Alumni Interview: Steve Edwards

Who: Steve Edwards
Years at Weathervane: 1990 – 2004
Position: Actor, Board Member

I auditioned for my first season at Weathervane in 1990 with Scott Keyes and was cast in Man of La Mancha as Pedro the Head Muleteer and I was hooked. Hooked on the art, the people, and the vision of Weathervane. I was blessed to be on stage many summers between 1990 and 2004.  Some of my favorites in addition to Man of La Mancha were: Gypsy, Guys and Dolls, Jesus Christ Super Star, Something’s Afoot and Baby.

After 1990, I soon began to serve on the Board of Director and spent many hours helping to plan the seasons and look at “Next Steps” for the theater.  It truly was Summer Magic for the theater to reopen in the spring, many of us would volunteer to clean the theater and grounds, wash all of the old orange seats and prepare for opening night of the first show. Rehearsals would start, sets would be made, costumes were fitted, and 5 shows would be performed back to back through August. On Saturday closing nights everyone would stay late and strike the existing set, and on Sunday morning the new set would continue to go up and the new show would begin to practice on stage for dress rehearsal on Thursday. That constant momentum would run through the summer and will never cease to amaze me!

The board was always trying to listen to our audience. In 1990 The theater sides were only wrapped in a heavy tarp, so when It rained hard people could get wet or the theater could get cold on chilly evenings. In response the board worked on funding to enclose the theater with wood siding to keep out the wind, and rain.  Well, now the audience said, “We’re too Hot!” So, we installed 2 big fans at the rear of the theater, and the audience said, “The fans are too loud!” Of course, now the theater has been totally enclosed with air conditioning and heat, but I look back at the earlier days and have to smile, as we were always trying to make things better for our audience.

I remember clearing the theater when there were tornado warnings. One evening after a severe storm the theater had no electricity, but with the creativity of the staff, crew, board, and volunteers we said, “The show MUST go on”.  People pulled up their cars and used their headlights to shine on the theater while generators were used for the stage lights and sound. We put candles around the theater and in the bathrooms and we had the show! If I’m not mistaken, it was A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum in 1998.

I remember standing in downtown Newark in 1994 watching the building burn that housed all of the theater’s costumes thinking, “What are we going to do?” With the “Can Do” spirit of the board, community, staff and crew the season opened, and the costume stock was rebuilt.

I met so many amazing people over the years at Weathervane from the community and the young aspiring actors/crew/artists who came to us from around the county with such amazing talent and dreams.  One of those young actors was Matthew Trombetta, who came to us straight out of college, fresh, excited and ready to take on the world.  We watched him grow as an actor, then brought him back to guest direct, and later to be the theater’s full time Artistic Director. Matthew’s undying love for theater, Weathervane, and the Licking County Community was real and sincere. He had a vision of how things could be and pushed himself and others to help turn vision into reality. His enthusiasm was contagious and addicting, which made him the perfect cheerleader to move Weathervane toward the Next Stage Capital Campaign with the first phase being unveiled just weeks before he was tragically taking from us in June 2010. We were all blessed by the presence and spirit of Matthew among us, and his spirit continues in the programming and through the new Matthew Trombetta Artistic Wing. I thank God Matthew touched all our lives.

I will be forever grateful for the time spent and the memories made at Weathervane Playhouse. The place that truly embodies the theme of “Summer Magic”!!