Faithful Patrons Bring Hope Home to the Grove

A fund-raiser for the Grove Shakespeare Festival on Monday night started out folksy, turned Irish and ended on an appropriately theatrical note with a long taste of “Brian’s Wake,” a work in progress that the company hopes to stage at some point.

The piece, being developed by Jerry Siggins as, apparently, an ode to everything Irish, was well received by the audience, a sympathetic gathering if ever there was one. All in all, it was a pretty rousing night for Grove patrons, who paid $10 a ticket to help a local cultural landmark cure its financial ills.

The ticket price for “Coming Home to the Grove: A Magical Night of Music and Song” seems modest, contrasted with the $250 a head that the Orange County Performing Arts Center had requested at a fund-raiser just the night before. But, as Grove artistic director Thomas F. Bradac put it, “everything we can get at this point really counts.”

Given the cold shoulder by the Garden Grove City Council in recent months, the company has had to look elsewhere to keep its season in gear. Several small donations and a few big ones, including $10,000 from a woman who has asked to remain anonymous, have brightened a gloomy scenario that at one point even had the company closing down.

The program Monday brought in $2,100, a little better than the Grove’s goal of $2,000. It was another step toward eliminating the cash problems created by a $42,000 deficit from last year, and a shortfall in anticipated subscriptions this season.

“This isn’t a make-or-break event,” Bradac said. “But it is important to keep us surviving. It’s insurance, another one of those things that will put us in a better position.”

Grove managing director Barbara Hammerman added that this event and other efforts in the next few weeks may put the theater “in the black by the first of the year. That’s what we’re hoping for.”

Most in the audience Monday were longtime Grove subscribers. Robin Capalbo was typical: A Garden Grove resident, she has held season tickets for four years and regards the Grove as, “along with the Garden Grove Symphony, the only redeeming cultural outlet in the city.”

The possibility of the company closing because of a shortfall left her “disgusted and sad. Everybody around here, both in the city and elsewhere, should realize how important it is to have live theater. It’s an experience like no other.”

Kathy Millen, a Santa Ana resident, said she has seen the group improve steadily during the last decade. “Frankly, I was surprised when I began reading (in the newspapers) about all the money troubles. I guess I was naive, but I thought it was beyond that. . . . I’ve seen so many good shows here, and some bad ones, too, but I’ve always appreciated the fact that it was available to me.”

Millen said Monday’s show was “completely charming. I liked the fact that everyone was chipping in.” Indeed, it was a family affair, with many of the Grove’s veteran actors taking part. Danny Oberbeck, who has performed in the popular “A Child’s Christmas in Wales” for the last five years, and partner Kelli Evans kicked things off with a set of original folk-flavored songs.

They were followed by Miss Garden Grove, Jennifer Brennan, offering her rendition of “Danny Boy.” Up next were the Bold Fenian Men (Jerry Siggins, Dan Cartmell, Harvey Harriger and Rob Williams, most of whom have been involved with past Grove productions) and a spirited set of Irish tunes. “Brian’s Wake” kept up the Irish momentum with its vivid melodies and poetry and moody underpinnings.