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CourierPage C5Thursday, September 26,1996*0*RICK CHASE / Courier Staff PhotographerLinda Wiges, director of the CFCT’s “Morning's at Seven.”Linda Wiges confesses that, as a director, she’s probably “pick}'.”She smiles. “I have high expectations. Sometimes in rehearsal the cast comments on my facial expressions, wondering if 1 like something. I tell them I'm like a mother watching her child say a piece at Sunday School.“I say ‘I’m saying it with you, doing what you’re doing, feeling what you’re feeling.’ And of course, Fra always thinking about how something can be improved. I don’t often allow myself to just enjoy watching.”Even on opening night.On Friday evening, she’ll quietly slip into a seat atthe Osier Regent Theatre for the opening of CedarFalls Community Theatre’s production of the Paul Osborn family comedy, “Morning’s at Seven.”“And even then, the wheels are always turning. 1 want to know right away if the actor's can be heard. That’s difficult to assess when you’re rehearsing in an empty theater. Sound is different when you’ve got bodies in the seats out from,” the dfoectornotes.This is Wiges’ CFCT directorial debut. She appeared on stage as Ethel in CFCT’s “On Golden Pond,” and has performed in other shows. The former North Tama High School drama director also has directed productions in area theaters and is aresident hits been working on this production almost every night for two solid months, in addition to her “day” job as secretary for media relations and women’s basketball at the University of Northern Iowa.“It’s a challenge,” she concedes, then points out “ail the cast and crew are volunteer. Nobody gets paid for this. People ask me what is it about this experience that keeps people coming back. It’s kind of a mystery, but it’s what I get the most fun out of and the most satisfaction.“After all the headaches and sleepless nights, when it conies together there’s nothing like it,” Wiges enthuses.She compares the experience to athletics. “You go through all the boring practices so you can get to the game. When the game goes well, it’s a high..! know very few people w.!u have done only one plav and said 'never again.’ Somehow you get hooked — it’s addictive.You’re under the lights and hear the applause and it’s wonderful.”“Morning’s at Seven” features nine Gist members, and is a slice-of-Iife comedy about the goings-on between four sisters — three married and one spinster—and their families. There are plenty of twists and turns in the comedy Wiges describes as “real down-home, natural and funny.”'Hie cast is a mix of experienced and inexperienced actors.“1 start at square one to educate the inexperienced. Hie Cedar Falls Community Theatre will present Morning’s at Seven at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday, and Oct. 4-6.Performances are at the Oster Regent Theatre at First and Main streets in Cedar Falls, Tickets are $10 for adults, $94or patrons over 65 and $7 for full-time students. Call APPLAUD for reservations.CFCT Director Linda Wiges discusses the ‘'Morning’s at Seven” stage set with technical designer Doc Grauberger.actors, and for veterans, it requires patience. For people who’ve never learned lines before it’s quite a thing to start doing when you’re in your 50s or so, and this is a show where all nine roles arc leading roles,” the director explains.“This cast has such hard-working people who’ve given their time and sacrificed things to be involved. They ve paid their dues. But l want it to be a fun experience, along with the work.”One of Wiges’ biggest challenges in directing comedy is teaching actors to Wail for laughs and to be ready to ad-lib. ‘That's tough —- there’s no other way except getting experience in front of a live audience. Actors have to hold their thoughts while peopleare laughing and come back at the right moment, but laughs may not come in the place you expect, so you have to be on your toes.” “Morning’s at Seven” was written in 1939, but Wiges has updated it to the 1970s. A film version set the play in the early l9(X)s.“That’s the great thing about this play — you can actually change the lime frame without changing (he humor or the lines.* hIt’s still funny,’ the director believes.The action takes place across two backyards, a stage set created and built by technical designer/director Doc Grauberger, assisted by an 11-member crew.“People will be impressed — it’s very realistic,” Wiges says. There are two two-story house facades with back porches arid yards, even a real tree and other authentic details.“We’re working from the curtain forward on the stage apron so the actors arc closer to the audience. You’ll get the feeling you’re right there in the back yard with them” Wiges adds.HIGH EXPECTATIONSLinda Wises debuts as director of a CFCTproductionBy MELODY PARKERCourier Lifestyles EditorCEDAR FALLS
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