Steve Allen

Tell us a little about your upbringing.

My family moved to Lynchburg the day after I finished the first grade when dad got a job with the new GE plant. We moved to Bedford County (to the house that I still live in) when I was ten. I went to high school at Liberty High School in Bedford and, with a scholarship, did my freshman year of college at Lynchburg College. Money wasn't available for college at the time, so I went to work in the floral industry in the area. I owned Dooley's Florist on the corner of Main Street and 7th until the building was torn down to build the hotel. Shortly after that, I decided to go back and finish that college degree. At the age of thirty-two, I went back to college to get my degree and teaching certification. After college, I taught middle and high school math and science in New Orleans for four years and Little Rock for three years. Eventually I moved back to the Lynchburg area.

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What got you started in theater?

It was in college when I got involved in theater. I started with technical theater first, building and dressing sets and working backstage.  My first onstage performance was as the delivery man in Barefoot in the Park. Someone had dropped out at the last minute and since I was already working backstage and there were no lines, I got the part. That was the begining of my now over forty years of theater involvement. It was also where I performed  in from of the largest audience. The homecoming musical, Annie, was performed in the 2500-seat auditorium. An audience of over two thousand, a live orchestra, and I got to sing - that was a real experience. In just over two years, I was onstage in eight productions and ran tech on another six, including the design of one of the sets.​ In addition, during the seven years I was teaching, another teacher and I made up the "theater department." She did the directing and I did all the tech stuff. We did twelve shows, six of which were musicals, naturally with almost no budget to speak of.

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What has been your overall experience with the Lynchburg theatre scene?

I moved back to Lynchburg in 1994. The first group I got involved with was the FACination Chorus at the Lynchburg Fine Arts Center. I went on to sing with them for sixteen years with two concerts each year. I also worked at different times with Cherry Tree Players. There were at least six concerts with the Jubilees and four musical plays, one of which was the first 1776, which I continue to perform in at Poplar Forest during the summer.  At the Fine Arts Center I was on stage in seven musicals and helped with costuming in several shows (I even got to do one of the annual Nutcracker productions). Back then, Cherry Tree Players and the Fine Arts Center were the only theater options here. 

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During one of the rehearsals at the Fine Arts Center, I was approached by someone who was starting a interactive dinner theater troupe, now known as the Little Dinner Theater. I'm not sure why I said okay, but 45+ productions later, I'm still saying okay. Later on, I also got involved withRenaissance Theater. I was on stage in seven productions and did costuming and set work on over twenty shows. It was also through Renaissance that I recently got a chance to co-direct Death by Chocolate and And Then There Were None with my friend Deneen Safritt. I also served on the board at Renaissance for four years.

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What has been your favorite show to perform in?

I don't think there was a show that wasn't my favorite when I was in performance.  But if I have to choose, it would probably be Cabaret.  There was one particular performance in which we had audience members from the local synagogue.  I was playing Herr Shultz and had a line akin to "This will all blow over." There was a little teary voice in the audience that whispered "Oh no it won't."  Wow! You can really touch people with a play. Theater can make you laugh, cry, jump in fear and sometimes all in the same show. 

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What is your process to prepare for a role? What advice can you give people who are thinking of getting involved?

First comes the dreaded audition. I'm an introvert, so those are always a challenge. Stepping outside of your comfort zone can be a real stretch. To be real, you are probably going to get a lot more rejections than getting cast.  But that is just part of the process. I like to learn something about the play to see if there are parts for me, and sometimes there aren't. But getting an idea of who the characters are can help. It's not really you on stage; it's a character you are creating. When I have a character to play, I learn as much about them as I can from the script or other sources.  Sometimes I create a backstory that I think explains who the character is and how he acts. Then there are all those lines. You think you just have to learn your character's lines but sometimes it helps to have an idea of what the others characters are saying.

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To get involved, you need to start by going to see shows at different places (and there are so many options in this areas). That way, you can get a feel for what the theater is about. Talk to the actors, directors, and techies; you can find out a lot from them. Simply ask about getting involved. Community theaters are usually volunteer, so they are more than glad to have more people involved.

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What's your dream role/show?

I would love to do a production of Les Miserables. I'd just be in the chorus or anything just to be able to sing that wonderful music.

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You have also written plays. What has that experience been like?

What I have written so far has been for Little Dinner Theater. They have been more slapstick than Shakespeare and are generally formulaic (cast of wacky characters, somebody dies, everyone looks guilty, whodunit). Most of them are takeoffs or parodies of some genre. I have written one with a space theme, a Dr. Who theme, and a reality show theme. I've got a wizzarding world one in the works, so stay tuned.

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What is special about community theater?

I think theater is a team sport. And like a team, you support each other, not only the actors. It includes the costumers, sound and light people, props, set, all the tech support as well. That's what I think is special about community theater. I have been part of some amazing teams over the years. Not to mention, I've made some good friends and had a great time doing it.