34west comes to the rescue

Stephen Baldwin’s 34west Theater Company has carved out a niche in the Mahoning Valley’s crowded theater scene.

The small troupe has offered dinner-theater productions that are wholesome (well, definitely the theater part) for 10 years, and will mark its anniversary in May with a gala event. But more about that later.

Baldwin called last week to talk about a fundraiser for the Rescue Mission of the Mahoning Valley.

34west will stage its original production, “My Name is Ruth,” April 9 at the Embassy, 5030 Youngstown-Poland Road, to benefit the organization. The evening will begin at 6:30 p.m. with a formal buffet. Tickets are $50 and can be reserved by calling the mission at (330) 744-5485.

“Ruth” is an adaptation of the biblical story of Ruth and Boaz. Updating such stories and setting them in more modern times has become 34west’s specialty.

“It’s how we got started as a theater,” said Baldwin. “Due to a lack of material for the kind of shows we wanted to do — with a wholesome feel, encouraging — we started looking at Bible stories. But we’re not ones for throwing on curtain and drapes. We like retelling them with a modern twist. We started doing that a while back, and people responded to it well. We’ve become known for it.”

In the Bible story, Ruth is a widow who returns to Bethlehem with her mother-in-law, Naomi. Because she has no husband, land or children, she has little status. As was the practice in that era, Ruth goes to a farm to glean grain. There, she meets Boaz, the wealthy landowner, who goes out of his way to help her.

34west’s version parallels the Bible’s, but it’s set in the 1950s in a large American city, and the Boaz character is the owner of a department store.

“Ruth” has been one of the troupe’s most-popular productions. Plus, as Baldwin pointed out, its theme of helping those in need fits in perfectly with the Rescue Mission’s goals.

34west has been staging “Ruth” for several months at churches and at its regular venues: Dutch Village Inn in Columbiana and The Amish Door in Wilmot.

The company’s season also includes an interactive whodunnit (“Perry Columbus”), a musical comedy (“Grand Ole Jamboree”) and a holiday production (“Christmas at the Inn”), among others. Each is served up with dinner and dessert.

“Dinner-theater draws a certain type of audience,” said Baldwin. “Newcomers aren’t entirely sure of what to expect. The set is minimal; the cast is usually just two or three people,” he said. “Then they see the show, and a frequent response is, ‘That is not what I was expecting at all, but I loved it’.”

Baldwin and Jeff Querin, a Boardman resident who is the only other full-time member of 34West, split their time between the Mahoning Valley and New York City, where they audition for acting work.

“I was a waiter in a ‘Law & Order’ episode, and Jeff was in the pilot of an HBO show called ‘Boardwalk Empire.’” said Baldwin, who is a California native. “I’m also doing some indie-film work.”

On May 14, both members will be at Dutch Village Inn for 34west’s 10-year anniversary celebration that will include a one-night revival of “John: His Story.”

“It’s the first production we ever did,” said Baldwin. For reservations, call (866) 482-5050, or go to 34west.org.