Compassion and Charity Lie Through the Stage Door

For the Love of Theater

The energy level is high on a Wednesday night in February as three dozen kids head into their final rehearsal of You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown. They’ve been practicing for nearly two months, but with opening night now on the immediate horizon there’s the usual mix of excitement, anticipation and jitters during the tech rehearsal.

The kids are members of the Academy Players, the longtime theater company from East Greenwich that moved to Providence four years ago. “We reinvented ourselves. We all sat down; I called everybody I knew who was proficient in the arts,” said Rita Maron, who was the catalyst for the move.

Rita has a dance and choreography background and taught theater in both public and private schools. Her vision for a rejuvenated Academy was simple: a non-profit community theater that gives back to the community.

Right beside her is Rita’s daughter Chelsea who came back to Rhode Island after graduating from the University of New Hampshire with a theater degree. That wasn’t the original game plan, but Chelsea couldn’t pass up the opportunity of working with her mom on a creative new initiative: The Stage Door Project.

Every performance that Academy puts on  — about 20 a year — raises money for other non-profit organizations or people in need and has brought in thousands of dollars over the past four years. “I fell in love with the community aspect. I fell in love with doing this with my mother, doing the theater with her. It’s just been an amazing thing to do,’’ Chelsea said.

The Academy Players had been a fixture in East Greenwich since 1956, performing at Swift Gym for years, then moving to the Varnum Armory on Main Street. But Academy was struggling and in 2010 Rita made a pitch to move it to a complex of buildings owned by her husband’s construction company on the Providence/Johnston line. The central location made geographic sense, and they had more space, including the main theater, a practice room and storage area down the hall, and a separate dance company next door, where the kids gathered before the opening night of Charlie Brown.

While the play had its eight-night run over two weeks in the main theater, a separate crew was in the practice studio rehearsing Plaza Suite, which would open several weeks after Charlie Brown ended its run.

The Marons underwrite the cost of the space and have a built-in construction crew for set design. And Rita’s husband, Tom, is right there with his wife and daughter, at times manning the concession stand during performances.

Dozens of people and organizations have been the beneficiaries of Academy’s fundraising efforts. It’s a dizzying array and speaks to the need the theater is helping meet. The first night of each performance benefits KJ Ricci of North Providence, Rita’s cousin who has leukemia and a bone disorder. And when KJ couldn’t come to a performance, the cast goes to him. Rita says it has had a profound effect on some of the kids.

“It would help teach them passion and compassion on and off the stage,” Rita said. “These kids can come in and really do a phenomenal job, but when you add a care or a cause to it, it changes the aspect. At least that’s what we’ve found.’’

It was Chelsea who coined the name Stage Door Project.

“The stage door is the portal from the real world to the theater world. People wait around the stage door to see the stars and people wait around the stage door to enter the theater. I look at it as a portal from the outside world to the inside of the theater world and we put it together,” she said.

Chelsea is the stage manager, organizing schedules for the kids and adults, leaving the directing to her mom. Chelsea is also a professional photographer and takes all the cast pictures on the wall for each show and promotional shoots for all of the plays.

“And we’re in the public eye; the public knows us,” Chelsea said. “We use our theater as advertisement for the charity. What better way to show people a charity or to show people someone in need than to do it through something as public as a theater?’’

To draw an audience and the resulting financial support means Academy has to put on a level of production that will keep people coming back and draw patrons beyond the cast families and charity recipients. The goals are quality theater and a laboratory for the actors.

“It’s not just a performance venue,” Rita said. “When you work with us you learn. You learn about the music, you learn what key you’re going to sing in, you know the pitch, you know the history, the clarity of this role.’’

All while making a difference inside and outside the theater.

“It makes me feel good that I’m doing something good with people’s talents,’’ Rita said.

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