonka’s hat.  She took a regular top hat and made a pattern of a hat that would go over it.  Of course it was purple.  AND, she found sparkly material with which to trim it.

From Cooking with Gus

Then there is the search for the right costume and the “finds” – driving around looking for things that could work for a particular show.  For example during Willy Wonka, she felt like she drove around the world seeking just the right costume piece. During one week alone she drove 977 miles in search of costumes, traveling from one thrift store to another from Saline to Detroit to Fenton.  And the following week...she went to Bay City where she found the perfect jacket for "Ms TeaVee”!   Another favorite “find” was not a costume, but what we fondly think of as the “Grandpa” picture.  It is a vintage portrait of a stern-looking elderly man with a long white beard that she found for “Arsenic and Old Lace” since they referred to “grandpa” in the show.  Later, this same picture ended up in the “Went with the Wind” sketch in the Carol Burnett Show.

She is currently costuming Annie for SHS and recently told me how she managed to get 6 maid costumes.  She went to Fantasy Attic, a costume store in Ypsilanti that was going out of business (which is, incidentally, a big loss to the theater community as they were the “place to go” for costumes locally).  Anyway, she bought one maid costume but didn’t buy all 6 until she was sure they would be okayed by the director.  Once she got the okay, she called back only to find that they had already moved out.  Not to be undone, Sara drove to the store, found the phone number for the leasing agent, called them and asked them to call the owners of Fantasy Attic.  She was able to reach them and bought the other 5 maid costumes!  Way to go, Sara.  Another costume coup for Annie is that a few years ago she put a dress in our costume supply from a family member, knowing it would be useful someday.  Success! It is a perfect choice for the character of Grace in Annie.  Sara has a keen eye for what may come in handy.

In addition to creating and finding, another part of costuming is to revamp an old costume into a new one.  For example, she found the old wedding gown that eventually turned into a priest’s robe for The Sound of Music.  And, she turned another wedding dress into a bridesmaid dress.  And then there was the challenge of “hiding” the fact that a lead actress was actually pregnant, which required some last minute costume choices.  (As an aside, I’ve now been in two plays where backstage I helped an actress who in real life is pregnant, get into a wedding dress to go out onstage).  Even costumes that belong to Sara’s family are appropriated for shows, like the lederhosen that she bought for her husband that ended up in SAP’s production of Silent Night this past December.

Aunt Martha

One of her favorite finds is the vintage velvet cape that she found and wore during SAP’s Arsenic and Old Lace in which she played Aunt Martha.  And, she was able to use it again during our gala performance last year.

Sara does all this costuming with panache.  She loves making people look good on stage, has incredible patience, and is sensitive to her cast members, finding costumes that will make them comfortable and happy to be on stage.  If you want to see some of her work, come out and see Saline High School’s production of Annie February 21-22. 

Aunt Martha in Arsenic and Old Lace

Penelope Sycamore in You Can't Take it With You

Painting Courage

Although I had been contemplating this for a while, sometime in the middle of the summer I decided that I was going to paint the living room.  I didn’t have much of a plan in mind except that I like blue and that I wanted to get rid of the stencil I put on the wall about 25 years ago.  So, I went to the hardware store and chose some paint colors.  I showed them to my cousin Janice who was visiting.  She told me they were too bold and to modify them, but was very encouraging.  She told me to go for it and have fun.  When I told my sister that I was going to redo my living room and that I’d noticed that it was a bit drab, she said she just thought I “didn’t care” which I am assuming translates into saying that she figured I was content with not having house beautiful.  In reality, I just hadn’t given it much thought.

At any rate, I have to thank my involvement in theater for giving me the courage to paint.  I have been painting sets for years.  Mind you, I haven’t done the fancy stuff, but I’ve painted plenty of flats (that is the term for the “walls” in theater) and even some fancier stuff with lots of instruction.  So, with that under my belt, I felt “courage” to paint my own walls, and theater set painting has armed me with lots of simple “tips” to make the job easier.  Plus, I already have lots of paint clothes.

