{"id":243902,"date":"2010-10-01T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2010-10-01T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sdnews.com\/north-park-vaudeville-candy-shoppe-reveals-a-sweet-surprise\/"},"modified":"2010-10-01T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2010-10-01T07:00:00","slug":"north-park-vaudeville-candy-shoppe-reveals-a-sweet-surprise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/north-park-vaudeville-candy-shoppe-reveals-a-sweet-surprise\/","title":{"rendered":"North Park Vaudeville & Candy Shoppe reveals a sweet surprise"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"North<\/a>
Actor Ryan Payne tried out for a role in the North Park Playwright Festival, Oct. 1-24. Payne has appeared in several North Park Vaudeville & Candy Shoppe productions. (Pat Sherman\/SDUN)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By Pat Sherman\/<\/strong>
\nAsistente de edici\u00f3n SDUN<\/p>\n

With only 35 seats, North Park Vaudeville & Candy Shoppe is San Diego\u2019s smallest venue for live theatre\u2014though its courage and heart may be its largest.<\/p>\n

Tucked in an inconspicuous, aging commercial row off El Cajon Boulevard, the company opened with an old-timey candy shop at the front of the house\u2014and a sweet dream of giving unknown and untested playwrights a shot at success.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Husband and wife owners Jeff Bushnell and Summer Golden (who were married in the theater) produce the kinds of plays that tend to keep meek audiences at home with the remote control.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are not interested in doing what\u2019s typically done and seen at community theaters,\u201d said Bushnell, a flight instructor and retired Continental Airlines pilot who converted the former barbershop into a theater eight years ago with Golden.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bushnell said he\u2019s proud of the productions the company has taken risks on, including a play titled \u201cIn the Blood,\u201d a lesser known offering by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Suzan-Lori Parks.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the story of an unmarried homeless woman raising her five bastard children underneath a bridge in the city, and the people that she interacts with\u2014a doctor, minister, social worker and her ex-boyfriend\u2014all of whom sexually abused her,\u201d Bushnell said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was an inspiring story\u2026but it was really a brutal story to look at,\u201d Bushnell said. \u201cWe took a chance, we paid the royalties on it and we didn\u2019t hardly have 10 people a night come and see it. But what it does and what we like is that it exposes a part of society that needs to be understood. How many times are you driving around town here and you see all these homeless people? Nobody knows anything about them, but they have a story to tell, too.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"North<\/a>
Spenser Duncan, a student actor in North Park Vaudeville & Candy Shoppe\u2019s Stars program. Duncan will be helping direct a selection in the theatre\u2019s North Park Playwright Festival, Oct. 1-24. (Pat Sherman\/SDUN)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Though the theatre company operates as a for-profit venture, Bushnell said that after paying royalties (about $75 per performance) and an occasional $50 to $60 stipend to actors, the company barely has enough to cover expenses.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ticket prices are kept at $14, though audiences\u2019 willingness to part with their money has diminished during the down economy, Bushnell said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s next to nothing\u2014three beers at a local bar; three packs of cigarettes,\u201d Bushnell said. \u201cYou\u2019d think people would take a chance sometimes\u2014and sometimes they do.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Audiences are creatures of habit and don\u2019t typically like to\u00a0gamble on playwrights and actors who haven\u2019t paid their dues somewhere else, Bushnell said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe take people of all persuasions and that is a little bit different,\u201d he said. \u201cOur mission is to get people involved in theatre and to get new work done that\u2019s never been done\u2014and that is highly risky. If somebody\u2019s never heard of a play before, unless they\u2019re really interested in the theatre, the chances of them coming out are pretty slim.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

As part of their mission of inclusivity, Bushnell and Golden offer theatre instruction for people with mental and physical challenges, giving them a shot in the footlights they may not otherwise receive. The actors in their \u201cStars\u201d program include those with cognitive disabilities, Down syndrome, autism and other mental challenges, from teenagers to adults.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The program is divided into four classes, depending on a student\u2019s level of impairment. The cost is $5 per class. Actors are referred to Golden through organizations such as the Down Syndrome Association of San Diego and The Arc of San Diego, which works to create opportunities for people with disabilities.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Golden, also a playwright, got the idea for the program while living in Oregon. While working on one of her plays, she met an actor with Down syndrome.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was a great actor and I got to be friends with her,\u201d Golden recalled. \u201cLater I found that it was really hard for her to be cast in anything.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s so many people that are out of the mainstream, yet they want to act and really have talent. I wanted to give people that opportunity.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Louis Flam, who goes by the stage name \u201cLuigi,\u201d was introduced to the Stars program in 2005 through friend and fellow Stars actor Rachel Goldbaum.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Flam, who has Down syndrome, has directed a couple of plays and also performs in the Stars\u2019 advanced group. He also does improv with the company.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"North<\/a>
A scene from Summer Golden\u2019s \u201cHouse of Ill Repute vs. Virtuousness\u201d at North Park Vaudeville & Candy Shoppe. Pictured are (l to r): Daniyar, John Fojtik, Mark Anthony, Philomena Schubert, Terry Johns, Summer Golden, Rachael Goldbaum and Runi Steen (Courtesy Golden\/Bushnell)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

