by Gary Danciu
As someone who loves stories and telling stories, it’s always been hard not to look at my own life through a narrative lens. My life will have had a beginning, middle and an end. I’ll look back at my life and see the different chapters and characters that made up my story. My time with the Commonweal has been a significant and important chapter, and I know that it will remain that way for the rest of my life. After six seasons with the Commonweal, I have decided to bring this chapter to its end. I did not make this decision lightly. I came to the Commonweal as an apprentice in May of 2011, a year after graduating college. This past August, I decided it was time to move on and find new theatrical experiences in the Twin Cities.
I remember my first day in Lanesboro quite well. A few company members greeted me warmly at our artist’s residence and then I attended the opening night of Sylvia. At the opening night party, I was introduced to the variety of interesting characters that inhabited the company at the time. Little did I know, that I would meet many more characters and that my time in Lanesboro would extend all the way to December of 2016. During my time with the Commonweal, I have been given incredible opportunities to grow as an actor and a person. I performed in sixteen productions, served on the design team for nine productions and received experience in all aspects of the company’s administration. I’ve worked with dozens of talented artists over the past six seasons and I have forged life long friendships. To be honest, when I first came to Lanesboro in 2011, I wasn’t sure if I had what it took to make a life for myself in the theatre. I knew I had talent and a passion for theatre, but I just couldn’t imagine myself going off on my own and really making it happen. My experiences here and the people who I have worked with have all helped me to imagine that reality. I now know that I have the tools and confidence to move forward.
What I have valued most at the Commonweal is the chance to feel a part of a greater team and community. Throughout my life, I’ve always had the good fortune of doing what I love in service of something bigger than myself. At the Commonweal, I’ve always been made keenly aware of the effect my work has had on our audience. I’ve always known what my work and the work of my colleagues means to Lanesboro. There are good days and bad days at the company (as there are everywhere), but I have found every experience, good and bad, to be educational and valuable. Wherever my path leads, I hope to eventually find that sense of connection and community that has been so deeply satisfying during my time here.
I’d like to take this opportunity to express my overwhelming feeling of gratitude to all of you who have made my time here in Lanesboro such an unforgettable and wonderful chapter of my life. I’ve been thinking a lot about all the people I’ve gotten to know over the years, artists I’ve worked with, patrons, and the people of Lanesboro. I also want to thank my parents for all the trips they made the see me perform and for all of their love and support from afar. You have all played a part in my journey, and I hope in some small way I was able to do the same for you. Even though I am moving on to the next chapter, the Commonweal and Lanesboro are places I will proudly and always call home.
The Many Faces of Gary’s Commonweal Career:
Little Shop of Horrors, 2011 Parfumerie, 2011 The Metal Children, 2012 Pillars of Society, 2012 The Philadelphia Story, 2012 Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure, 2013 The Last Night of Ballyhoo, 2013 Brand, 2014 Around the World in 80 Days, 2014 Arcadia, 2014 Woody Guthrie’s American Song, 2015 Charley’s Aunt, 2015 Little Women, 2015 The League of Youth, 2016 The Three Musketeers, 2016
Hal Cropp: One of the most amazing things I’ve discovered in bringing Wheels Wheelock to life is how much he hangs on to the events of his youth. While it doesn’t make me feel wonderful to say it out loud, Wheels has grown into someone who has hung on to the real and/or perceived slights in his relationship with his wife Pinky. He bristles whenever she reminisces about past loves, be they Chandler Coffin or Alfred Nightengale. I can only hope that, should I reach Wheels’ age, I am able to release whatever slights I might still be carrying and truly live in the moment.
Adrienne Sweeney: The most notable part of this process for me has been meeting with women in their 90’s. The thing that I have come away with, the thing that has really hit me, is the need to let senior adults live their own lives and make their own decisions for as long as realistically possible; to not rob a person of their autonomy just because they hit a certain age. Every single person I have met and talked with is so unique—had their own lives and styles of being in the world. That’s the biggest thing I’ll take away from this process…to really embrace each and every person as the individual they are. Also—if I live to be 90 I am quite sure I’ll be as ornery, stubborn, fiercely loyal and loving as Mabel. I sure hope so!
Jeremy van Meter: My only living grandparent, Dorothy Van Meter, turned 94 this year. One of the characters I portray in Pride’s Crossing is Chandler Coffin. At the beginning of the play, his age is defined as a “few years older” than Mabel who is 90. I have chosen that age to be 94. Other than some mental fragility, my Granny Van Meter has no physical ailments. Through the creation of Chandler, I have made the full realization that reaching 100-years-old does not relegate one to one’s bed. My Chandler at 94, is only “slightly” older than the Chandler of 30-years ago—perhaps a bit slower and more stooped over. There is a vibrancy to him that, as I look forward to my own advancing life, I am planning on and hoping to embrace and cultivate.
This summer I had two of the greatest honors an artist could ask for; one was portraying Florence Foster Jenkins in Souvenir and the other was bringing my own child to a full length theatrical performance for the first time in his life.
At first, I was anxious about how Little Bear would react. He’s very outgoing and I was nervous he would talk too much during the show. We came with two of his friends, and they all insisted we sit in the front row. My stomach was in knots. Little Bear, however, was completely engaged. Did he wiggle around? Yup, and he even moved seats to crawl into my lap. He whispered into my ear fairly often, sometimes to ask a question about what he was seeing, but often to report who was a bad guy and who was a good guy. The big moment came right before the end of Act One. The Musketeers say the traditional “All For One”, and Sabine responds with “And One for All!” HOWEVER, in the pause between the men speaking and her response, Little Bear enthusiastically jumped right in and yelled “AND ONE FOR ALL!” Callie, who portrays Sabine, waited a moment, then finished the act by saying her line. The entire cast was on stage, holding their expressions as best they could, though their twinkling eyes clearly showed they were about to crack up at Little Bear’s expression of love for the Musketeers.
So we’ve had a fun summer at our house. Little Bear has also seen Souvenir and on occasion he would mention “that show where you are the funny singing lady, Mommy.” When we wrapped up our production recently, I realized this was probably the show I have had the hardest time saying goodbye to in my entire acting career. I think this was the first one that spoke so deeply to me because of how deeply it impacted our audiences, even younger children. Following one performance, I was given a homemade cookie baked by a young girl in the audience. She said to me, “well, you just did something really nice for me by putting on such a great show so I thought I’d do something nice for you.” I did not want those special times to end. But as Madame Flo says “If only the music could go on forever, Cosme. But of course it can’t. Of course it has to end.” And so it did, until I realized the music would go on, just in a way I never expected it to.
