A Treasure at the Fulton
Marc Robin and Curt Dale Clark Bring a Classic Pirate's Tale to Lancaster
by Laurie Ulrich Fuller
During their dinner break on Friday afternoon, I had a chance to talk to Marc Robin and Curt Dale Clark, whose world premiere of "Treasure Island: A Musical Adventure” opens on Thursday, March 6th. Sharing a passion for theater and their lives together for almost 20 years, Robin and Clark's enthusiasm for the book, "Treasure Island” and their excitement about adapting it for the stage and bringing the play to Lancaster was obvious -- and contagious.
Laurie Ulrich Fuller: "First question. How's everything falling together for the show?”
Marc Robin: "It's going great. We're very excited.”
Curt Dale Clark: "We're mind-numbingly thrilled. There've been no disappointments, and the staff at the Fulton is great. We've worked with the Fulton many times before, so there's a friendship there, and they just do an excellent job.”
LUF: "How does a Lancaster compare to other cities where your productions have played?”
MR: "Lancaster has a really strong and intelligent theatrical community. It's a lot like bigger cities, like Chicago, Los Angeles, or New York, in terms of the way people really appreciate theater. It's more than you'd expect. We have a great relationship with the Fulton, and the city in general has a big and loving arts community that really embraces theater.”
CDC: "There's a great theater community in Lancaster, but strangely, a lot of people in the Lancaster area don't realize how great the Fulton is. It's one of the finest theaters of its kind in the country, and yet there are some people who don't even know what the Fulton is. We're hoping that a play based on such a popular book will bring people in to find out what a great theater we've got here in Lancaster.”
LUF: "What special challenges, if any, are presented by producing a play based on such a well-known book?”
MR: "Staying true to the original book has been a challenge, but I think we've done a good job. We've worked hard to bring the most exciting parts of the book to the stage, and to keep the linear story on track, too. We don't want to let readers down, and based on the feedback we've had from people who've seen rehearsals -- people who've read the book many times and are now introducing their children to it -- we've been faithful to the book.”
CDC: "The book is practically perfect, so there was no need to fix or improve on anything -- and staying true to the book has been our goal, certainly. We did a lot of research, and it's interesting that the entire story, and all the pirate lore in it, was made up by Robert Louis Stevenson -- yet it's become what people think of as fact about the life of pirates. So much of the book has become part of our language and our perceptions, but it was truly all made up. It's funny, but we even had to cut a phrase that came directly from the book because people felt it was too ‘modern' a phrase -- ‘One more step, Mr. Hands, and I'll blow your brains out!' -- that's exactly how it appears in the book, but it sounds like something you'd hear someone say today, so to avoid people thinking we were using modern language in a play that's set long ago, we cut it.”
LUF: "That's a lot like Shakespeare, where so much of our modern language comes directly from his plays -- phrases and terms he invented -- and people don't even realize it.”
CDC: "That's right. And it's such a great book, we're also hoping that the play encourages people who've never read the book to do so.”
LUF: "Are you using a lot of local talent for the show?”
MR: "We imported most of the talent for this show, because it's such a small cast and crew. Lancaster doesn't have a huge pirate population, but we are using four local people -- Randall Frizado, Curt Dale Clark (who's also playing ‘Dr. Livesey' in the play), Hal Yudoff, and Matthew Kernisky.”
LUF: "How did your career evolve? Was theater something you always wanted to be involved in, or was it something you came to later in life?”
MR: "I've been performing since I was four years old, and Theater is all I've ever done. I went to the High School for the Performing Arts in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, and also studied theater at Broward Community College. I got into choreography, production, directing, and so forth in my twenties, when I moved to Chicago. I produced ‘The Wizard of Oz' when I was twenty-four.”
CDC: "I didn't get into theater until about the eighth grade, and I was in plays in high school. I majored in theater in college, but changed to more business-oriented courses -- speech and communication, sales and marketing, and Spanish -- because studying theater didn't give me enough time for partying! I kept performing in college, but didn't get my degree in theater. After college, though, I took lots and lots of theater classes, and studied and performed all the time.”
LUF: "What advice can you give to young people who want to work in theater?”
MR: "Don't do it unless you absolutely love it. Don't just do it for fame, or to ‘see your name in lights'. If you're sure you love it, learn everything about every aspect of theater -- from performing to production, all the cast and crew jobs.”
CDC: "Take every kind of class you can take. If you're a singer or a dancer or an actor, that's great, but don't just focus on your strengths. Master everything so there are more jobs you can do, more ways to get work and develop your career.”
LUF: "What, so far, has been your favorite aspect of bringing ‘Treasure Island' to the stage here in Lancaster?”
MR: "Collaboration with Curt. Of all the shows we've done, with all the challenges and successes we've had together, watching this play come to life has been a great personal joy for me.”
CDC: "Well, Marc stole my answer. And it's been so much fun working on this play.”
"Treasure Island: A Musical Adventure” is shaping up to be Robin and Clark's best production so far, and will run at the Fulton Opera House through March 22nd. Tickets range in price from $20 to $45, and can be obtained at the Fulton box office at 12 North Prince Street, Lancaster, online at www.thefulton.org, or by calling 717-397-7425.