Page 4-B � Thursday, May 6, 2010 • HERITAGE NEWSPAPERS/WESTERN REGION

Purple Rose inspires young actor

By Daniel LaiHeritage Newspapers

When Ty Mitchell talks, he sounds like any other young college graduate with a list of hopes and dreams a mile long. However, Mitchell, a resident of Chelsea, isn’t like any other young person his age. At 24, Mitchell has appeared in 16 theatre productions with no signs of slowing down.

Mitchell can currently be seen on stage at the Purple Rose Theatre Company performing alongside a veritable cast of veteran actors in director Guy Sanville’s adaptation of Thornton Wilder’s “Our Town.”

Mitchell, who will complete his one-year apprenticeship with the Purple Rose in September, said he was sur-prised to be cast in the play.

“It’s my first professional show,” he said smiling. “It’s really cool. When Guy (Sanville) told me, I didn’t believe him.”

Though the show is well into it’s third week, Mitchell said the thought of being in a Purple Rose production is still sinking in.

“It’s such a great cast and it blows me away to be able to sit on stage every night and watch them do their work,” he said. “I feel really privi-leged.”

According to Alan Ribant, man-aging director, it is uncommon for apprentices to be cast in the theatre’s productions.

“In our early rehearsals, Ty showed Guy that he could tickle the ivories and Guy included his piano skills into the play,” Ribant said. “Ty is a Chelsea native and we are happy to have him on board.”

Mitchell said he never thought “messing around” on the theatre’s piano would lead to anything more than that.

However, by taking a chance, he was commissioned to score the incidental musical arrangements for the show.

“Most of the music has come from spur of the moment stuff,” he said. “We would be in rehearsal and Guy would tell me to just go with my gut feeling.”

Mitchell said a lot of the inspiration came from watching rehearsals.

“I would just sit at the piano bench and watch. I had a lot more music written but it got cut at the last week of rehearsal,” he said. “That’s prob-ably for the better. The music that remains is great.”

Mitchell has been playing the piano since he was 8 years old.

“It’s not really stressful,” he said of playing live music on stage. “The only part that really makes me nervous is the wedding march. If you screw that up, then everyone knows. It’s less stressful to play the incidental music because you can have fun with that and change it up to support the actors dialogue.”

With a resume that boasts pro-duction on a Saturday Night Live episode as well as numerous appear-ances on the Chelsea Area Players’ stage, Mitchell said he feels humbled to be able to work with veteran actors of stage and screen at the Purple Rose.

“It’s neat. I try to pin them down and ask advice. I want to be like them too,” he said. “It’s a lot more comfort-able than I thought it would be to approach them. They are all so helpful and eager to share their stories. It’s like being part of a larger family.”

While he’s not on stage, Mitchell, along with eight other apprentices, help make sure behind-the-scenes production at the Purple Rose runs smoothly.

Apprentices are hired mostly right out of college and work one year at the theatre assisting with concessions, ticket sales, theatre tours, and all aspects of the performance.

“It’s a neat trade off,” Mitchell said. “Yes we have to help out the opera-tions of the theatre, but the trade off is being able to work with some really neat people.

“I think I’ve learned more here than I did in college.”

Mitchell recalled his first day on the job:

“Jeff Daniels, you know, who founded the Purple Rose, isn’t usu-ally around when the new class of apprentices are given their tour of the theatre,” he said. “It so happens he was in town when we started. When they led us into the Green Room, Jeff was standing right there. It was kind of awkward at first because they lined

us all up in a row.“After a minute, Jeff opened his

arms and said, ‘so there are worse places, right?’”

Mitchell said from then on his fear of working with famous actors was quelled.

“He’s just a regular guy,” he said. “It’s amazing what he’s done here in Chelsea.”

Mitchell will continue his perfor-mances with “Our Town” until the production’s final show at the end of May.

“Our apprenticeships end after the next show ‘Boeing-Boeing’ ends,” he said. “I am definitely going to miss it,

but hopefully I will be back in some fashion.”

Mitchell said he would like to stay around the Chelsea area and perform in more shows to build up “equity points” with the actors Equity Union.

“I would love to end up working at a place like this,” he said. “I am very grateful to Guy, Jeff and Alan for providing such an educational experi-ence.

“Alan and Guy love to teach, and I will gladly let them do it so I can suck it all in.”

Working with Sanville on stage has also given Mitchell a better apprecia-tion of what directors go through.

“Guy Sanville is really inspiring to work with. You think that a guy like that would be a lot more rigid with how he runs rehearsals. I think he likes to foster an environment to allow ideas to flow around,” Mitchell said. “But when it comes down to it, he is the boss and he is a brilliant guy to work with. He harbors a nice atmo-sphere for the community to work together. You can tell that he cares a lot about what he does.”

“It truly is one big family here.”

Daniel Lai is editor of The Chelsea Standard. He can be reached at 429-7380 or dlai@heritage.com.

Chelsea resident learns ins and outs of theatre while working on play

‘Our Town’ cast brings characters to lifeBy Amy GraySpecial Writer

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 1938, Thornton Wilder’s “Our Town” is considered by many to be the great-est American stage play. Spanning 13 years in the fictional town of Grover’s Corners, “Our Town” cele-brates the everyday moments throughout our lives.

Director Guy Sanville pulls together a moving night of theatre as well as great performances from his actors, most notably Will David Young, Rhiannon Ragland, and Michelle Mountain.

Young as the narrator and

stage manager provides a solid anchor to the cast. His fluid line delivery and won-derful subtlety keep the audi-ence interested and involved through the play.

Ragland as Mrs. Gibbs and Mountain as Mrs.Webb provide moments of humor, especially in the wedding day scene. They both add a strong female presence that was enjoyable to watch.

Michael Brian Ogden as George Gibbs and Stacie Hadgikosti as Emily Webb were a slightly odd romantic pairing. While they both effectively played the emo-tional scenes, Hadgikosti seemed to play her character

too young.The technical aspects of

the production are wonder-fully executed. The thrust style stage, with the seating on three sides, makes you feel like you are in the scene with the actors. Vincent Mountain’s set design is beautiful in it’s simplicity, and Quintessa Gallinat’s sound design sets the mood of the theatre nicely.

Daniel C. Walker’s light-ing design is a real high-light. The warm amber gels gives the feel of sitting in a

sepia-style picture. Sally L. Converse-Doucette’s costume design for the most part is spot on. The design did have a few glaringly modern pieces mixed in, such as leg warmers and leggings.

Overall, the Purple Rose’s production of Wilder’s “Our Town” is definitely one that should not be missed.

On opening night, as the lights faded on the cast of “Our Town,” light sobbing could be heard coming from a woman in the audience. This was a testimony to

the quality and caliber of actors under the guidance of Sanville.

“Our Town” runs at The Purple Rose Theatre Company through May 29. Performances are Wednesday through Saturday at 8 p.m., Saturday matinees at 3 p.m., and Sunday mati-

nees at 2 p.m. Reservations can be made by calling the box office at 1-734-433-7673 Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., or visit www.purplerosetheatre.org.

Amy Gray is a theater free-lance writer for The Chelsea Standard. She can be reached at gray_amy@yahoo.com.

Photo courtesy of the Purple Rose Theatre Company

The cast of Thornton Wilder’s “Our Town” rehearses and scene during dress rehearsal at the Purple Rose Theatre in Chelsea.

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