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"Besides sharing responsibility for running the Western Stage, my primary foci are outreach and education, and theater arts programming for the college," she said when we talked last month. "In addition, I work to liaise with Hartnell. My office handles enrollment and registration, and instructor hiring processes, and student and company management."
Oldest of her educational programs involves the youngest members of the Western Stage company. A highly successful program called Young Company trains young actors, dancers and technicians in the performance, production, and technical skills as well as the etiquette and protocol of professional theater. From personal experience, I know how recent shows like OLIVER! and THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS have benefited from the talent, professionalism and commitment of Young Company trained cast members.
At the other end of the age scale, theater veterans have been working together since 2002 preparing and performing staged readings and sketches which tour retirement communities and arts festivals under auspices of a program started by Melissa and called LegacyPlayers. If all this organization and outreach conjures up the vision of a detached ivory tower theatrical bureaucrat, think again. Melissa Chin Parker can guide community theater programs because she continues to work regularly on stage or in the director's chair of productions at TWS and around the Monterey Peninsula.
 CITY OF ANGELS - TWS 2001 photo by Richard Green |
Looking back over her training as an actor, I asked Melissa about a quote in the latest Western Stage brochure from former Artistic Director Tom Humphrey, who told her early on that it would take about ten years for her to understand acting. "Tom believed in the 'old way' of actor training," she explained. "You were apprenticed to veteran and experienced actors. Over and above any courses, being able to watch and work with actors on stage has been the best kind of education for me. Experiencing many different processes and philosophies and approaches. I think the reason Tom said it took ten years was that he thought it took that long for anyone to absorb all of that and decide what would become their own best method.
"You can't read a book, or take one class and get all of that. You need to identify yourself as a person, observe yourself as a person, become well versed in who you are so you can bring that to the roles presented to you. For me, to begin with, there were many areas of my personality I wasn't investigating or had a different interpretation of. It took a while to crack open all those nuts. . .
"Theater always presents a multiple array of opportunities to learn. My first experience was in musical theater. A PIECE OF MY HEART was my first non-musical principal role, and that meant going to places that were dark and difficult. I learned that I could do that - be comfortable in that role, and that was an amazing experience for me. It was a process that I had watched happening with others. Now it was happening to me."
 SOME ENCHANTED EVENING TWS 2002 photo by Richard Green |
The GAMAN production team sought out other locals who had experienced directly or indirectly the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. Personal reminiscences and pictures, artifacts, symbols and news stories were put together in a presentation that drew standing room only audiences by the end of its brief run at the Western Stage Studio Theater.
"Doing GAMAN was a combination of everything I had learned heretofore - how to culminate reading and research in a script, how to gather and direct an ensemble of actors. It was a nice affirmation of everything I have learned here at Western Stage."
Asked about the qualities of a good director as compared to those of a good actor, Melissa saw the difference in the director's need to coordinate many different dramatic elements. "The secret is learning to juggle all of the aspects, to communicate with all the areas of a production, and to do it with leadership but also with an open heart and mind that is strengthened by listening to your colleagues. As an actor you don't have as broad a responsibility as that."
I wondered whether she felt it was helpful for people to direct a production in which they also act. "I've found very few people are efficient in both," she said. "I think it takes a very seasoned person to be able to do both at once. My bias is to prefer they do not."
Her marriage to Scenic Designer/Artist and Actor David Parker has enriched the theater experience of both. "We met in 1988, but didn't start really dating till 2000. As a designer, he helps me when I'm designing my projects. And he'll show me his designs at home and get my opinion. He knows more technical aspects of theater than I do.
"As actors, we've shared the stage four or five times. My early work was always focused on musical theater, whereas he's been much more involved in non-musical plays. We were together in EAST OF EDEN, THE WAITING ROOM, and more recently THE TIME OF YOUR LIFE. CRAZY FOR YOU was the one musical we've done together.
"On my own, I've enjoyed playing multiple roles in NICKLED AND DIMED. The show has a lot to say and a lot for an audience to think about. .. I was fond of my role in THE WAITING ROOM too. I played Forgiveness from Heaven, a very satisfying character. I got to investigate 17th century China and its women. I discovered, for one thing, that what we interpret as a demeaning ritual of foot-binding was actually a bonding experience for women in a culture that devalued women. It was satisfying to be able to understand that and to bring it into a modern setting. . . The play allowed the audience to think and ponder a lot, and many of them came to talk to the actors after performances. I'm more and more looking to theater to promote discussion and thought."
She is excited by the wealth of theatrical talent that's available around Monterey and Salinas. "I wonder whether people realize how wealthy we are. . . There are all these theater groups still starting up - Actors Collective, Paper Wing, Saltshaker. What is often difficult is finding adequate space. And the fact that we're all competing for the same actor pool and entertainment dollar".
We need to try to move to the philosophy that we are a body and community of artists. All the competition for space and audiences and acting pools makes it difficult to be collegial."
