European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 11, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                It it f it i r r a a i f a Sis let i a Quot Quot a a it Quot i in Quot y is a a Ltd Siv Quot canner and less tilling for a amps Steve Metcalf above Lilia Pellicano has her hair done by Diane Schulz while Deborah Walter Waits under a dryer in a scene from Quot steel magnolias by the Schweinfurt Germany theater group. At right american Robin Freitag from shape players Quot arsenic and old  below dancers swing through Quot anything goes Quot by the Frankfurt Community theater. For a amps Milton Lam for a amps Karl Weisel % continued from Page 3 a Complete evening on the town Complete with. Served before the show or a tres Chic a wine and cheese evening but what appeals most to audiences and participants alike Are the Art s mystique its Glamour and being lifted beyond one s Normal sphere of experience. Quot you bring up your imagination to entertain other people Quot said pfc. Edward Jolly a theater Phile assigned to Wil Flecken Germany. Quot when you can make them shed a tear or make them laugh you know you be done your . And in Community theater unlike the usual professional scene participants need no experience to Daub on makeup jell lights or create realistic sound cues. Or even become a Star for a show s run. Army maj. John Kennedy for instance recently wound up with a secondary romantic Lead in a summer production of South Pacific in Livorno Italy on his first Outing with the local group. Quot i d just seen some of the shows there Quot Kennedy said of his decision to try out. Quot it s a Chance to be around talented people and Hope it rubs off on  thais exactly How a theater group should work said shape s Bennett. Quot you Don t have to Start out As a Butler or a maid to gel a leading role. I Don t believe in the Star system at All. Effial kills your group Quot Bennett said. Quot i think you lose people when you Start playing that game. Despite Community theater s Appeal however it is a fragile commodity in Many . Military Heaters in Europe. Ever tightening budget squeezes crimp a theater s ability to pay for costumes and supplies such As paint and Wood or employ a professional staff. In Darmstadt Germany a new theater remodeler from a movie theater at the Cost of around $800,000 is sitting dark much of the year. A Community spokesman. Said that a hiring freeze and uncertainties about impending troop cuts prevented Darmstadt from employing new staff members when its former a entertainment staff left last year. Local German american groups have performed in the theater Quot three or four times Quot since then but Darmstadt expects to hire More staffers when the department of defense lifts the freeze said capt. Dennis Anderson. Livorno s program which previously had a professional staff is becoming a Volunteer run Guild. Budget pressures also  closure of an army institution Llie costume shop at a Schaffenburg Germany. Hut that service soon will be provided by Frankfurt Germany s entertainment Center under the name theatric Kex said Jim Sohre Community entertainment Ehiel. Air Force theater programs on the other hand Are sponsored by local recreation centers but must pay their own Way. Lakenheath s theater group has found that dinner performances in the base clubs keep audiences paying to see their two or three shows a year. Quot it seems to be what our audiences want Quot said Lakenheath s Randall. Quot we be never had a show that was t completely sold  but the crunch has t diminished and perhaps has heightened the various groups creativity in making use of local resources when there in t enough Money to go  example the Roadside theatre in Heidelberg Germany has borrowed furniture from an army and air Force Exchange service outlet to dress up its set for a recent production of Deathtrap. And in Europe there s a wealth of local resources at hand that would be harder to ferret out in the states. At Lakenheath a production of the lion in Winter came alive with banners authentic to the play s medieval Selling and costumes secured through local British reenactment societies and area governments. The costumes belonged to the arts conscious Suffolk District Council which owns an Quot entire floor of City Hall Quot filled with theatrical wares. The Council rented costumes to the Amateur american group at a Low Price Randall said. Other groups Are turning to Road shows to enhance visibility and increase revenues. Albert s children an improvisational theater group out of Hahn a Germany for instance exported its Zany humor to air bases elsewhere in Germany s Rheinland Pfalz Region. Some groups such As Giessen a Host incoming shows by Louring British and German performers to attract wider audiences to their own facilities. Nurnberg and Giessen also extend their entertainment programs with such events respectively As a 5far trek convention and an stripes Magazine Juty 11, 1991