Hello, Dolly! produced by T.J. Dawson for 3D Theatricals, opens July 9; plays Thurs.-Fri., 8 pm; Sat., 2 & 8 pm; Sun., 2 pm; through Aug. 1. Tickets: $45-$15. OC Pavilion, 801 N. Main St., Santa Ana; 714.550.0880 or ocpavilion.com.
Calvin Remsberg
“This show changed my life!” says Calvin Remsberg, recalling the first time he saw the Jerry Herman-Michael Stewart musical Hello Dolly! in its pre-Broadway tryout at the National Theatre in Washington DC in December 1963. “It was the night they put in ‘Before the Parade Passes By.’ Gower Champion, the original director, gave a speech before the show and told us since the sets and costumes weren’t ready they would do the original first act finale (‘Penny in My Pocket’) and then back up and do the new number so I got to see them both. I turned to my parents after the audience went nuts at the conclusion of the second encore of the ‘Hello, Dolly!’ number and said, ‘That’s what I want to do with my life!’ To bring it full circle, 20 years later I found myself starring in Cats at the same theatre and sitting in Carol Channing’s dressing room.”
Over a quarter of a century later, Remsberg is directing Dolly for the first time in his initial association with 3D Theatricals at the OC Pavilion in Santa Ana. The 3D stands for Executive Producer/Artistic Director T.J. Dawson and his two co-producer siblings, Gretchen, who also heads the sales department, and Daniel, currently on tour with Cats.
“I have known the entire Dawson family for years,” Remsberg says. “I cast T.J. in the Musical Theatre Guild production of Parade nearly 10 years ago. He is a remarkable talent and was particularly impressive as a teenager. When he and his family became involved in opening this production company at this magnificent new theater in Orange County, he asked me to come down for a tour of the place. I dropped my teeth. We discussed the possibilities of my working there and what shows might be appropriate for the venue and their audience. Hello, Dolly! belonged in that room!”
How did this theatre start? Dawson says, “We decided as a family we wanted to open a theatre company and add additional quality, professional theatre here in the OC. With so many doors closing these days, we feel it’s more important than ever to be providing new jobs across the board.”
T.J. Dawson
In less than a year the Dawsons have presented five shows. “We started last December with Peter Pan,” Dawson says. “We worked with the McCoy Rigby family on this and were allowed to present their most recent revival version. Then we did All Shook Up in February, Altar Boyz in April, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee in May, now Hello, Dolly! in July. We have the opportunity to train and build our audience from the ground up. We want them to know 3DT as a place where they can see a variety of shows, everything from the classics to the most current shows available at the regional level. In addition to musicals, we plan to produce one play per season and hope to start a concert series and introduce new works.
“We also started a rental side of our company and now own sets, props and costumes for productions such as Peter Pan, Dolly, Cabaret, Side Show, Bat Boy, etc., featuring such designers as John Iacolvelli and Sharell Martin.”
Ruth Williamson stars as Dolly Levi. Earlier this year she appeared in the Reprise productions of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. Other members of Actors’ Equity in the show are David Allen Jones as Horace Vandergelder, Bryan Feldman as Cornelius Hackl and Dance Captain Paul Romero, Jr. in the Ensemble. “Ruth and I have not worked together before,” says Remsberg. “When we were thinking about Dollys, I told T.J. she would be ideal and we agreed she probably already had a summer job but it wouldn’t hurt to ask her. Miraculously she was free and I have the honor of directing her in her first production of Hello, Dolly!”
Kami Seymour is the choreographer and Gerald Sternbach is the musical director. “Gerald and I have known each other for almost 30 years,” Remsberg says. “He was my vocal coach and audition accompanist when I lived in New York in the ’80s. We have worked together in cabaret and concerts and coaching. He was the musical director of a small show I toured the country with a while back. He was also the assistant musical director on the Sweeney Todd I did for Reprise at the Ahmanson. We are having a great reunion working on this project.”
Kami Seymore
Seymour, who is also the Associate Artistic Director for 3D Theatricals, has been with the company since its inception. She says, “T.J. Dawson called me, November of 2008, about starting a new theater company and asked if I would be interested in being his right hand man (Associate Artistic Director along with duties of a General Manager). I was immediately interested! After looking at theaters all over Los Angeles and Orange County, we decided Orange County was the place to be since it was our home.
“I have been friends with the Dawsons for years. I met T.J. and Daniel doing Crazy for You at Musical Theatre West in 2003. Since then, T.J. and I have also worked creatively on shows together.”
Now she is choreographing Dolly. “Although I am a huge fan of Gower Champion, I have choreographed Dolly with all of my own work, with the exception of a few steps that are tradition. I have tried to give a fresh take on this wonderful piece of musical theatre while still telling the story.”
Dawson says, “Our venue is currently being sold and we are in talks with the people purchasing the building. They are interested in keeping us here. This would be incredible but we won’t know for a couple weeks. We are also looking at other spaces. We hope to have a definitive plan soon so we can announce our 2011 season; it’s going to be a great one! We do hope to stay in the OC, since we are an OC based family, and we feel the OC is in need of additional quality theatre since LA is so rich with it but are open to anywhere at this point.”
Article by Lee Melville.
