-------------------------------------------------------------------- Session 37 Co-op History/Discussion Club Nov 18, 2012 -------------------------------------------------------------------- The History of the Apricot Theatre Hello, as I mentioned before, my name is Theresa Efre La Marca, and I have been an Amalgamated cooperator for over 25 years. I first came to the Amalgamated in 1985. Shortly after settling in, I found out that the community was putting on a production of "Bus Stop", in Vladeck Hall. I was delighted to see well trained actors working with people who obviously had never been on the stage before. I remember one particular lady who was basically just saying her lines, but seemed so happy to be onstage with family, friends, and fellow cooperators watching her, that it was a joy to see. At the time, I had been working in the theatre and some film, and was trained at several acting schools and was excited about possibly working on plays in my own neighborhood! I auditioned for the next play and got a part. At that time I met the group of actors who made up this troupe. This was obviously a young group that were still in their early 20's, I was in my late 30's. After appearing in two more shows, I was asked to join their more formal group, which consisted of a president, vice president, secretary and treasurer, as well as other members. This group was originally formed by three Manhattan College friends, one who was the son of Harmon Zapakin, the President of the Park Reservoir Board of Directors. His name was Randy Zapakin. Ironically, my husband and I just found out that he died last week, when he was hit by a car, where he lived in Yorktown Heights. So we would like to dedicate our talk today, to him. We never got to meet him. The other two friends were Dan Kelly, who directed most of our plays and Kevin Lawrence who was an actor. Dan Kelly was also an actor, so whenever he wanted to act in a play, he would change his name to Don Kiley. What impressed me the most about this group was the way it was set up in a democratic fashion. We would each present a play that we were interested in, and then the group would vote on it. After we picked a play, and got the O.K. from Judah Goldstein to mount the play, we would have auditions. The auditions were opened to all the cooperators. Those who were not picked for a part, were asked if they wanted to participate in another aspect of the theater, such as being a stage manager, lighting person, prop manager, etc. Those who were in the group automatically volunteered. This group did plays from 1982 until about 1990. Dan Kelly left the group in January of 1989, but two more productions were put on, by other cast mates. The director of "The Curious Savage" was Stephen Dowling. The other play "Dracula" was directed by Lynn Polansky. The other unique thing about this group was that since we worked so well and so closely together, we got to know each other very well. Four couples from the Apricot Players got married. George and I were the first to get married, and then our younger friends followed. As a result, Dan Kelly and his wife Karen moved away and had a baby girl. Steve Dowling married Mary Anne Drago and had four children and still live in the neighborhood. Kevin Lawrence and his wife, Anne, moved to Old Bridge, New Jersey and have four children. George, me and Lynn Polansky still live here. Lynn is a widow and has two daughters. Because of these circumstances the group disbanded. After the original group disbanded, one of the actors that was in one of the productions, asked to put on two plays adapted from the movies, "On the Waterfront", and "The Petrified Forest". The cast consisted mainly of his personal friends. About three years later, one of our cooperators, Dominick Cohen volunteered to direct a play. Since we wanted to get the interest of the community, we thought "Night Watch", a mystery would be fun. It was a success. For the most part the actors who were involved were in their forties and fifties. It became increasingly difficult to find plays that didn't require younger players to be involved. After Night Watch, Mr. Cohen retired and one of the other actors volunteered to direct the next play. All in all, we produced five plays. Besides "Night Watch", we also did "Arsenic and Old Lace", "Play it Again Sam", "Bell, Book and Candle", and our last production, "Alice in Wonderland", which was done in 2005. After these five productions, the director wanted to do Shakespeare. No one came to the auditions. He quit. At that point I put in an ad at HB Studio for a director. His name was, Joseph Wright and he was willing to come to the Bronx and direct, but we could not get any young actors. At that point the group disbanded.
Community News coming attraction notice for "Fiddler on the Roof"
Peretz Kaminsky diary of preparations for "Fiddler on the Roof"