[<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m kind of a lounge act singer, (from) Simon & Garfunkel to oldies and hop-hop like Will Smith,\u201d he said. \u201cSummer gave me a job because I have a whole collection of music\u2026more than 1,000 CDs. I have good ideas for what goes with the play.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t judge people,\u201d Flam stressed. \u201cA lot of people have autism and that\u2019s okay. A lot of people have Down syndrome and that\u2019s okay.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Actor Philomena Schubert, who lives near the theater, serves as assistant director for one of the beginning Stars troupes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to really work with them,\u201d Schubert said of the students. \u201cThey can\u2019t concentrate and keep their mind on everything (so)\u2026they need a lot of coaching, even when they are performing.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

When students get frustrated or can\u2019t remember their lines, Schubert continues to offer encouragement.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"North<\/a>
Chuck Hart and Stephanie Jackson in Suzan Lori-Parks\u2019 \u201cIn the Blood\u201d at the North Park Vaudeville & Candy Shoppe. (Courtesy Golden\/Bushnell) <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThey get out there and they just come right to,\u201d she said. \u201cThey\u2019re such loveable people. I tell everybody I see I wish they could come see them and know what it\u2019s like.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

At times, Stars actors audition for and land a role in one of the company\u2019s regular productions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Claude Salomi, from the Stars advanced class, wrote a play about his experience immigrating to the United States from Iraq as a child.\u00a0Salomi also appeared in the theatre\u2019s mainstream production of \u201cLost in a Desert World\u201d by folk singer Karl Williams.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s paralyzed from the waist down and he\u2019s almost blind, but he\u2019s determined,\u201d Bushnell said of Salomi. \u201cHe\u2019s such an inspiration.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Prior to meeting his wife, Bushnell said he had almost no interaction with the mentally and physically challenged.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI have been really blessed getting to know them and understand them,\u201d he said. \u201cI wish the rest of the world was like them. They are so loving and caring and accepting that it makes the rest of society sometimes look a little screwy.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Golden also offers Stars students instruction in tap dance and ballet. Depending on their level of ability and interest, Stars students may write and produce their own plays, with editing help from Golden.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI guide them but I ask them to be as independent as possible,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For beginning and lower-functioning students, Golden writes scripts especially for them.<\/p>\n

\u201cI generally make the scripts about what they would like to be in their life\u2014a bride or a nurse or a doctor,\u201d she said. \u201cThese are people that are probably not going to get married and have careers, but they can do it on stage.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

People who have a loved one or relative who may be interested in participating in the Stars program should call Golden at the theater for an interview. Classes are offered Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, North Park Vaudeville & Candy Shoppe is getting ready to highlight a cornucopia of uncharted dramatic terrain during its eighth annual North Park Playwright festival, Oct. 1-24 at the theater at 2031 El Cajon Blvd.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The festival features 10-minute short plays. Submissions have come from playwrights as far away as Siberia, Slovakia and Australia. The winning submissions are chosen by the company\u2019s team of directors.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe get about 200 to 300 (scripts) a year sent to us from all over the world,\u201d Bushnell said. \u201cIt\u2019s the only (playwright) festival left in San Diego now, and we involve everybody from first-time actors and directors to literally movie professionals.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cSome of the playwrights are published and others have never written a play in their life and we get their first play. Some of our stuff has come off beautifully\u2026and others, maybe the play wasn\u2019t written well or whatever, but our goal is to give it a chance.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The playwright festival will be Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Pat Sherman\/ SDUN Assistant Editor With only 35 seats, North Park Vaudeville & Candy Shoppe is San Diego\u2019s smallest venue for live theatre\u2014though its courage and heart may be its largest. Tucked in an inconspicuous, aging commercial row off El Cajon Boulevard, the company opened with an old-timey candy shop at the front of […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":243903,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11555","_seopress_titles_title":"North Park Vaudeville & Candy Shoppe reveals a sweet surprise","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11549,11551,11555],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-243902","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-entertainment","category-news","category-uptown-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243902","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=243902"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243902\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/243903"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=243902"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=243902"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=243902"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}