Ups and downs of 'Carousel'

It's a sunny but cold Monday evening on Glenwood Avenue as Jim and Gerri Sullivan struggle with armfuls of costumes meant to save Youngstown Playhouse's production of "Carousel," which -- community theater gods willing -- opens Friday.
"We're calling this the little show that could," Gerri said later.
First, the music director quit, then the choreographer left, then boxes of costumes that had been pulled from stock for the show were accidentally thrown away.
Family affair
But that's not the story. That comes later, when you walk into the current home of a community theater that staged its first play in the 1920s and see the cast of "Carousel." That's when the meaning of "community" hits you.
Onstage, singing the finale "You'll Never Walk Alone" -- the song about which director Jack Ballantyne stridently tells his cast: "Give it all you've got and more! This has to bring out the hankies!" -- are husbands and wives, parents and children, and, thanks to the Sullivans, sisters, cousins, nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles and grandma.
In all, there are 11 members of Gerri and Jim's family gracing the stage or helping with the technical aspects of "Carousel."
First to board the merry-go-round was Jim, a Youngstowner whose day job is media technician at Ursuline College, but who studied technical theater at YSU. Jim was approached by Ballantyne to be "Carousel"'s stage manager.
That was enough for Jim's wife, Gerri, director of counseling and career services at Ursuline, who was familiar with the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical about a New England fishing town. "I always wanted to play Nettie Fowler," said Gerri, of the character dubbed "the earth mother of the village."
Gerri planned to audition and invited her niece Sarah Bellus to do so as well. Sarah, already an actress at 9 -- she was Goldstein Girl No. 4 in the furniture store commercials and will be appearing in the upcoming flick "The Calling" -- had her mother, Patty Bellus, take her. As a result, Patty volunteered to do makeup and hair.
In the meantime, Gerri heard the director needed a little boy. Hey, what's family for?
Nephew and aunt
She called her sister, Kathy Rogers, and asked for her nephew Sean. Of course, 6-year-olds can't take themselves to rehearsals. Before she knew what hit her, Kathy was more than a stage mom; she was a "sleazy, flirtatious beauty from Europe."
"I'm working on my master's degree and am a facilities care manager for the Renal Care Group. But he wouldn't do it without me, so now I'm also in a chorus," Kathy said and shook her head.
Gerri's niece, Mayson Jenkins, is of an age to be in kindergarten, not the theater. But, as Gerri said, "Mayson would rather rehearse than eat." She was in. Mayson's father, Erick, however, had to be hornswoggled into being a sailor.
Rosemary Jenkins, Gerri's mom, was more willing. A singer with the Youngstown Symphony Chorus for the past 32 years, she landed in the "Carousel" chorus, and then in a quartet. "It's fun," she said. "By opening night, you forget how tiring it's been." (Rosemary has already appeared in the Playhouse's "Oklahoma" and "Sound of Music.")
The third generation of Gerri's family is also represented by her children, Jimmy and Kelly. While Jimmy, a high school senior, is helping with the tech of the show, Kelly is all about performing and singing. Kelly is a Volney Rogers eighth-grader who hopes to be a fashion designer some day. But, she said, "I feel my absolute best when I'm singing." It's probably in the genes.
Show will go on
As for those missing costumes and participants, well, the show will still go on. People ran to thrift stores and begged and borrowed replacements; other directors came on board, like Nick Opritza and Jim Johnson. "It was really a community pulling together," Gerri said.
What could be better for community theater?
"Carousel" opens Friday and runs through May 22. For ticket information, call (330) 788-8739.
murphy@vindy.com