Mount Vernon-Lisbon Community Theater will present “Perfect Arrangement” Friday, June 21 through Sunday, June 23 and Friday, June 28 and Saturday, June 29. The Friday shows are at 7:30 p.m., while Sunday’s show is at 2 p.m. The Sunday, June 23 show will also feature American Sign Language interpretation of the production.
From the show description “It’s 1950, and new colors are being added to the Red Scare. Two U.S. State Department employees, Bob and Norma, have been tasked with identifying sexual deviants within their ranks. There’s just one problem: Both Bob and Norma are gay, and have married each other’s partners as a carefully constructed cover.”
Katie Starks visualized how she would direct this show, and which company she trusted to help bring that visual to life when she first saw it performed a few years ago.
“I hadn’t seen the show before seeing it produced at Theater in the Round in Minneapolis,” Starks said. “There were elements, like it’s opening which is supposed to be reminiscent of 1950s comedy television shows like ‘I Love Lucy’ that were unique ‘in the round,’ but I could see this show so vividly being performed elsewhere.”
Starks had worked with Mount Vernon-Lisbon Community Theater for their production of “The House of Blue Leaves” in 2021, and knew that this piece would be one that would be perfect for First Street Community Center’s theater.
“I pitched it to the board of directors, and they were on board for this production,” Starks said.
The show features the “Lavender Scare,” a policy that focused on gay men and lesbians potentially posing a threat to national security because they would be vulnerable to blackmail.
“Those policies remained in place until the Clinton administration in 1994, and it’s a piece of history we don’t talk a lot about,” Starks said.
Starks said the play is based on a book called “The Lavender Scare: The Cold War Persecution of Gays and Lesbians in the Federal Government” by David K Johnson and a subsequent documentary.
“Where Johnson’s work is dense and full of dates and details, what playwright Topher Payne does so beautifully in this piece is find a way to make this relatable with fleshed out characters who are going through the Lavender Scare,” Starks said.
She said her work on this play has been easy because of the excellent cast she has to work with on the production.
“It’s got a little bit of everything you want in theater – elements of drama and elements of comedy, and this cast makes it work so well,” Starks said.
Because of the elements that celebrate the LGBQTIA+ community and a part of their history that isn’t normally taught, the decision was made to stage the show this June as opposed to the usual July dates for the summer musical for MVLCT.
“It’s just a busy time of year for a lot of our cast and directors – weddings, vacations, graduations, Mother’s Day and Father’s Day celebrations,” Starks said. “Still, we’re excited to have this show opening in roughly a week.”
Kerry Covington plays the role of Norma Baxter in the production.
She said working alongside director Starks who she has worked with over the past 25 years was one of the reasons she auditioned for the piece, and then she read the play and found more reasons to love the show and her particular part.
“Primarily, the setting,” Covington said. “I haven’t been part of too many period pieces like this one.”
Of course, that modern setting and those elements are also some of the challenges for her in the production.
Tina Conroy plays the role of Kitty Sunderson in the production.
For Conroy, it’s her first time working with MVLCT.
“I’ve lived in Mount Vernon for 16 years, and been in productions all around the area, but not with them,” Conroy said. “I’ve seen many of their productions, and it felt like tik was the right time to be a part of this show.”
Playing the role of Kitty, who she described as a little ditzy, has been fun, as that’s not like her at all.
Emily Irwin is playing one of the other leads in the production as Millie Martindale. Irwin has been in a few productions with MVLCT over the past few years and fallen in love with the theater company, and then she read the script for this show and fell in love with it.
“It’s so smart, and funny,” Irwin said. “I’ve loved seeing how we are able to bring Stark’s vision of this show alive each night. Because this show has great characters and situations, but it’s the director and creators who make it come to life.”
Josh Sterrett plays the role of Jim Baxter in the production, one of his first times on stage in more than 20 years.
“I’ve been a theater teacher for more than 20 years, but just haven’t been part of a show in a while,” Sterrett said.
Sterrett said what he loves is the arc that his Jim has over the course of the show and bringing this character to life.
“The fluctuation this performance has from the beginning to the end of the show is just great,” Sterrett said.
He said some of the challenges have been adapting to new ways of doing theater in a safer way, like working with an intimacy coordinator for a show, changes that have happened since he was in theater back in high school but for the better.
“This play reflects so many elements we may still be seeing in our culture today,” Sterrett said. “But it does so in ways that are funny and relatable and something that all audiences could enjoy.”
“It’s just a show with substance with an excellent cast,” Conroy said.
“It’s a show that tells about a period of real history many of us don’t know that impacted many people,” Covington said.
“It’s just a really well written show,” Irwin said. “I can’t wait for people to come see this one.”
“It’s funny and educational at the same time,” Starks said. “People will learn about something at the same time they enjoy the show.”
Tickets for the show are on sale now at mvlct.com.
MVLCT invites you to “Perfect Arrangement”
Nathan Countryman, Editor
June 13, 2024
About the Contributor
Nathan Countryman, Editor
Nathan Countryman is the Editor of the Mount Vernon-Lisbon Sun.