As I sit to write “Family Recipe Box” it’s the hours between the matinee and evening performance for Stratton Players’ fall production, “The Nerd,” directed by Andy DeSisto. The actors are resting up downstairs at the theatre, and everyone is trying to avoid cheese and dairy because it adds to the phlegm in your throat.
Happy birthday Stratton Players — at 100 years old, this is the oldest community theatre in continuous operation in our region, and tonight we have our Annual Meeting, to which all are invited. There will be light refreshments, and we will discuss our upcoming season, as well as share stories and fellowship that come from a group of talented folks creating art together.
One of my goals in the coming years is to complete “The Cast Party Cookbook,” to celebrate our anniversary and incredible heritage. Part of the tradition of theatre is to celebrate — pretty much everything you can. Birthdays, holidays, but especially opening nights and closing performances.
The tradition with the Cast Party, is that every member of the company, actors, director, tech crew, and helpers brings a dish to share — thus you get a varied offering of hot dishes, and cold salads, sweet desserts, and usually some interesting beverages (my late mother, Janet Cragin, who joined in 1963) was partial to “blush” wines that came in cardboard boxes.
“Just going to have a little cup of juice,” she’d say, and pour a thimbleful into one of the 3 ounce cups we use for complimentary soda beverages at intermission.
Eating on stage
I played an elf, Fili, in Stratton’s production of “The Hobbit,” back in the 1970s. Once Bilbo Baggins begins his adventure, he has to break bread with a squad of elves, and because we were all children, it was easy to have us squeeze together on two benches with a card table between us. Whomever was stage manager for the production was a genius, because the “feast” we needed to devour was actually a box of Twinkies, cut into bite sized pieces.
During every performance, it was a race to see who could eat the most Twinkies before they needed to say their line. And the other detail is that we had a fanatical volunteer, Bob Thomas, who was a make-up wiz, and came early to glue little tufty beardlets on all of our chins with spirit glue. We had to sit there and hold them in place — and no talking! Of course, some children talked, and when the Twinkie feast occurred the scene wasn’t complete without at least one or two little beards dropped on the table next to the crumbs.
I asked some of our Stratton Players’ alumni for their stories about eating onstage — and there were so many that we’ll share more in the coming months! Here’s Jeff Van Amburgh, who appeared in “Greetings.”
“As Act II opened, the family was seated eating a meal (prepared hot for each performance by prop goddess Mary Lyman). Everyone else had lines but my character, the mentally challenged Mickey. Staying in character, I would shovel meatloaf/gravy/greenbeans/mashed potatoes noisily into my mouth until my cheeks bulged and food ran down my chin. Father (Norm Gallagher), brother (Gary Kendall), mom and brother’s fiance (names lost in fog of time) sat around and delivered their lines while doing their best to ignore me. Norm later confessed that he couldn’t even look toward me because of his fear of losing it on stage.
“It was one of my proudest moments ever.”
Some actors are thrown into the deep end, and John Williams recollects appearing in “Getting Away with Murder” with Joanna Karamanou, whose family owned Mike’s Pizza at the time.
“She had to eat on stage for the entire show. Just constantly eating. Spanakopita, dolmas, baklava, and probably other stuff. We would eat the leftovers backstage (downstairs). Good times. No recipes, though, unless they were homemade from the pizza place her family owned.”
Realistic Props
Stratton Players’ current production, “The Nerd” has some of the most spectacular “eating-on-stage” scenes we’ve ever produced. And the props for these scenes are dazzling, some made by artist Suzan Wentworth. These include a brace of Cornish hens, glued on plates with sides of peas and carrots, an over-size apple core, and a plate of Devilled Eggs made of self-hardening clay.
Devilled Eggs,made of self-hardening clay and Superglue, Don’t they look delish?! (SALLY CRAGIN)
“The hens — how does anyone learn anything these days? YouTube. I saw a woman make a turkey out of pantyhose so I made chickens out of knee highs. The applecore was a total fluke. I had a small piece of foam and just started chopping at it with a pair of scissors until it looked like bites in an apple Then I painted the top and bottom red. The clever part is there is a nail inserted into the bottom and a magnet on the plate to hold that piece of foam upright.”
Cornish hens, made of nylons, pillow stuffing and paint. (SALLY CRAGIN)
“The Nerd” is presented by Stratton Players at Christ Church, 569 Main St. Fitchburg. Performances Friday, Sept. 26, 7:30 pm, and Saturday, Sept. 27, 2 and 7:30 pm. Tickets $10 (students/seniors), $15, available for cash or check at the door, or email strattonplayers@gmail.com
Fan Favorites
However, our “Cast Party Cookbook” won’t be complete without a fan favorite — Beth Wilson is a longtime 2nd grade teacher at Johnny Appleseed School and was last seen on the stage as the Caterpillar in “Alice in Wonderland.” We all love this dish, which has a huge advantage for anyone heading off to the theatre: “set and forget.”
Beth Wilson’s Grape Jelly Meatballs
INGREDIENTS:
2 pounds fully cooked frozen meatballs
1 1/2 cups ketchup
3/4 cup grape jelly
DIRECTIONS:
Place all ingredients in a slow cooker. Mix together thoroughly. Cook on low heat for four hours. Enjoy!
Sally Cragin would love to read your family recipes and stories. Write to: sallycragin@gmail.com
Sally Cragin is an award-winning writer/journalist and Fitchburg City Councilor-at-Large. (CHERYL CUDDAHY)
Dining and Cooking