Desert Opera Puts on a Low-Budget, High-Spirit Production of ‘A Chorus Line’ : ‘What’s Money When You’re Having Fun?’

In the first song of the ultimate backstage musical, “A Chorus Line,” the performers repeatedly sing the line, “I really need this job!”

That is not true, at least monetarily, for the 23 performers of the Desert Opera Theatre’s production of the musical opening tonight at the Palmdale Cultural Center. Even though they have gone through almost two months of rehearsals and are commuting from as far away as Hollywood, none of the performers are being paid.

“What’s money when you’re having fun?” asked Karen Rhodes, dripping with sweat and sarcasm during a break in an arduous rehearsal at an auditorium that is all that is left of an old elementary school. Rhodes, cast as the tough-talking Sheila in the musical, is one of the latest in a long line of performers who have taken the stage under the auspices of the Palmdale-based Desert Opera, now in its 19th year.

Desert Opera has grown, in its almost two decades, from a few singers who would give recitals at an elementary school to an organization that mounts three fully staged productions a year. Like its burgeoning hometown of Palmdale, the troupe has lofty hopes for the future. During its third decade, Desert Opera hopes to become the first professional, resident opera/musical company in the Antelope Valley.

“Look how this area has grown just in the last few years,” said David Milligan, the artistic director of Desert Opera. Milligan, a former church musician who is now a car salesman, is the producer and musical conductor of “A Chorus Line.”

“We’re ready for this,” he continued. “No one up here should have to drive to Los Angeles for their only chance to see live opera or musicals. And it’s time for us to have something that will expose our young people to this kind of music and theater.”

Milligan acknowledged that Desert Opera is still far from fulfilling its dream of going professional. Many of the performers in its productions have little stage experience, the budgets for its productions are relatively small and the troupe has no well-equipped stage on which to work. The auditorium where they rehearse has no fly space to store sets, only minimal lights and no air-conditioning. The cultural center, where they will perform, is a banquet hall with a stage at one end.

Supporters of Desert Opera were dealt a major setback July 13 when the Palmdale City Council abruptly canceled long-held plans to build a 700-seat theater. Even though the land on which the new theater was to sit was being donated, a majority of council members thought the construction costs were too high.

It was a disappointment for the Desert Opera forces. But they have a long history of making do under less than ideal conditions.

“When I got here there was no place to sing in the entire valley, no organized group to sing with,” said Anita Baeke, founder of Desert Opera. A former opera singer who had performed with community groups in New Jersey, she started the troupe in 1971, soon after moving to the area.

“I was giving voice music lessons and there was real talent here, but it was frustrating that the students had no place to perform,” she said. “I decided that if there was going to be an opera company, I would have to start one.”

Baeke thought two soprano students were ready for public performances. She found a tenor and baritone to round out the troupe and staged selections from “Cosi Fan Tutte” and “La Boheme” at an elementary school in nearby Lancaster. Later that year they repeated the performance in a 99-seat recital room at Antelope Valley College, this time armed with homemade costumes and rudimentary sets.

Except for a production of Engelbert Humperdinck’s “Hansel and Gretel” that Baeke put together for a local festival in 1973, Desert Opera continued its policy of doing only scenes from operas until 1977, when she put on a full production of “The Marriage of Figaro.”

“We used some professional singers out of Newhall and Saugus who wanted the opportunity to polish a role,” Baeke said. “We paid the professionals an honorarium, mostly to help with the mileage.”

Baeke left the opera company in 1984 to work for the city to develop plans and funding sources for a new theater.

The opera company continued on, switching venues a few times until it ended up at the cultural center, which it shares with several other groups. This can cause problems. Last Spring its production of Gian Carlo Menotti’s opera “The Medium” was mistakenly scheduled at the same time the hall was supposed to be used for an earthquake preparedness seminar.

The seminar won. Desert Opera rescheduled “The Medium” for next spring.

Milligan, 36, who grew up in Pasadena and has a master’s degree in music performance from Cal State Northridge, became active in the company in 1985, shortly after moving to the Antelope Valley. “They were doing ‘Cavalleria Rusticana’ and they needed a conductor on short notice,” he said. “I stepped in to work on it and stayed on.”

It was a time of transition for Desert Opera. “We were starting to use orchestra players instead of just a piano,” Milligan said. “And we were starting to think about doing works from musical theater.”

