By Kristen Hains
Special to the Herald
It was a hurricane that brought Guy Molnar to Traverse City in 1990 and a "winter's tale" that brought him back in 2006.
It was 1990 and Hurricane Hugo had just delivered its wrath on Charleston, SC. And while Molnar had survived it, he couldn't say the same for his personal belongings. He made the decision to move out of hurricane territory and accepted a position as a Hall Counselor at Interlochen Arts Academy. A year later, he became involved at Old Town Playhouse, directing Les Liaisons Dangereuses (Dangerous Liaisons). He continued his involvement there, eventually being named Executive Director of the group, where he aided the theater in weathering its financial storms of the mid-90s.
Molnar left Traverse City in 1998 to get his MFA in acting at the University of South Carolina. These days Molnar is a professor at Florida State University where he teaches acting and voice. He's spending six weeks in Traverse City this summer working with various arts organizations and sharing his talents.
It was while in Florida that Molnar had an email exchange with Jill Beauchamp of Traverse City's Riverside Shakespeare. Molnar had directed "Twelfth Night" for the group back in 2003. They had selected their 2006 show, "The Winter's Tale," but were facing the task of finding a strong male actor to portray the notoriously difficult role of Leontes.
"I've always thought it was kind of wonderfully insane that Riverside always chooses such ambitious projects," Molnar said of the difficult pieces the group has tackled in previous years.
Beauchamp admitted that the role of Leontes was one that they were worried about casting. "I said to her, 'Just hire me on an equity guest artist contract and I'll come play it.' " he said.
Molnar made the comment in jest, so he was surprised when he later got an email from Beauchamp that said, "Are you joking? Are you pulling my leg?"
Molnar wrote back and told Beauchamp: "yes I was joking but no, I would never pull your leg."
"I would never offer myself or dangle myself out there as a cruel joke and not be willing to do it," Molnar said.
That was all Beauchamp needed to hear. She immediately committed herself to securing the necessary underwriting to allow the non-profit group (which does not charge admission for its performances) to hire Molnar on an Equity Guest Artist contract and come in and play the role.
Because Molnar is a member of Actors Equity Association, the union of stage performers and stage managers, his membership requires that he only work under a union contract. Molnar can appreciate the time and effort that has gone into bringing him here. While at OTP he negotiated an Equity Guest Artist contract in 1995 for the playhouse's production of "Godspell."
"The hoops you have to jump through with Equity are numerous and sometimes complicated," he noted.
Beauchamp quickly enlisted the help of other local arts groups. She approached both the Old Town Playhouse and the Traverse City Children and Teen Theatre. Both immediately got on board to help finance Molnar's time in Traverse City. In exchange for their financial support, both groups will benefit from Molnar's expertise. He will be hosting workshops for both organizations while he is here in town.
"(The workshops were) a mutually agreeable way to share some of what I've learned with the playhouse, which is where I learned all the earliest things I knew about theater," Molnar said. "I really do feel grateful to have a chance to bring back to the playhouse some of what I've learned away from it."
And for Molnar the trip to Traverse City has definitely been about witnessing things come full circle. "It's exciting to be back working with the first people I ever worked with in the theater," he said. "Jeanette Mason is directing (A Winters Tale). Jeanette directed 'Into the Woods' which was the first show I ever did at the Old Town Playhouse."
Those circles have rippled beyond Traverse City, noted Molnar. He found that this past year on the campus of Florida State University the big mainstage musical was directed by Chad Larrabee who was in the first show Molnar ever directed at OTP.
In addition to the workshops with the OTP and TCCT, Molnar will also present a recital of music from the American Theatre on Saturday, July 15, at 8 p.m. at the Old Town Playhouse. The concert is free to the public and donations will be accepted. Any donations will help offset the costs of a six-week workshop Molnar has been invited to attend in the summer of 2007.
"I've been studying a vocal methodology which is called Linklater, which is based on the work of a very famous theater and voice educator, Kristin Linklater," Molnar says. "To become a designated Linklater teacher is an investment of between seven and ten years and many thousands of dollars and several hundred hours of group and individual instruction. I am one workshop away from qualifying for full designation."
In order to complete this course, Molnar has to raise approximately $6,000 to cover the cost. Because he still has Visiting Professor status at FSU, he does not qualify for financial support from the university for professional development.
But there's more to it than just the money. "I have been studying voice intensely for the past two years," he says. "It's a great privilege to come back and share that with people who supported me when I started a completely new career from scratch in my mid 30s.
"I'm very grateful to the playhouse and all the people who are involved and volunteer in Traverse City because that's how I got my start."
The Winter's Tale will be presented on July 22, 23, 29 and 30 at 6 p.m. at Traverse City's Hannah Park. The group will also perform at Marina Park in Suttons Bay at 7 p.m. on July 21 and at Michigan Legacy Art Park at Crystal Mountain in Thompsonsville at 7 p.m. on July 26. For more information, call 941-4953. For more information on Molnar's workshops with the OTP or TCCT, call the OTP business office at 947-2210.