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Community theater celebrates 20 years with ‘Kiss Me Kate’
By Dyana Bagby Staff Writer
Arcado Community Theatre commemorates its 20th anniversary this year
with performances of “Kiss Me Kate” this weekend.
“There has been no other group around this long in Gwinnett,” said
Myrna Feldman, a technology coordinator for special education
programs for Gwinnett County Public Schools and member of the group.
“And one of our missions is to bring traditional music theater to
families and so they can bring their kids,” she added. “Tickets are
only $6 — we want to be cheaper than a baby sitter.”
In keeping with its mission of musicals, the group is performing
Cole Porter’s “Kiss Me Kate” through Sunday. The story is about a
present-day theatrical troupe set to perform Shakespeare’s “The
Taming of the Shrew” in Baltimore.
The “play within a play” offers plenty of room for antics and
hijinks. A divorced couple star in the Shakespeare play, while
off-stage the production is rife with ex-lovers’ quarrels and
gangsters looking for kickbacks.
“I get to bite, hit and slap,” laughed Kim Maugans, who plays the
two lead female roles as Lilli, the ex-wife, and Katherine in
Shakespeare’s play. She has taught chorus at Duluth Middle School
for the past 15 years.
“I have performing in my blood,” she said.
Jerry Jobe, a computer programmer for SunTrust Bank in Gwinnett,
plays the lead roles of Fred and Petruchio.
“He’s kind of an egotistical and controlling person who seems to get
his way,” Jobe said of his character Fred. This marks his return to
Arcado after an 18-year hiatus.
Feldman is excited about “Kiss Me Kate” as well as the 20-year
milestone Arcado Community Theatre has reached by serving Gwinnett
and Lilburn theater lovers.
It was 1983 when Feldman was asked to direct a show at Arcado
Elementary School. “The Ransom of Red Chief,” which turned into an
entire fifth-grade production, began the tradition of doing a
musical each year utilizing every student at that grade level in
some capacity.
After a few years, the teachers wanted to get in on the act, Feldman
explained, and so they performed “The Wizard of Oz,” with a
combination of students and teachers. This was followed by
“Cinderella,” which was opened up to other members of the community.
In 1993, the group incorporated as a community theater and has
produced one show a year since then, including “Fiddler on the
Roof,” “South Pacific,” “Brigadoon,” “Hello Dolly,” and “Anything
Goes.”
“I think theater needs to be everywhere so people have the
opportunity to see,” Feldman said. “It’s becoming more and more
difficult to get to downtown Atlanta to see all the shows.
“This theater is made up of their neighbors — and this is a way to
get to see another side of your friend and co-worker.”
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