What’s a nice Jewish boy from New York doing in a small town like Prescott? Producing, directing, selecting plays and directors, hiring musicians, coaching foreign accents, teaching fight choreography, setting up classes for students, raising money and, oh, adding a whole new second stage to a community facility. And that’s when he’s not on stage.
Jon Meyer does all this and more in his position as executive director of Prescott Center for the Arts. Since 2009 Jon has been expanding the PCA’s offerings in both quantity and quality. He was surprised to find that the PCA was often “dark” (no offerings) for three to four weeks at a time. He believed the theater, housed in perhaps the oldest Catholic church in the state, had such potential that he added programming. One of the first shows
he produced was Beau Jest, a staple for every Jewish theater in America. Although the full-time Jewish population in Prescott is only about 1,000, Jon took a chance that the show would resonate with a broader audience. He was right.
Jon has increased programming many times over in Prescott. The main stage, which seats 194, is now rarely dark; when it is, it’s often because the company needs a larger setting for a production. The PCA produces six main-stage shows, two family-oriented shows with young actors, and a variety of concerts and special events. Jon has added teen summer stock musicals and a tween program of summer stock, Jr.
Jon is proudest of his Young Playwright’s Festival, started in 2011. The second year he included Sedona, and the third year will encompass Flagstaff as well. He has garnered great community support, including a 2013 grant from the Jewish Community Foundation of Prescott this year. Jon plans to take the Festival statewide in the next few years. Stage Too, a second stage at PCA that opened in mid-May, will allow him to expand offerings to include small shows with some edgier content, thereby expanding PCA’s reach and appeal.
The PCA found a building right next to their main stage and renovated it for theater. It can be a black box small theater in several configurations: traditional, in the round and thrust, with chairs on three sides. It can also be used as rehearsal space or set up as a cabaret. Jon hopes to start offering improvisational classes, leading to an Improv Troupe, and hopes to add cabarets and open-mike nights. Six shows already are slated for the new space. “Prescott is blessed with retired professionals from all over the country,” Jon reflects. “And we have many talented folks who have moved over from Los Angeles, adding to an extremely rich pool of actors and theater artisans.” For their upcoming production of “The Producers”, they have 40 community volunteer actors on stage.
Among those in the cast is Stanley Sweet, a dentist who formerly lived in Phoenix and moved to Prescott in 2004. He remembers fondly his appearance with the Arizona Jewish Theatre Company in 1990 in their production of “Milk and Honey” as well as nearly five years of singing in the Arizona Opera Chorus. “My love for theater and performing has always been there adding balance to my life – kind of like a spiritual renewal,” Stanley comments.
He’s having great fun in rehearsals for “The Producers”, in which he plays a variety of characters. Originally from Brooklyn, Stanley can’t help noticing the slower pace in Prescott. “In my practice, many of the local retirees would show up an hour before their appointment, and we both loved to talk and kibbitz. It made practicing dentistry less stressful!” Another Jewish cast member in the loony Mel Brooks musical is Arlene Minuskin, who moved to Prescott 13 years ago from Glendale, CA, with her husband. While they weren’t ready to completely retire, they were ready for a slower pace and an
opportunity for Arlene to explore her passions in photography and theater. “The Producers” marks Arlene’s 12th show with the PCA. She is also involved in the gallery there and is a member of the Sisterhood at Temple B’rith Shalom. Her husband, Harold, is a survivor of the Holocaust. His father fought with the Jewish partisans in Russia.
Harold translated his mother’s diary from the original Yiddish and has published a book titled My Children, My Heroes: Memoirs of a Holocaust Mother (holocaust-memoirs. webnode.com). Arlene and Harold regularly speak to schools in Prescott and the Valley about Harold’s experiences and have created an endowment at the Jewish Studies Department at Arizona State University in memory of his mother. So how do they feel about Arlene being in a play that has Hitler as one of its comic elements? “I look at it this way,” Arlene says. “This was Mel Brooks’ way of thumbing his nose at Hitler and the Nazis. He’s saying that in spite of Hitler, the Jews are still here – we survived!”
Based on the 1967 movie of the same name, “The Producers” is the story of shyster-type theatrical producer, Max Bialystock, who meets Leo Bloom, a timid accountant. Together they concoct a surefire way to make their millions by bilking their Broadway investors. To make their plan a success, the show must be a complete flop. They choose “Springtime for Hitler”. What could possibly go wrong?
PCA has partnered with Murphy’s Restaurant and Marriott Spring Hill Suites to put together a great package for out-of-towners who want a complete mini-escape from the southern Arizona heat. Both venues are within walking distance of the theater. The art gallery and gift shop are open one hour prior to curtain.
WHAT: The Producers
WHERE: Prescott Center for the Arts, 208 N Marina St., Prescott
WHEN: 7:30 pm June 13-15, 20-22 and 27-29; and 2 pm June 16 and 23
COST: $18-$22 for show; add meal at Murphy’s ($30 for dinner; $20 for lunch); Special rates available at Marriott Spring Hill Suites
RESERVATIONS: For show/dinner/hotel, call 928-445-3286
