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North Park Vaudeville and Candy Shoppe
Once upon a time there was a prince, who spent his days flying airplanes searching for something more meaningful in life. And so the pilot, a former military leader, decided to take a risk and explore a different world, one totally outside his comfort zone.
The year was 1998 when Jeff Bushnell enrolled in an improvisational acting class. One day while trying to figure out how to not look stiff when delivering a line, he noticed from across the room Summer Golden, his princess. She was a shy, soft spoken, aspiring playwright who, unbeknownst to him, was about to change the way he looked at life...forever after.
"At the beginning of our relationship, Summer mentioned that it was her dream to own and operate a theatre," recalls Bushnell, co-owner and producing director of North Park Vaudeville and Candy Shoppe. "I said, 'Stick with me and someday we can build one together.'"
They did stick together, eventually marrying before embarking on a roller coaster life together in theatre.
"We were producing vaudeville shows in a rented church theatre. Also, I was directing a local touring improv troupe and teaching improv for San Diego adult education,” recalls Golden, of the early days. Golden, who is a co-owner and artistic director of that North Park Vaudeville and Candy Shoppe, may have been a bit bashful by nature, but when it came to expressing her ideas of what was important to her in creating a theatre...well, that was a spotlight of a different color.
"Our goal was to provide a small theatre where new plays could be produced and new people could get involved in theatre," explains Bushnell, "Summer knew from experience as a playwright how hard it is to get plays produced, and we wanted to give people a chance to try their original work with minimum risk."
With those goals in mind, they spent the summer and fall of 2002 writing a business plan, interviewing theatre owners, and looking for a place to rent. The development of a for-profit theatre was detailed in their business plan with a secondary income stream uniquely coming from the vestibule. Instead of a traditional milling place, they created an old fashioned 1930s candy store with rows and rows of baskets filled with everyone's favorite lollypops, caramels and lemon heads.
They hoped the sweets would help draw the buying public through their doors during the day and provide revenue before, during intermission, and after shows. They also figured their strange bedfellows of theatre and candy might also entice the media to provide free press coverage.
Their Castle. Their Home.
The couple wanted to have their theatre where they lived in the North Park area of San Diego. Coincidentally North Park's Business Improvement District (BID) had as one of its goals to revitalize the area into an arts, entertainment, and cultural center.
Perfect match
They reached out to Jay Turner, former head of the North Park Main Street organization, funded by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which provides financial support to help rebuild historic downtown areas.
"Jeff and Summer are very special people. Their vision was so fresh and unique, I felt we simply had to help them find a home so they could be part of our community," offered Turner.
While the location the couple ultimately decided upon was just outside of the BID, Turner was instrumental in assisting them in finding the perfect building for their theatre. They spent the next four months converting a former unisex beauty salon into a tiny theatrical castle and producing their first show in May, 2003.
"We didn't want to have to do a large amount of construction to change a storefront into a theatre, and the building we found was perfect. High ceilings, excellent acoustics, room for a dressing room, and a patio in back for the actors to hang out. It was just enough room for what we had in mind," Bushnell remembers.
It is true the theatre is tiny, only 35 seats, but the ingenuity and attention to detail is inspiring to all seeking a place to call home. The number of fixtures at his disposal could easily fill an area three times the size of this stage, which is framed by a beautiful new red velvet curtain. Due to the size constraints, a makeshift lighting booth is located behind the candy counter in the lobby. Jeff watches for his light cues from a window built in the back wall of the theatre.
No the theatre isn't big, but it's just as they envisioned it in a location one could only describe as on the fringe of redevelopment. But to Bushnell and Golden the dream was never about a big theatre in an upscale theatre district. To them it's about embracing their neighborhood and even befriending the five or six homeless folks who need a little help along the way. And after all, this is their kingdom.
Staying the Course
Over the past five years The North Park Vaudeville and Candy Shoppe has stayed true to their mission, producing over 115 new plays.
"Almost all of these [plays] are done through our North Park Playwright Festival which we started in October, 2003, with twelve plays by local playwrights,” Bushnell says, "After the second year, a friend and playwright, Michael Thomas Tower, asked if he could let people in his online playwright group know about the festival and send in submissions. We said yes, and now the festival has grown to the point where last year we received 225 plays from writers around the world; and we produced 28 new plays over four weekends."
