BWW Interviews: Circle Bar B's Last Barnburner

October 26th will be a barnburner for Circle Bar B dinner theatre. Not only is it closing night for Boeing, Boeing, Circle Bar B's season-ending French farce, it's also closing night for the theatre itself. After 44 years, the last twelve of which were under the direction of producers Suzanne and David Couch, Circle Bar B dinner theatre will perform its very last show at the ranch. After the curtain falls, the Couches, the Boeing, Boeing cast, and extended members of the Circle Bar B family will gut the barn they've been using as a stage and transform the theatre space back into empty space or storage space, or whatever sort of space a place becomes when its previous context has been lost.

"We're going to have a barn-crashing party," Suzanne Couch, the long-time producer of Circle Bar B's unique dinner theatre, says. "We have until December 1st to get everything out. And we have so much, so many props and costumes. It doesn't look like there's very much space behind the stage, but every nook and cranny is full of stuff. We own everything in the theatre except the seats."

Those seats, half of which came from the Lobero and half of which came from the private theatre in Rudy Vallée's home, will be all that's left of a theatre tradition that began 44 years ago with Janet Caballero and Florence Brown. Brown owned the guest ranch, a sprawling piece of Central Coast property, and had originally intended it as an arts camp for young women. Caballero, who had a background in theatre, was looking for acting opportunities when she found the old barn at Brown's ranch. Brown, being of an artistic mindset, shared Caballero's excitement for the establishment of a theatre, and the transformation from barn to stage began.

"It took a long time," Couch explains. "It started with patrons sitting on bales of hay. There was no stage. There was no backstage, either, so when the actors had to go offstage and go around for another entrance, there was this pulley-pole they had to go across that had them leaning out over the embankment-it was quite stressful being an actor at the beginning."

The CBB theatre had a number of producers until Caballero and her husband took the reigns full-time in 1985. They ran the company until 2004 when Suzanne and David Couch, who had been acting and directing productions for several years, became heirs to the CBB dinner theatre throne. Caballero was known for producing raucous British sex farces, and the Couches are gratified to close their residency at the ranch in that tradition with Boeing, Boeing. To date, the Couches have been involved with CBB as actors, directors, or producers for 23 years.

The Couches discovered CBB when one of Suzanne's coworkers was in a show at the ranch and convinced them to come see it. Couch and her husband were hooked immediately on the characteristic California hacienda atmosphere of the location and the dynamic energy of the performance. Dave auditioned for a show shortly after that, and was cast in a French farce called Pajama Tops. "Our first show at the Circle Bar B was a French farce and our last show will be a French farce," says Couch. It seems appropriate to end the run with the same fast-paced, organic vigor that began the Couches' career over a decade ago. Couch says that her own acting debut occurred when, "in true 42nd Street fashion, one of the actresses got sick and couldn't sing, and I said, 'I'll do it, I can sing, I can dance, I can do it.' I didn't even get cast. I got thrown into the show." That was David and Suzanne's first of many shows together. They became close with the Caballeros; Couch calls Janet one of the most influential women in her life. "She was this tiny little woman with this huge, booming voice and you either hated her or loved her and there was nobody in between. She taught me a lot. My first acting gig was at the Circle Bar B."

She's not the only one. The most recent show at the ranch, Enchanted April, featured two neophyte performers. Circle Bar B gives talented first-timers a chance to experience acting in a full production. They also don't shy away from using anyone available to fill in for a role in an emergency. "We had one actor who got pulled over for speeding on the way to the ranch, and found out that he owed back payments for alimony, and got thrown in jail. We were doing Laughter on the 23rd Floor by Neil Simon. I was directing the show, and I got the call from Janet, the producer, who said 'You gotta get down here, you're going to play a man.' I was like, 'um...I don't think so.' We ended up throwing in the tech guy. His name was Paul Terasek. He went on stage with a clipboard of his lines, and from that, a whole acting career started. He acted for five years with us after that."

As the theatre company grew, so too did the variety of shows Circle Bar B produced. They still dealt mostly within the comedic realm, but they also began presenting musicals and other genres of theatre with a broader appeal.

"We opened with Sylvia," Couch says of their first show as producers. "Sylvia is the story of a Labradoodle that gets adopted by this couple in New York, and the wife hates her and the husband loves her. The dog, named Sylvia, is played by a woman. Tiffany Story was our Sylvia twice. We set a precedent that this isn't going to be silly, funny, farcy, all the time. We're going to do things that will make you laugh, make you cry-something bigger."

The end of Circle Bar B's dinner theatre came as a surprise to the local theatre community-and to the Couches, as well. The program's cancellation came just before the opening of the 2014 season's first show, Ghost of a Chance, leaving the Couches little time to plan for the future. Opening weekend of Ghost of a Chance, Couch admits, was a disaster due to heightened, frantic emotions incited by the news of their impending dissolution. At first the Couches considered packing up and moving to Colorado, but enthusiastic community members began to offer ideas and options for a rise from the ashes, a reinvention of Circle Bar B theatre without the food and the barn and the ranch. Couch says that whatever comes next for the company, she's confident that what she calls "the Circle Bar B family,"-the extended network of actors and designers and directors and season-ticket holders-will stay close, which will help the company maintain the lightness of spirit and intimate atmosphere they've perpetuated for so many years. There are a multitude of spaces in Santa Barbara, specifically theatrical and other, and the Couches remain hopeful that something well suited to their production aesthetic will present itself. The season-ticket holders, of which there are about 350, are attempting to fund a storage space for the props and costumes and equipment packed into the backstage area of the old barn. With such a devoted following, it's not difficult to imagine that the number of season-ticket holders would increase with the company's move to a more accessible space within the city limits. Already, all six Sunday Boeing, Boeing matinees at the ranch are sold out.

