By TARA HETTINGER
In a smaller theater set up behind the main stage, Tom Weatherston prepares to start rehearsal by passing around a basket for everyone to put their cell phones in.
Many things have changed since Weatherston, now 80, last directed a play at New Albany High School 25 years ago.
“The kids are different now ... They’re electrified with their gadgets and things,” Weatherston said. “We have an understanding that the cell phone is not going to make the show any better and I have myself a little basket and I collect all the cell phones at the beginning of rehearsal and I give them back when we’re through. They are way too much of a distraction for the kids. Now, we can get our work done.”
David Longest, the school’s regular theater teacher and director, said that basket and some more silver hair are the only differences in the Weatherston he knew when he was just a 10-year-old child learning theater to now.
“I’ve known him all my life as a second father figure,” Longest said, adding that he was one of Weatherston’s students in the 1960s and 1970s. “It’s like full circle for me. He gave so much to me and now I can give something back.”
Weatherston said he recently did some actor coaching work for Longest’s students, to make sure he still had it in him.
“It was fun working with the kids, so I found that I could do it. I had the energy yet to do it,” he said.
Then, Longest gave him the opportunity to get back into the main seat, directing “The Late Christopher Bean” on the school’s smaller stage, dubbed Backstage Theatre.
Weatherston said not teaching at the same time as he was used to created a new obstacle.
“I had to kind of fly by the seat of my pants there, because when I was teaching I knew a lot of the kids and I knew what they had done, what I thought they were capable of doing and where they might go. That wasn’t possible here. They didn’t know me and I didn’t know them,” Weatherston said. “I had to gamble and in many times it has worked out great.”
Since then it has been all business, especially because a few snow days put him behind schedule. His students said he’s stern, but that they like his style.
“It’s certainly different. He’s strict, but you can tell he cares about what he does,” said 16-year-old Zach Trinkle, whose father was one of Weatherston’s students in the 1960s.
Trinkle said he’s learned a lot more than just about his character in the play. He said Weatherston is making sure students get involved in all aspects of the show, including house management, ticket sales, set design and more. Brynnen Kelly agreed.
“I’m learning everything,” 15-year-old Kelly said. “I didn’t know anything to begin with [in theater]. This whole thing has been a learning experience for me.”
Longest said it’s not strange taking the backseat as Weatherston runs the show.
“I’ve never seen this theater as mine,” he said. “What I have been doing for the past 27 years is just an extension of what he started.”
Trinkle said everyone should come see the play, if not just for the show, but to see Weatherston in action.
“If nothing else, people should come to see what could be a local legend’s last show,” he said.
However, don’t count Weatherston out yet.
“Somebody mentioned that if I felt that I wanted to do it, it could be a yearly sort of thing,” Weatherston said. “I’d sure think about it. I certainly would.”
SO YOU KNOW:
• WHAT: New Albany High School presents “The Late Christopher Bean”
• WHEN: 7:30 p.m., Feb. 18-21 and at 2 p.m. on Feb. 20 and 21
• WHERE: Backstage Theatre at NAHS
• DETAILS: Seating is limited, so reservations are encouraged. Tickets are $8 for general admission and $6 for students and senior citizens. There will be an informal reception on-stage following every performance. Reservations can be made by calling 812-981-7650.
ABOUT THE “LATE CHRISTOPHER BEAN”:
• “The Late Christopher Bean” is a 1930’s comedy about a Massachusetts country doctor who discovers that his late boarder who lived and worked in the barn was actually a renowned painting master. The works he left behind are worth a fortune.
The play will be performed on the Backstage Theatre, which seats 58 people in the audience. The stage, which is set up behind the main stage, provides a more intimate space to see a performance, according to David Longest, theater teacher and director at New Albany High School.
