Actors' group to honor Carl Sandburg
By Steve Herring
Published in News on February 28, 2015 10:47 PM
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From left, veteran local actors Geoff Hulse, Rosalyn Lomax, Margaret Boothe Baddour and Gerald Simmons will appear in "The World of Carl Sandburg" to be presented in several Wayne County locations March 27-30. The show is sponsored by the WCC Foundation.
The great 20th century writer Carl Sandburg more often than not is associated with Illinois. But what many people do not realize is that he also belongs to North Carolina having lived his last 20 years at a home in the mountains near Asheville.
In celebration of his life (1878-1967), the Wayne Community College Players will perform "The World of Carl Sandburg" in several Wayne County locations March 27-30.
Veteran local actors Geoff Hulse, Rosalyn Lomax, Gerald Simmons and Margaret Boothe Baddour will appear in the show sponsored by the Foundation of Wayne Community College.
The Sandburg production, conceived as an outreach project, will feature performances at 8 p.m. on Friday, March 27, at the University of Mount Olive's Hazel Waters Kornegay Assembly Hall, 207 Wooten St., Mount Olive; at 8 p.m. Saturday, March 28, at WCC's Moffatt Auditorium; and at 3 p.m. Sunday, March 29, at the Wayne County Museum.
A student show will be performed Monday, March 30, at 10 a.m. at Moffatt Auditorium.
"The World of Carl Sandburg," written and arranged by Norman Corwin, debuted on Broadway in 1960 starring Bette Davis, David Merrill and Clarke Allen.
The script includes Sandburg's poetry and jokes, excerpts from his prize-winning biography of Abraham Lincoln, and a selection of the folk songs he collected from across America in the "American Song Bag."
"This is a fun show," Mrs. Baddour said. "The four actors are not confined to stools and music stands, but move freely around the stage with pieces committed to memory. Our musical accompaniment will be provided by professional musician Donald Thompson with Sonny Boy Joyner on harmonica. Both are members of the Donald Underwood Thompson band."
"The World of Carl Sandburg" was presented by adults in 1978 on the porch of the park house at Herman Park and by children in a StageStruck production in 2002 at Rodgers Chapel on the University of Mount Olive campus, the WCC outdoor theater and the Wayne County Museum.
"This is kind of like a glorified readers theater," Mrs. Baddour said. "We get up. We move around. We have musicians. It is a show I did with young people several years ago -- far enough away to dredge it back up. We are all veteran actors locally. We all have some ties with WCC."
"This is a reunion," Hulse said. "Years ago we did 'Driving Miss Daisy.' As a matter of fact that was the first thing I had been in in a while. But the actors and Margaret are now in this together."
Ms. Lomax portrayed Miss Daisy Werthan. Hulse was her son, Boolie Werthan. Simmons was the driver, Hoke Colburn, and Mrs. Baddour was the director.
"This is a new thing for the foundation at the college in that we are going to do outreach," Mrs. Baddour said. "It is an attempt for an arts exchange and Mrs. (Mary) Kerstetter (wife of UMO President Dr. Philip Kerstetter) is very into the fine arts. She wants to try this, and then they may send us something later.
"I think the outreach idea is the main thing. It is a very simple set with just stools and music stands. But a student, Charvez Keys Jr., painted the backdrop with all of this modernist art. I asked him to do that. I wanted it to be 20th century Sandburg period. I don't know if Sandburg would even like this, but it is all primary colors and colorful."
A chair will symbolize Sandburg's presence, Hulse said.
"We may have some props in that chair," he said.
"The original show had that in 1960 -- Bette Davis, David Merrill and Clarke Allen did this on Broadway," Mrs. Baddour said. "Sandburg was still alive, and he attended the show. They had that chair to symbolize him with a lot of books.
"He did the Lincoln biography so he is a prose writer. He did poetry. He won the Pulitzer for both. So we think this will be very educational. We are going to try to get high school English students involved. I think it is going to be something different.
Mrs. Baddour said she had not done a play since she retired two years ago.
"I wanted to come back with something special that would just be adults," she said. "I have done a lot with the students at the college. This is just going to be the veterans. We call ourselves the Wayne Community College Players."
"I call us the not-ready-for-primetime Margaret Baddour players," Hulse said. "What I like about it is that we get to read some of it. We don't have to learn anything."
Hulse has starred in numerous WCC productions. He portrayed Atticus Finch in "To Kill a Mockingbird", Blackbeard in "Hot Grog" and Anne's uncle in "Anne of Green Gables."
He is a criminal attorney with Haithcock, Barfield, Hulse & Kinsey.
Ms. Lomax, a retired WCC English teacher, has starred in numerous WCC and Center Stage Theatre shows with lead roles in "Driving Miss Daisy," "Steel Magnolias," "To Kill a Mocking Bird," " Macbeth" and "Midsummer Night's Dream."
She directed "Spoon River Anthology" and directs the youth theater group at First Presbyterian Church.
Returning to the WCC stage years after his debut as Hoke in "Driving Miss Daisy," Simmons plans to try his hand at readers' theater. He is a retired WCC English teacher who currently works with students in Academic Skills.
Mrs. Baddour has directed 12 plays at WCC also taking roles as such characters as the wicked stepmother in "The Robber Bridegroom," witch No. 2 in "Macbeth," and Puck in "Midsummer Night's Dream."
A retired humanities, creative writing and drams teacher at WCC, Mrs. Baddour directed "Grease" and "The World of Carl Sandburg" for StageStruck..
This past September, the WCC Foundation sponsored a trip to Sandburg's home, Connemara, a historic site at Flat Rock.
Admission, payable at the door is $5 for adults and $2 for students and senior citizens for the Saturday performance at WCC and the Sunday one at the Wayne County Museum.
The performance at UMO will be open to students and the community.
For more information cal Emily Byrd at the WCC Foundation, 919-739-7022.