Before

After

Theater has taught me a number of things.  The most useful one is that you can make mistakes.  I can think of a number of mistakes I’ve made painting sets, and lo and behold, if you mess up, you can paint it over again or fix it.  One of my favorite painting stories was the time I was painting shingles on the front of a house, which consisted of drawing dark lines equal distance apart onto the base color.  One day, I dripped, and a drop of the darker color fell on the white of the house.  I couldn’t do much about it and I figured, in my creative fashion, that every house needs a bit of bird poop on it.  Well, the rest of the story is that the next day I came back to find that someone had painted over my “bird poop” and the house was white again.  Presto!  But, back to my own house, I’ve definitely learned the art of practicing and fixing mistakes. 

Another thing that theater has taught me is that “good enough” is okay.  Behind the scenes of a show, we have a mismatch of paints to choose from and often “make do” with a particular color, for example, or slap on some yucky paint as a base coat before we fancy it up with other stuff.  Certainly there are occasional places where the paint job is not perfect, but on stage it is generally “good enough.”  My motto is that if the audience notices that a little bitty line is crooked then the actors aren’t doing their job.  The way this translates to home is that I’ve decided that “good enough” is good enough for me.   I don’t really need house beautiful, but I do need a fun and creative outlet, which this provides.   

There are definite differences between painting at home and painting in the theater.  If there are holes in the flats, we generally cover them up with tape whereas at home, I’ve learned (and like) the art of spackling and sanding.  Also, when you paint a flat, you lay it horizontal on the ground and take the roller on a long stick and go over it while standing up – pretty darn easy and fun.  At home, most (or rather all) of the walls are vertical, making it a bit trickier to paint, and you can’t run over the edges with the roller (like with a flat).

It will be no surprise to anyone that once my walls were painted, my furniture looked drab.  I hadn’t thought much about what would happen after the paint, unlike with a set, which is very well thought out.   So, I’m making it up! I have been adding furniture, curtains, pillows and accessories in a rather spontaneous, although thoughtful, way.  I don’t know how it will turn out, but I’m having a blast.  And, I realize that the paint on the walls simply creates a palette for the creativity that will ensue.  This whole project has turned me into an art nut.  With my new-found courage, I’ve given up my old ways of debating about what should go where which leaves my walls bare, to buying and covering my walls with beautiful art that I like.  I can’t get enough of art shows. Surrounding myself with beautiful art is exciting, and I’ve created my own set right in my living room!

Saline Area Players.... the beginning!

At Cabaret Gala

I recently returned from a delightful afternoon talking with Rose Carol Toth, one of the founding members of Saline Area Players.  This is our 40^th year and we’re celebrating with a Gala on June 22 at Liberty School Auditorium, which used to be called the Middle School Little Theatre, and was the first auditorium in which the Players ever performed.  Rose Carol talked about how the group was formed….

It began when a local resident, Betsy Wellwood, had an idea.  She put a small article in the Saline Reporter asking if anyone was interested in starting a local theater group in Saline.  The meeting took place on Monroe street in what had originally been a Catholic Church, but was at that time a UAW hall.  Not sure what it is now.  They met in the basement.  In Rose Carol’s recollection, about 12 people attended that first meeting, most of whom didn’t know each other.  Some of the people she remembers, along with herself, were Ralph Swenarton, Norma Keller, Russell and Marilyn Ellis, Betsy Wellwood, Leroy King, Dottie Barnes, and Christine Horn, whom she describes as young, and the only person there who had ever done or studied theater.  It was from this meeting that they decided to put on the first Saline Area Players show, “Was this Murder?”.  Rose Carol was in it along with many of the founding members of the Players.  I looked at her program of the show, and I was impressed at how well-supported the show was with local businesses.  Rose Carol remembers that her husband, Ted, and Bob Barnes, were some of the first set builders. 

Queen in Once
Upon a Mattress

With that first production, and many of the early ones, she says that people pitched in and did everything.  At that time the theater didn’t have any lights like it does now so they had to make them using large coffee cans.  They also had to figure out a way to hang them.  They moved them in and out of the theater using large crates.  When not in use, they were stored in various garages, including that of the Toth’s.  The biggest storage area, however, as time went on, was over Big Daddy’s (which is where Mangiamo’s is now).  She reports that Big Daddy’s was very generous, letting them store things there on the upper floor for free.  Unfortunately, there was a fire in the building causing damage to Big Daddy’s, and the Players lost much of their stuff.  So other storage areas were found and that may be when the Players moved to the Saline Depot.  For awhile, the depot was used for storage and for rehearsals, but later was turned back to the historical society.  I personally remember being there for auditions in the first SAP show I auditioned for, Carousel. Over the years, SAP has stored things in people’s barns too, including Bill Burnette and the late Dave Strait, to name a few.

