A Story of Success
The workshop hums with energy. "Get your costumes on if you're going to wear them tonight," Nina Denton Pasinetti, the director, calls from her seat in front of the stage. "It's almost 7:30." John Marshall, the musical director, runs performers through vocal warm-ups. Four days from tonight a crew of volunteers will load sets, props and costumes into a rented truck and move them into the Clay Center for the 173rd production of the Charleston Light Opera Guild- Disney's Beauty and the Beast.
It's hard to believe all of this started with a single performance of Gilbert and Sullivan's HMS Pinafore back in 1949. On a Tuesday night in May, the guild played to a sell-out crowd in Charleston High School's auditorium. Three days later the Charleston Daily Mail published an editorial that concluded with these words. "In one performance the Light Opera Guild takes its place beside the Symphony, the Chamber Music Society, the choirs and choruses as a distinguished and valuable contribution to the city's musical treasure. May it have a long and flourishing life."
And so it has. In 1999 the guild marked its 50 th year with a production of Stephen Sondheim's Follies. Three of the performers onstage in that show, Louis Husson, Betty Agsten Hamilton and Shirley Annand were in the cast of that first 1949 production . Other cast members of that first production included Lawson Hamilton, David Samms, Barbara Agsten, Jennie Melton Cross and Phyllis Steele.
The Fifties Were Nifty
Throughout the 1950s the guild continued to produce popular operettas such as Gondoliers, Mikado, Red Mill and Pirates of Penzance. A group of enthusiastic vocal teachers and their students was the driving force behind the creation of the Charleston Light Opera Guild. Leonard Stocker was its first artistic director. Lila Belle Brooks succeeded him. In 1957 the guild weathered its first financial crisis when a production of Where's Charley at the Municipal Auditorium failed to attract anticipated crowds. Louis Husson-then board chairman, and soon-to-be artistic director Tom Murphy, encouraged the board not to disband. At Murphy's urging, the guild re-staged HMS Pinafore which required no royalty payments . The plan worked-the guild was back in the black.
By 1959 Tom Murphy had taken over as artistic director. Under his leadership, the guild continued to grow and develop local talent. Until acquiring its first workshop in the mid-1960s, the guild rehearsed in churches around town and performed in the auditorium of United Fuel Gas Company. In 1959 the guild appeared for the first time on the stage of the Civic Center Little Theater where it continues to stage fall and spring shows today.
Singing Through the Sixties
The guild marked an artistic turning point in 1960 as it shifted from light operetta to Broadway. Oklahoma was its first Broadway musical and that tradition of bringing Broadway's finest shows to the Charleston stage also continues today.
The guild weathered a second crisis in the mid-1960s when the roof collapsed on its East End workshop. To save money, the board voted to cut that year's season to one show. George Daugherty, board president and Tom Murphy then presented summer offerings at Pipestem to help offset the bills. Again, the guild survived.
Those Seventy Summers
To date, the guild has produced 172 shows, including most of the Rodgers and Hammerstein classics . Nina Denton Pasinetti took the reins as artistic director in 1983. Prior to that she had worked as choreographer while also running her own dance school. Many of her dancers performed with the guild. Tom Murphy was artistic director in those days. "Tom and I worked well together," Nina says. "We had the same philosophy." The guild's 1972 production of Mame was the first of 35 shows they produced together. In 1975 they started a summer theater program with a production of Godspell that included a young Kathy Mattea in the cast.
Entertaining Eighties
John Marshall has served as musical director for numerous shows since 1980. "John is a great interpreter of musical theater," Nina says. "He has a deep understanding of it." Charleston audiences first met John as a member of the cast in the 1965 production of The Music Man .
"John Marshall and I were children together," Debbie Spradling says of her performance with the guild. Debbie grew up going to guild performances. "When I was in high school and in my first show, I couldn't believe I was up on stage with people like Bob Howell and Barbara Agsten. They were like movie stars to me."
Navigating the Nineties
With the purchase of the Weekly Memorial Methodist Church in 1995, the guild took another giant step forward. Using significant portions of its own funds, together with contributions from the Clay Foundation, Benedum Foundation, the Sarah and Pauline Maier Foundation and with generous gifts from supporters raised through a campaign led by Charleston lawyer, Mark Sadd, the guild turned the church into a workshop/theater. With generous support from Betty Schoenbaum, the summer theater program has really taken off and continues to serve as a training ground for youth, college age students and young adults.
In 1996 the guild received the Mayor's Award for artistic excellence. Louis Husson, Nina Denton Pasinetti, John Marshall and Roger Lucas have each received the Mayor's Award for individual artistic achievement. Additionally, John Breed and Bud Lutman have received the Mayor's Volunteer Awards for lighting design.
The Next Generation
Speaking of her years with the guild, Nina says, "I've always been interested in the young person who is always so eager, so interested and so alive and believes anything is possible for them. And I love working with those people who share my passion for musical theater." Jennifer Garner, Kathy Mattea and Ann Magnuson are three former guild members who have gone to careers in music, theater, television and film. There are many others. Sallie Daugherty follows in her father George Daugherty's footsteps as current board president. "I remember going to rehearsals with my Dad when I was four or five and believing everything I saw on stage. Now that I've been involved in the administrative side of things, I have an even greater appreciation for the time, energy, talent and financial support it takes to keep the guild growing and prospering. Our next step is to start an endowment fund, not a capital campaign, but a fund to honor the contributions of those who came before us and to plant seeds that can grow over the next 50 years, encouraging new talent and building on the tradition started on that high school stage 56 years ago."
