From Stand-In to Standout

Most of the attention for “Sweeney Todd--the Demon Barber of Fleet Street,” which opened Thursday at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza, will be lavished on its leading actors, Ojai residents George Ball and Amanda McBroom. But (to mix show-biz and sports metaphors) the large cast boasts an unusually deep bench, and more than one good story.

For instance, how about Anette Michelle Sanders?

Sanders is a contemporary version of a show-biz legend--the one where Warner Baxter, playing a director in the classic 1933 film “42nd Street,” says to Ruby Keeler: “You’re going out a youngster, but you’re gonna come back a star.”

The morning Sanders auditioned for this production of “Sweeney,” her resume was a bit thin. She had been in a few parts in regional theater, little more than walk-on roles in films (“Jingle All the Way”) and television series (“Diagnosis Murder”), and she was currently understudying a role in a new show, opened the night before in Los Angeles.

When she returned from the audition with “Sweeney” director Michael Michetti, she was told she’d be up on the Mark Taper Forum stage every night, trading quips with John Ritter and Henry Winkler in Neil Simon’s new play, “The Dinner Party.”

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In “42nd Street,” a character’s twisted ankle was understudy Keeler’s passport to the center stage. The calamity in “The Dinner Party” that transformed Sander’s life was the departure of Rita Wilson, originally cast for the role of Ritter’s wife. Wilson left after the first preview performance--”creative differences,” it’s said.

“When I got back from the audition, I found out that I might be rehearsing,” Sanders said during an interview last week. “As it turned out, I got about half a run-through before we went on that night.”

(Stand-ins traditionally learn their lines and watch rehearsals, but don’t actually rehearse with the cast until after the show’s opening).

Several more previews--with Simon adding dialogue on the fly--and Sanders was facing an opening-night audience.

Her new-found and surprise stardom hasn’t effected (or, evidently, affected) Sanders; the Simon play closed Jan. 16 after its allotted eight weeks, and she says she’s pleased to honor her commitment to “Sweeney Todd.”

“The Beggar Woman [her character] is really an interesting character,” she said. “I’ve wanted to do it for years. By the number of lines and amount of stage time, it’s a small role, but pivotal in a way. You can play her like a crazy hag and the show would be fine, but you can do so much more with her. And as a singer, I’ve wanted to do this part because the music is so challenging. To the audience, it might just be bits of songs, but it really exercises the singer’s muscles.

“People would come a long way to do this show, because it isn’t performed very often,” she continued. “. . . I’d play in the chorus in a heartbeat.”

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Sanders said she hopes she gets the opportunity to work again with the show’s musical director, Ilana Eden. “Aside from making sure we hit the notes, she goes for the whole potential of the score,” she said.

“There are 17 people in the ensemble, along with the principals. A lot of them are young kids, and their musicianship is astounding.”

As previously announced, “Sweeney Todd” closes the current Gold Coast Plays’ slate of original productions.

According to a letter mailed to interested parties by Gold Coast chief Larry Janss, the group must file plans for a 2001-2002 season by June to determine “whether,” as he puts it, “our community wants, expects and will in turn support a professional theater organization in residence in the Scherr Forum Theatre.”

This may come as a surprise to the board of Santa Susana Repertory Company--which considers itself the official resident professional theater company at the Scherr. The company has already announced its December production of “A Christmas Carol” there.

Strictly speaking, according to an officer of the Civic Arts Plaza, there never has been an “official resident company.”

DETAILS

“Sweeney Todd--the Demon Barber of Fleet Street” continues through Feb. 27 at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza Forum Theatre, 2100 E. Thousand Oaks Boulevard in Thousand Oaks. Show times: Thursday-Saturday, 8 p.m.; Sunday 2 p.m. Tickets range from $22-$28 and are available from the Civic Arts Plaza box office or through Ticketmaster at 583-8700.