What makes this festival unique is Golden and Bushnell’s insistence on involving new actors, directors, and playwrights, offering them a safe place to learn their craft and hopefully help them evolve to the next level. The festival has seen successes such as Australian playwright Shannon Murdoch whose play, “Everything in Between” was selected for publication as one of the best short plays in Australia. This year, Paola Hornbuckle’s “Adams Apple” was selected by Smith and Kraus for their publication The Best Ten Minute Plays of 2008.
Giving opportunity to new artists opens the theatre to a wide range of production value, but local critic Robert Hitchcox pulls things into perspective, “Tyro talent, directors and actors, have only one home that I know of left [in San Diego]. That home is a funny little candy store with a stage in the back, seating 35. Here the newbies can stretch their creativity. The quality of the plays, the productions, the direction, and the acting varied widely from acceptable to excellent. This is the place to get your acting and directing legs.”
The North Park Vaudeville and Candy Shoppe has continued to build a following for their eclectic programming ranging from Vaudeville acts, music concerts, melodrama, comedy and drama, while something else very special has been quietly percolating.
Those Twisted Turns of Fate
Years earlier for one of Golden’s plays, a director decided to take a risk casting Debby McKnight, a mentally challenged actor. From the very beginning, everyone was impressed when the first actor off book was McKnight. But no one was prepared for the quality of McKnight’s acting talent, which was only surpassed by her enthusiasm and love of performing.
The experience was one of those life-changing moments, with Golden transfixed as McKnight brought to life the words Golden had penned. This was devotion of an artist with her craft.
“I realized then that mainstream theatre often misses out on some excellent actors by its exclusiveness,” recalls Golden. “I became determined to help expand the theatre world's definition of cast able actors.”
McKnight was the genesis for STARS, a theatrical troupe created for actors with intellectual challenges started by the North Park Vaudeville and Candy Shoppe. Golden says she sees amazing growth in the troupe members as they develop confidence, pride, and friendships through the creation of art.
Bushnell agrees, pointing out the extraordinary case of Spenser Duncan. When Spenser first came to STARS, he was unfocused and barely able to participate in acting exercises with the other members. Patiently, Golden worked with Spenser, helping him to concentrate on the tasks at hand and ultimately unlocking a higher artistic potential.
“Today it’s like looking at a different person,” exclaims Bushnell. “The STARS troupe is rehearsing a play he wrote (through dictation to Summer). He cast the actors, including himself, and is directing the play. That would have been inconceivable when he first walked through our doors.”
It seems the only thing Spenser can’t do is tell actors they have not been cast. It simply is not in his nature to hurt other people.
In the early stages of STARS, Golden and Bushnell had difficulty reaching the community of the mentally challenged to offer theatre classes, but that has all changed with word of mouth due to their success stories. The program has had such a positive impact that three STARS actors played roles in a regular season production of “The Boys Next Door” by Tom Griffin, a play dealing with the lives of mentally handicapped individuals. The STARS actors worked alongside able actors in what turned out to be one of the most successful plays to date at the theatre.
Riding on this accomplishment, several members of the STARS program were cast in a national fire safety video that will be distributed to 10,000 locations around the country.
The STARS troupe continues to blossom with an increased demand from new applicants wanting to join STARS. “A month ago, we started a second STARS troupe, made up of folks with more severe mental challenges,” explains Golden. “I am trying to empower them by casting these actors in their fantasy roles such as a police officer or movie directors.” And perhaps that empowerment thing is working too well as Golden approvingly smiles and says, “Last week, one of our mentally challenged participants announced that she would be taking my place. I took this to mean that her self-confidence was growing.”
How Sweet It Is
And how does the North Park Vaudeville and Candy Shoppe fund their productions, play festivals and STARS program? If you guessed grants and all the typical ways theatres run, you would be wrong.
For the most part, they make their money from ticket sales which they split with the participants, or they offset the losses from money that comes strictly out of their own pockets. Oh, and candy sales, of course.
When asked why they didn’t become a nonprofit organization and go after grants, Jeff shrugged and said, “Look, I fly around the country all week as an airline pilot and when I get home I am inside these doors running the theatre with the woman I love. It’s just the two of us, so we don’t have the time. And besides, this way we can do it our way.”
To say they do it their way is an understatement. Bushnell is retiring in a few months, and he is counting down the hours until he can work with his soul mate full time at their theatre.
Turning the final pages of this enchanted tale, Bushnell is rewarded time and again with the people he works with. Recently, after seeing his work brought to life onstage, a 19-year-old new playwright turned to him and said, “Thank you so much. It was just as I always dreamed it would be!”
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