It's not only the subscribers. Circle Bar B also has a number of devoted, repeat performers. For their last show at the ranch, the Couches have cast Boeing, Boeing to feature actors who've been with the company since before Dave and Suzanne took over as producers.

"When we found out that this was going to be our last show, we decided that we needed to make the cast pretty special. Ray Wallenthin, who plays the lead, started at the CBB at age 22-his 1st year out of college. He did a couple of shows, and then came back in 2011 and did the revival of Bullshot Crummond, and has been doing shows with us ever since. Gerry Hansen, who is acting in and directing the show, started as an actress in 1991. And Jenna Scanlon, Tiffany Story, and Rodney Baker have been our staples for a long time."

There are other aspects of Boeing, Boeing that will recall past shows-an Easter egg hunt for fans and followers. There are set pieces and props that have been featured previously, little touches of nostalgia for the cast and producers. They have a globe bar, given to them by the recently deceased Jim Cook, who Couch calls the Director Emeritus of the CBB. The set also features a red door, a nod to Janet Caballero, whose favorite color was red.

And of course, there's the famous beaver. It's been in everything from CBB's productions of British drawing room comedies to Noises Off.

"10 years ago we did a melodrama called The Face on the Barroom Floor. We had to buy props, and I found this antique ceramic beaver. It cost me 35$ and I said, 'this is the most expensive prop in the show-by golly, we are going to use this in every single show.' It'll be in Boeing, Boeing. Look for the beaver. People do. Season-ticket holders will actually come on stage after the show if they don't find the beaver and search around for it. There are a lot of little parts of the CBB past, including the beaver, that will be in the Boeing, Boeing set."

These are the intimate touches that make the CBB shows distinctive and convivial. Obviously the atmosphere of the ranch will be impossible to duplicate, and the Couches have no intention of attempting an exact reboot. Instead, they have the opportunity to create Circle Bar B: 2.0. With their company, Prism Productions, they are working to create a brand of theatre that stands out despite the absence of the ranch dinner theatre setting. Ideally, the Couches would love to build upon their existing following and present a fresh take on their current theatrical aesthetic.

Bo eing, Boeing:

Marc Camoletti's French farce, Boeing, Boeing, is the last chance to experience Circle Bar B's dinner theatre at the ranch. Despite the wistfulness of a concluding performance, the Couches are excited to finally produce Boeing, Boeing, a show they've been trying to gain rights to for almost a decade. The original premier of Boeing, Boeing was in 1960, and the elegant glamour of the early 60's is apparent in the design of the play. In 2008, the Broadway revival of Boeing, Boeing won two Tony awards, including best revival. The show toured immediately after concluding its Broadway run, making it impossible to obtain the performance rights for the next several years. When the play recently became available, the Couches jumped at the opportunity-their production of Boeing, Boeing is the regional premier.

Couch describes the show as being "fast, maybe faster than Noises Off." It's the story of Bernard, an American living in Paris who juggles three stewardess fiancées-none of whom are wise to the existence of the others. Bernard has a timetable for their arrivals and departures, and he rotates the women seamlessly (with the help of his grumpy French maid, Berthe, played by Couch) until the advent of the Boeing jet: a faster, more efficient way to travel via air-and a wrench in the otherwise well-oiled machinery of stewardess scheduling. All three women end up in Paris simultaneously, to equally uproarious and calamitous results.

"It's really fun. It's very sexy-the girls are in short skirts ... one reviewer said the most fun part about the play is watching the girls try to navigate the furniture. They're crawling over furniture and crawling over men ... it seems appropriate to end that way-fun and silly. It has a happy ending."

Whereas the cast of Enchanted April featured novice actors, Boeing, Boeing, with its complicated physicality and rapid dialogue (and mere 4-week rehearsal process), required a cast with a certain level of experience. The show features Ray Wallenthin, Rodney Baker, Suzanne Couch, Tiffany Story, Gerry Hansen, and Jenna Scanlon, all seasoned area actors who've played a variety of roles at the CBB ranch.

"There's a lot of dialogue, so it could be very a long show," Couch says. "I couldn't sleep, so I did a Facebook post for Boeing, Boeing. Only it was three in the morning, and I accidentally posted it as 'Boeing Boring.' The joke about Boeing, Boeing is that because it's long, it could be 'Boeing Boring,' and at three AM, that's how it came out. I woke to a bunch of texts: Fix it! Change it! At least I have friends who are willing to tell me, 'hey you better fix this quickly because it's not looking so good right now.' And this show-we're not going to cut it. We're going to do it the way it is, and hopefully people will have so much fun they won't care that it's long."

The Future of Prism Productions:

"People keep asking what we'll be doing next," Couch says. Interested audiences, especially season-ticket holders, are expecting an announcement of the next season by October, but the Couches admit that's too high an expectation. Regardless, there's community support for the Couches' continuing theatrical presence, and ideas and options for resurrection are plentiful. "At first it was like, oh no, poor us. But then we were like, are you kidding? You're not doing this to us. We're the oldest theatre in Santa Barbara. We feel good about what we've done and the legacy we've left." It seems less of a desperate aspiration and more of a statement of certain intention when Couch says, "When we start again, we're going to start fresh."

They promise to keep the beaver.

See Boeing, Boeing at the Circle Bar B Ranch

September 19th-October 26th

http://www.circlebarbtheatre.com/2014_Season.html

This is your last chance, so don't miss it!

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