BWW Preview: ABET Launches 25th Season With THE WAVERLY GALLERY

"It's been such an exciting trip. It's just kind of amazing to think that we've been around this long." Carson Merry Baillie, Founder of Atlantic Beach Experimental Theater (ABET), waxes nostalgic as she speaks about the community theatre she founded in 1992. In honor of ABET's 25th season beginning in September, ABET is presenting a staged reading of Kenneth Lonergan's THE WAVERLY GALLERY, which was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in 2001. The production is directed by long-time ABET actor and director Jack Barnard, who will also supply the narration for the evening's reading.

Baillie stars as Gladys Green, the somewhat senile, hard-of-hearing owner of an art gallery in a small Greenwich Village hotel. Baillie claims that this is her "swan song" as an actress on the intimate stage at the Adele Grage Cultural Center on Ocean Boulevard in Atlantic Beach, Florida. When pressed on her "swan song" claim, Baillie laughs and quips, "Honey, I ain't getting any younger - 90 on December 1st!"

The supporting cast of four boasts a number of actors who have had a long history with the theatre. Karen Garrett, who plays Gladys's daughter, Ellen Fine, speaks fondly of being on the ABET stage once again - playing Baillie's daughter for the second time at the theatre. Ellen's son and grandson to Gladys, Daniel, is portrayed by Brandon Frank, whose first role at ABET was 21 years ago as Baillie's great nephew in APPROACHING ZANZIBAR. Leonard Alterman is featured as Ellen's second husband, Howard. Another long-time ABET actor, Alterman began his tenure at the theatre in A MONTH IN THE COUNTRY. Through ABET's many seasons, Alterman and Garrett point out that they have been "married" and "coupled" numerous times. The role of Don, a Massachusetts painter who sets up residence in Gladys's gallery, is played by Jordan Schemmel, whose first role at ABET was in 2005's FORTUNE'S FOOL.

Celia Frank, who has been the theatre's Managing Artistic Director for the past ten successful seasons, recounts how the project came to be. "I found the script years ago ... I've always wanted to do it and thought it would be a perfect part for Carson. I just didn't see how we could mount a full-scale production of it. And when it was beginning to be our 25th anniversary season, it felt like it was the perfect thing to head into that - to have Carson on stage." The idea of Baillie's return to the stage clearly has an effect on Frank, as she hesitates and then adds "I get emotional about it."

In addition to this production, ABET will be offering a new book that celebrates and chronicles the 25-year history of the theatre. The book, compiled by Jay Fogg of Shepherd Studios, will be available at the opening of the first full production of the new season, Sondheim's MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG, on September 9. The opening of the musical will also coincide with a gallery showing at the Cultural Center displaying many of the theatre's posters from past productions.

THE WAVERLY GALLERY will be performed at the Atlantic Beach Experimental Theatre for one weekend this Friday and Saturday night, August 12 and 13, at 8:00 p.m., and Sunday, August 14, at 2:00 p.m. Tickets are available on the theatre's website at www.abettheatre.com and for more information, contact the theatre at (904) 249-7177.