CAMILLE GAVIN: Meet the Prince of the melodrama
| Wednesday, Dec 28 2011 04:22 PM
Last Updated Monday, Jan 16 2012 01:09 PM
Whether it's film or live theater, Michael Prince thrives on creativity -- his own as well as that of others.
"I love telling stories and I love that endorphin rush you get when you're working with creative people," says Prince, who is embarking on his seventh year as the artistic director of the Gaslight Melodrama Theatre & Music Hall, and has, over a 15-year period, produced five films.
Largely self-taught -- and obviously of an independent nature -- Prince, 34, has had almost no formal education in either genre, although he did graduate from Highland High School in 1995 with honors in dramatic arts.
"I tried college for a while after I graduated from Highland but it just didn't work out for me," he said during a phone interview. "Too many rules."
In 1996, Prince formed his own company, Lennonfilm Productions, with the idea of producing feature, short and documentary films.
"I've always been fascinated with the magic of movies," he said. "I was lucky to have some family members in the business so I got to be on the Sony lot where (my relative) worked in the sound department. And my uncle worked for Warner Brothers as an editor."
That same year Prince earned a "producer certificate" for attending a workshop at the Hollywood Film Institute where he studied the various aspects of making movies, including writing, directing, producing, editing and motion photography.
"It was a wonderful experience," he said. "I got to learn the nuts and bolts of filmmaking."
His first effort, a coming-of-age comedy titled "The Fourth Wall," was shown in 2000 in New York City at the Independent Film Market. Within the next three years he completed four other films, including "The First Supper," a short 35mm film that was selected as a finalist in the Kern Film Festival in 2002.
During this time Prince was working in various capacities at the Haven Counseling Center, where his mother, Karen Cooley, is executive director. He also "re-met"-- and married -- Jennifer Thornton, whom he had known when both were students at Highland. And he continued writing screenplays and pursuing opportunities for movie-making.
"In 2005 I was about to start raising funds for another film when the melodrama opened," he said. "Then I put all my efforts into that."
Currently, he's "shopping around" a script for a television pilot, "The Show Must Go On," a partly autobiographical story about a family that owns a theater in a small town. Gaslight produced a slightly different stage version of the show last summer. Also, he periodically sends out other screenplays he's written.
"I enter screenwriting competitions -- it gets your work known and it's the best option for getting it into the hands of the people who do these things," he said, adding with a sigh, "Basically, it's kind of a crap shoot."
Meanwhile, he devotes most of his time to writing, directing, acting in and designing sets for the melodrama's productions. The theater, which seats 140, has gained a loyal following over the years. Prince said the last two shows have sold out completely and the theater has about 200 season ticket holders.
Gaslight Melodrama and Music Hall along with the Linda Larma & Daughters Academe of Dance is a family business, incorporated under the name of Dancing Moose Enterprise. Larma is the president; her daughters Jennifer Prince and Kimberly Slikker, as well as Michael Prince, serve as vice presidents; and Arnie Carlos, Larma's husband and the sisters' father, is treasurer.
As artistic director, Michael is chiefly responsible for selection of scripts as well as casting the shows. Chris Cawthon is technical director -- he occasionally acts too -- and Warren Dobson, who writes most of the vaudeville revues, is musical director.
"The biggest challenge is coming up with new ideas to keep it fresh," Prince said. "We don't want to make it bigger but better. What we've learned is that the audience likes to be involved and they like stories set in or around Bakersfield."
For example, the first show of the New Year, opening on Jan. 20, will be "Showdown in Shafter."
"It's a classic melodrama, with a very well defined Old West villain and his mail-order bride," he said. "It's the kind with plenty of booing and hissing."
Although Prince writes most of the plays, including the one about Shafter, he welcomes scripts written by others, especially those that have something to do with past or present local history. In the past he has produced a play by Terry and Carol Willey, and is considering a script with a film noir theme submitted by Phil Beglin, an actor and former county public defender.
"We're set for the rest of this season," Prince said. "In July 2012 we'll start mulling around ideas for the next year."
He supplied these guidelines for anyone who wants to submit a script: It should be family-friendly; length 50 to 60 pages, or the equivalent of about 75 minutes running time; call for a cast of between five and eight actors; and should be mailed to Prince at the Gaslight office, 12748 Jomani Drive, Bakersfield, CA 93312.
Gaslight is the only theater in town that pays actors for their work. Full time and part-time performers, who sign specific contracts, are paid a weekly salary for their contracted time. Those who sign on for only one show are paid a stipend for their time.
"As of right now, we have six in the company (including myself) who are full time," Prince said. "We have roughly about five performers who sign part-time contracts with us and a number of other local performers who work on a one-show basis. Casting always depends on the needs of the show.
Although Prince doesn't hold mass tryouts, he welcomes new actors who want to audition at any time.
"I don't hold auditions -- I didn't like them myself when I was an actor," he explained. "But I'll always schedule a private audition for people who request it."
Being in a show requires a serious commitment. Rehearsals are held four nights a week for a total of 16 hours per week and generally begin six weeks before the show opens. Then there are 21 performances over a period of seven weeks.
Even though the dialog in some shows looks as if it might be improvised, Prince said he sticks pretty much to the written script although some changes might be made in the first few days of rehearsal. Audience participation is more or less spontaneous, however. He looks at it as a method of giving theatergoers a personal connection to the story being told on stage.
"In the Christmas shows we have asked a gentleman in the audience why he loves his wife so much and it gives the couple a chance to tell their story," he said. "And as they do, you see other couples touching hands or moving closer together -- it's a nice feeling."
And no, the person asked to participate isn't warned ahead of time. Prince did say, however, he usually picks someone in the first row because the individual is likely be either a regular or a season ticket holder -- or both.
