For the Coachella Valley Repertory theater company, this season is all about tolerance.
“We live in a society that isn’t tolerant,” says Ron Celona, the CV Rep artistic director and the director of Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks, which opens Wednesday, Jan. 22, and runs through Sunday, Feb. 10.
That intolerance (undeniably a bad thing), combined with the increasing diversity in our not-so-little-anymore community (undeniably a good thing), led CV Rep to make tolerance the theme for the three adult plays (plus one children’s show) the company is presenting this season.
And how does Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks—a comedy by Richard Alfieri focusing on the widow of Southern Baptist minister and her gay dance teacher—fit into that theme?
“It brings up issues in the community that need to be addressed,” Celona says. “(The play) sort of pushes the tolerance of both of the characters.”
The woman, Lily Harrison (played by Bobbi Stamm), grew up in the South and has conservative, biblically rooted beliefs. The man, Michael Minetti (Sean Galuszka), came to Florida from New York City to take care of his mother; she has since died, and Michael feels stuck in Florida, an aging gay man trying to find his place in the world.
“They both have preconceived judgments about each other,” Celona says.
Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks had a brief—four weeks, to be exact—stint on Broadway in 2003, with Polly Bergen and Mark Hamill in the lead roles. Six Dance Lessons has since been performed on stages large and small around the world.
Celona says the play was appealing to him because it’s a comedy that addresses tolerance, and was a nice fit in between CV Rep’s other two plays this season, both of which are more dramatic: Donald Margulies’ Collected Stories, which was onstage in October and November, and Cormac McCarthy’s The Sunset Limited, which opens in March.
In fact, the tension between Six Dance Lessons’ more dramatic elements and its comedic parts led to one of the biggest challenges for Celona as a director, he says.
“It was extra tricky to work around the very dramatic parts of the play, and to keep it a comedy,” says Celona, who had not seen a live version of the play before. “If I was not careful to choreograph and maneuver (through the more dramatic parts), it could have become a drama. We have to remind ourselves this is a comedy.”
He praised both of the actors for dedicating themselves so fully to the roles. Galuszka has been in a number of TV shows and films, including a large role in recent indie film Crossroad. Stamm has a background as a nightclub singer/comedian, with various stage and screen roles to her credit.
“When you have actors who are so committed to a role and the growth of a new company, it’s just so appreciated,” Celona says.
CV Rep is indeed one of the valley’s newer theatrical organizations, in its second year in its home at The Atrium in Rancho Mirage, Celona says. Celona, of course, thinks the future of CV Rep in the ever-diversifying Coachella Valley is bright.
“The time has come for a professional regional theater, where thriving, working artists can perform,” Celona says.
Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks takes place at 8 p.m., Wednesday through Saturday; and 2 p.m., Sunday, through Sunday, Feb. 10. Tickets are $40. The Coachella Valley Repertory theater is located at The Atrium, 69930 Highway 111 in Rancho Mirage. For tickets or more information, call 296-2966, or visit www.cvrep.org.