Even the major opera companies have turned to musicals in recent years to bolster their incomes. Los Angeles Music Center Opera recently did its first musical, “Oklahoma!” New York City Opera has been doing them regularly for years.

Desert Opera did “Paint Your Wagon” in 1986, followed by summer productions of “Man of La Mancha” and “My Fair Lady.”

“It’s the musicals that go into the black,” Milligan said. “They help to support the opera productions.” Desert Opera now generally schedules one musical and two operas or operettas per season.

It was Milligan’s choice to do “A Chorus Line,” a musical that closed earlier this year in New York after the longest run in Broadway history.

“It’s one of my favorite shows,” he said. “And it’s something we can do in the facility we have to use. The show is all confined to basically one set. Even though the lighting can get complicated, we can handle that as long as the set is confined.”

That is not to say that putting on the show is an easy task for Desert Opera. The budget, which is earmarked mainly for the set and for musicians’ salaries, is $14,000--small by musical production standards but still a considerable sum. It will come out of Desert Opera’s season budget of about $55,000, which is funded by local industries and through ticket sales.

The show has a considerable amount of profanity and deals with issues and situations that would not make it Sen. Jesse Helms favorite night in the theater.

“I expect we’ll get some adverse reaction,” said Milligan. “That’s the risk whenever you do something beyond the bounds of what some people consider wholesome. But this show deals with real people and real situations, and sometimes people don’t like that.”

“I think some people are going to freak,” said Gaylord, who also plays the role of Paul in the show. Paul has a speech about performing in drag clubs before becoming a dancer. “There are going to be people who are a little shocked,” he said with a laugh.

The show, as originally directed by Michael Bennett, is a tough one for even highly accomplished dancers. But some of the performers in the Desert Opera “A Chorus Line” have had little experience in dance.

“My specialty, I think, is to work with people who don’t dance,” said the show’s director and choreographer, John Gaylord. “Even non-dancers can learn a lot in a few intense weeks if we work with them.”

Gaylord previously directed the show at a dinner theater and was dance captain for a production at Ventura College. During rehearsals he also was commuting to Disneyland, where he performed in the Mardi Gras parade.

Perhaps the biggest problem that Milligan has to deal with is the 23-member cast, several of whom have only limited stage experience. Some do not have dancers’ physiques. And although some are working toward having a theatrical career, many are just doing the show for recreation.

Almost all the actors have outside jobs, and include a lawyer, room service waiter, bank teller and temporary office worker.

To help them get into the roles, Milligan asks them to stay in character whenever they are at rehearsal and always call each other by their character names, even when not on stage. Unfortunately, because there are some contentious characters in “A Chorus Line,” it can make rehearsals rocky.

During a run-through of the big ensemble number, “Hello Twelve, Hello Thirteen, Hello Love,” Rhodes, in a manner befitting Shiela told Milligan that she felt rehearsals were being handled in an unprofessional manner. For several minutes, while the rest of the cast stood around on stage looking uncomfortable, she told him that she was so scared that the show would not be in shape by opening night that she was thinking of leaving.

Milligan listened stoicly and then continued the rehearsal with little comment.

When the four-hour rehearsal was over, several cast members gathered on the front steps of the auditorium to talk, even though many were facing long drives home. When Milligan came out, Rhodes grabbed him and gave him a hug. “I really love this man,” she said. “I just get so tired and crazy with all that driving and everything. I get nasty sometimes.” They laughed and made up.

After he had gone, Rhodes, who had previously performed the part of Sheila at a dinner theater production of “A Chorus Line,” was ready to answer the question of why she was willing to drive to Palmdale from Beverly Glen several nights a week to rehearse and perform for no pay.

“Look at this body, honey. It is not one that is going to get me into the Joffrey Ballet,” said Rhodes, who earns her living by working on film crews. “But I love this show. I love Sheila. I love doing it. Where else am I going to get the chance to do this role?”

The first song in “A Chorus Line” might contain the line “I really need this job,” but the last song, right before the big finale, is called, “What I Did for Love.”

“A Chorus Line” opens tonight at the Palmdale Cultural Center, 704 E. Palmdale Blvd., Palmdale. 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays through Aug. 5. Tickets are $9. For information, call (805) 273-0512.