'Where the Great Ones Run' coming back for second run
Actors even busier when play returns by popular demand
URBANA – Those hazy, lazy days of summer are hard to come by for an actor in a hit play.
Just ask Colleen Klein and Anne Shapland Kearns, both of whom will be reprising their roles in the second run of "Where the Great Ones Run." The play, written and directed by Mark Roberts, made its world premiere June 5 at the Station Theatre in Urbana. All of the performances were sellouts (as is the case with another Roberts play, "Couples Counseling Killed Katie," which ends July 20 at the Station but will also return to the stage in September).
"Where the Great Ones Run" returns by popular demand July 24 to 27 and July 30 to Aug. 2 at the Station Theatre. All performances are at 8 p.m.
"I had an inkling there would be a second run," says Kearns, who plays Marylou Burl, the estranged wife of country star Sonny Burl (played by a Merle Haggard-ish looking Steven M. Keen).
Roberts, who grew up in Tolono and Urbana, has made his mark in television, film and in live theater. "Couples Counseling Killed Katie" was his first play and premiered in 2000 in Los Angeles. A success, it won over Chuck Lorre, who hired Roberts as a writer for what has become the No. 1 comedy on television, "Two and a Half Men." Roberts is now an executive producer and head writer for the CBS sitcom.
Colleen Klein and Anne Shapland Kearns are continuing their roles in 'Where the Great Ones Run,' a play by Mark Roberts that has extended showings at the Station Theatre. By Darrell Hoemann
As a writer, live theater provides another creative outlet for Roberts. All of his plays at the Station Theatre, "Welcome to Tolono," "Rantoul and Die," "Parasite Drag" and now "Where the Great Ones Run" and "Couples Counseling Killed Katie," have been huge hits.
And so as an actor in a Mark Roberts' play, you have to be willing to commit a big chunk of time.
"At the beginning, they told us that doing a second run was a possibility and not to make other plans," says Klein, who plays Julie Burl, the daughter of Sonny and Marylou.
However, both Klein and Kearns have been able to sneak away for short vacations between the regular run of "Great Ones" and the start of the second run. Kearns spent several days in Michigan, while Klein gets back from Belize on July 20, one day before rehearsals kick off with a line run-through.
"It's extremely time-consuming," Klein says. "I work during the day and do the show at night. You have to be so focused. I'm taking the script with me so I can stay on top of it. I'll be reading on the airplane, reading on the beach."
In "Great Ones," Sonny Burl returns to his small-town Indiana home to try to make amends with Marylou, Julie and his brother, Buddy. Buddy, played by Gary Ambler, used to perform with Sonny until alcohol and partying got the better of him. He's now a cook at the truckstop owned by Marylou.
The fantastic set – which will look familiar to anyone who's ever visited a small-town diner – was put together by production designer David C. Harwell, a professor at the University of Alabama at Huntsville who earned his master's degree at the University of Illinois.
Other cast members include Eric Jakobsson, David Barkley, Matthew Fear and Mathew Green.
"This is the hardest I've ever worked on a show," Klein says. "It's also the longest I've ever worked on a show. We got the script in February and started memorizing it in bits and pieces. It's been a lot of hard work. With such a great cast and script, you have to bring your 'A' game all the time."
Roberts' plays blend comedy with tense personal upheaval and drama. His plays can be simultaneously exhausting and exhilarating for an actor. But with a lengthy run in a stage play, an actor has an opportunity to explore a character in greater depth.
"What's exciting for me about live theater work is that you use more of your craft," Kearns says. "You learn to read the audience and make subtle changes in the performance."
It can be a look, a gesture, saying a line in a new way.
"It's all based on awareness. It's fun to read an audience. Acting becomes a refining process for me: 'I tried it this way last night, I'll try it another way tonight' – and then you evaluate that," Kearns adds.
With the long commitment comes the satisfaction of developing and refining a character – but it's still nice to have a break.
"Everybody is happy to do the second run. This is a great ensemble and we're having a great time," Kearns says. "But I can't say I'm not glad that we didn't have a bit of a break."
If you go
What: "Where the Great Ones Run," second run
When: July 24-27 and July 30 to Aug. 2; all performances at 8 p.m.
Where: Station Theatre, 223 N. Broadway Ave., U
Tickets: $15 per person; call 384-4000 to make a reservation
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