Not long after the group got started, they decided to write bylaws.  Although Rose Carol wasn’t the first president, she was when they wrote the bylaws, which she describes as a tedious process.  They used other groups, like Ann Arbor Civic Theater, and CTAM (Community Theater Association of Michigan) for help.  She says that Dottie Barnes, also on the board, did a lot of work on this project.  Rose Carol stayed on the board for years, and if she wasn’t on it, her husband Ted was.  They were never on at the same time since one of the rules was, and still is, that two people from the same family cannot be at the same time.  (In my opinion that was a great rule because you could give a spouse a break but they are still roped in by the one who IS on the board J ). Rose Carol notes that when they did Oklahoma, their first musical, into the beginning of the second year, they generated a lot of interest, and the families came out for that.  She describes it as a “huge community production” and described this as a big boost for the new group.

In the early days, play reading was a group activity.  The chair or co-chair of the committee would find out about plays through hearsay, CTAM, or perhaps research, and they would suggest that the board read them.  Everyone would sit around and read through the plays, taking the different parts.  It was from these readings that the plays were selected.  Then the season was developed and they put out advertisements for directors.  She remembers that Roger Wertenberger from Ann Arbor Civic directed and Jim Posante choreographed South Pacific, a huge musical production for SAP.  They were well known in the community.  At that time, the artistic and the music directors were the only ones paid.  The rest, pretty much like it is now, were volunteers!

Ted Toth

Rose Carol’s husband Ted was one of the main set builders for SAP for years.  Although a pipe fitter for General Motors by trade, he was in the Air National Guard and through that erected buildings and made temporary sites.  He learned a lot about building from that, and also worked a bit with Ann Arbor Civic Theater where he learned about set design and painting.  Rose Carol said that he always carried a small pad of paper and a pencil in his pocket, and every time they traveled, he would sketch things he saw, like buildings, towers, etc. hoping to use some of these drawings in the future on a set.  While visiting her, I had the honor of viewing many of his pieces of art throughout her home.  We were incredibly lucky to have Ted beyind the scenes.  (And, occasionally, we’d be able to get him on stage, but only for a cameo role). 

Currently, one of the best things about being part of the Saline Area Players are the parties.  It is fun to work hard on a production and then get to enjoy everyone at a party.  I didn’t join the group until 1984 but was able to participate in some very late night parties.  But evidently, they weren’t as late as I thought.  According to Rose Carol, the cast would frequently go to Big Daddy’s after a rehearsal.  The grill would close by 1:00 (a.m., that is), so they would make sure they got their orders in by then.  She remembers the occasional person who had to rehearse later shouting out their order as others went out the door.  The restaurant would stay open later, though, and she remembers staying until 2 or 3:00 a.m. until they closed.  She thinks those were on the weekends.  For the cast parties, everybody would come dressed up, in long dresses (the women, that is).  She remembers that the parties went late into the night, sometimes until 6:00 a.m. After the party broke up, the cast would go over to what was the Big Apple at the time (now Saline Inn) and have breakfast.  That was before my time!  She also remembers the annual picnics at the Barnes’ home where they have a pool.  Dottie would make most of the food, often spaghetti with garlic bread and salad.  She says that the parties were so cohesive with no squabbles…just fun, fun, fun!!!

"Gooch"

As we talked, I realize that not much has changed.  People come together to create a play and become part of the group.  The people come from all walks of life and often don’t know each other ahead of time.  Families are very much involved and often share the experience.  Publicity, finding an audience, getting enough funding, and keeping up the enthusiasm remain ongoing challenges.  And, certainly, we still like to have parties, but sadly, they don’t go until breakfast anymore. 

Come learn more about the Saline Area Players and celebrate with us at our 40^th Anniversary Gala on June 22.