PLAYHOUSE PEOPLE

Several actors and directors who have been a part of the Youngstown Playhouse for decades are returning to take part in the 90th anniversary musical revue this weekend. Some who never left also will take part. On the occasion of its 90th anniversary, four longtime per-formers who started at the Playhouse shared their thoughts and memories of the theater and what it has meant to them. All four will take part in this weekend’s performances.

Arlene Ivan

Ivan and her husband moved to Florida in 2003 after retiring from Youngstown State University. When she lived in the Mahoning Valley, she acted in more than 25 productions at the Playhouse and also did some television commercial work. Ivan’s daughter, Susan Prosser, is also involved with the Playhouse now and will take part in this weekend’s shows.

“I started at the Playhouse the summer I graduated from high school — 1959. The production of “Brigadoon” was close to opening, so I did not have the pleasure of performing in that show, but I worked backstage during the day, helping to build the sets, and during evening performances worked the prop table. That was my first and last show behind the scenes. However, it taught me how important the backstage crew is to a production.

“I have so many fond memories of the Playhouse I can’t begin to list them all. There is at least one story from each show that makes me laugh and think of the actors I shared the stage with, and also the backstage crew.

“Being a member of the Playhouse has taught me persistence, endurance and how to carry myself in the business world. Experiencing the roles of various characters on stage has taught me to try to understand the characteristics and personalities of people in general. It also taught me quick thinking. When someone misses an entrance, exit or a line, you ad lib ... sometimes a lot!”

Terri A. Wilkes

Wilkes began at the Playhouse more than three decades ago. In that time, she has taken part in many productions as an actor, crew member and director, and her involvement continues. The retired drama teacher will direct the theater’s upcoming production of “Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks,” which opens Nov. 14 in the Moyer Room.

“My first show at the Playhouse was ‘The Seven Year Itch’ in 1983. I was running the sound board, and at that time we used a reel-to-reel tape recorder for cues. During one performance there was a very important cue where the actor sits at a fake piano and plays Tchaikovsky. The recorder broke, and I wound up using my hands to turn the reels so that I didn’t miss the cue. That was quite a nerve-wracking beginning to a 31-year relationship with the Playhouse.

“The first time I appeared on the main stage was “A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine” in 1986. It was directed by David Jendre. I learned to play the baritone sax, tap dance, and do an imitation of Margaret Dumont in the Marx Brothers films for that production. My most recent appearance at The Playhouse was in “Arsenic and Old Lace,” which also starred Jendre. I just recently completed being spot captain for “A Chorus Line.”

“The Youngstown Playhouse has been the setting for the making of lifelong friendships. I guess that, and the many fun, interesting and — at times — tense experiences make the Playhouse very special to me, and every time I stray and either direct a show, act or work crew at another theater, when I return to the Playhouse, I feel as though I came home.

Joe Scarvell

Scarvell has been tied to the Playhouse since his first role there in 1958. Since then, he estimates that he has been involved in about 75 shows at the theater as an actor or a director. He will next direct “You Can’t Take It With You” at the theater in March. Scarvell became a drama instructor after his introduction to the Playhouse. Now in his 80s, he still teaches theater at Westminster College. He talked about how the Playhouse was the starting point for the directions that his life would take.

“Jim Cameron was a director there [in the late 1950s], and he was a father figure and possibly responsible for me and my wife [Joanne] finding each other. We used to do touring shows with Cameron directing. He was doing one of these, ‘The Glass Menagerie,’ and Joanne [Kaschak] had the part of Laura.

“The Playhouse has helped the career of maybe hundreds of people. I was a history teacher, and because of doing a few shows there, I wanted to become an actor, so I got a master’s degree in theater.”

Mary Jo Maluso

Maluso has been part of a cabaret duo with her husband, Rick Blackson, since 1990. Both will take part in this weekend’s anniversary gala revue. Maluso’s professional career, which has extended into song writing and television, began at the Playhouse.

“The main reason Rick and I made room in our schedules for the Playhouse gala was to honor my dad [John Maluso]. He turned 90 this past May — the Playhouse is 90 — and he is one of the few that is still around that did some performing at the original Market Street playhouse. In the early 2000s my dad served as board president and helped them wipe out a $350,000 mortgage, and help obtain $1.3 million from then Congressman [James] Traficant to renovate and update the existing facility.

“My experience at the Playhouse began in 1976. My first role was Maria in “West Side Story.” I went on to have another lead in “The Boyfriend,” then “Fiddler On the Roof” in 1978. I returned in 1983 to take the role of Guinevere in “Camelot.” The following year I was invited into Actor’s Equity, and reprised the role at the Carousel Dinner Theater. From there I did concert work as a show opener for Tony Bennett, Jim Nabors, Paul Anka, The Lettermen, The Osmonds and many more.”

“My love for live performing was certainly discovered and nurtured by years of performing at the Youngstown Playhouse. Over the years I had the good fortune to work with wonderful directors and fellow actors, and I hope it is a tradition that can be kept alive in the community for years to come.”