A Theater is Born

*By Ryan Jockers, the Advocate*

NORWALK, May 5 2006 -- The transformation of the city-owned carriage house in Cranbury Park from a locked-up depository of equipment and trash into an inviting, intimate performing arts center is complete -- just in time for Cinderella to go to the ball.

Due to the efforts of volunteers, and support from the city's Parks and Recreation Department, the building, will debut tomorrow as the Carriage House Arts Center. The building has gone unused the past two years after the theater group that had used it disbanded.

"It's a great project," said Michael Mocciae, the parks director. "It's truly a black-box theater, and a great community spot."

"Cinderella Wore Combat Boots," a humorous adaptation of the classic fairy tale, set in the 1970s, written by Jerry Chase and directed by Frank Gaffney, a city resident, will be performed tomorrow at noon and 2 p.m.

A gala opening, featuring a wine-and-cheese reception, hosted by Mayor Richard Moccia, and a preview of the season's performances, will begin at 8 p.m.

The rebirth of the building, built in the Gothic style of the neighboring mansion, revives Mocciae's original plan for the structure, which he now compares to the Powerhouse Performing Arts Center in New Canaan's Waveny Park.

In the late 1990s, a city resident, Terry Polvey, created a performing arts program that used the carriage house and the mansion, but it ended when she moved out of town.

The building then lay vacant, collecting garbage and city equipment. Last summer, city resident Joe Guttadauro, walking in Cranbury Park, looked into the darkened carriage house and realized it was not being used. He and some of his friends -- involved in various community theater projects over the years -- used to joke about transforming a barn into their own theatrical space, and he said he saw an opportunity.

He called City Hall, and Mocciae told him if he cleaned the building -- the city would provide the paint -- and readied it for performances, the city would support the effort and repair the roof, untouched since 1931.

Guttadauro assembled his friends and, on weekends the past four months, they worked in the building. The past three weeks, they've focused on the play, which is geared toward children.

"It's bright and fun and kid-friendly, but it's set in the seventies, so the adults will get the jokes on a different level," Guttadauro said.

The performing space is painted black, carpeted and seats about 65 chairs. It includes a small stage and area to control the sound and lighting. An adjacent room, the box office and lobby, is decorated by works of local artist Robert Bartram of Stamford, and includes a bench, tables with flowers and, near the entrance, a blank log-in book.

"I think we're all proud of what we did," Guttadauro said. "Our big hope is that people come see it and we get feedback, get people in there, let people know we're there."

"Cinderella" will run May 12 and 13, and a dramatic comedy, "The Sum of Us," will run in October. The Triangle Community Center, of which Guttadauro is the president, will co-present the fall performances.

Staged readings of the books "When I Knew," "Same Time Next Year," and "Shirley Valentine," will be held in June, July and August, as well musical performances, co-presented by The Acoustic Cafe, of Bridgeport.

"It's a place people can go to hear a reading or different kinds of entertainment," said Mocciae. "It's something we've advocated for years, and finally we have a group willing to take on the responsibilities in terms of the programming space."

The city's parks budget funded the exterior renovations -- the roof, the replacement of the carriage house's bay doors and the placing of stone in front of the building. Guttadauro's group paid for some of the decorations. Ideally, he said, he and his friends will make back their money by mid-summer, and then begin building the arts center's budget for "bigger and better" productions, which could include musicians.

"We'll use this year to build momentum to get money in the budget and do some bigger stuff next year," he said. "Bigger is relative with our space. But bigger than what we are doing."

*Reprinted from the Stamford Advocate. Copyright © 2006, Southern Connecticut Newspapers, Inc.*