Live theater comes to Sisters

Anyone who missed Cascades Theatrical Company's (CTC's) Sisters production of George M. Cohan's "The Tavern" missed a real treat. The theatrical company is celebrating its 29th year bringing year-round quality theater to Central Oregon.

"Our company is entirely volunteer-based," said executive director W. Dee Torrey, noting that the 501c3 non-profit's only paid employees are himself, marketing manager Lana Shane and box office manager Jared Rasic. "All performers, crew and people who design the sets are volunteer help."

The troupe's presentation earlier this month at FivePine Conference Center was in a dinner-theater setting.

"This is the first time we have tried this. We thought 'well, if it's hard for people from Sisters to get to Bend to see our plays, why don't we take them there,'" said Torrey. "It's important for the people of Sisters to see what CTC does, added Lilli Ann Linford-Foreman, who directed the play.

Blending perfectly into the goal of bringing theater to Sisters is the factor that the town has a suitable venue. Bill Willitts, FivePine's owner, designed the conference center, in part, for theatrical productions.

"Bill (Willitts) was very clever when he designed this space. We've got space for the dinner tables and space for the set. He designed a beautiful space with a lighting system in it. It works very well," said Torrey.

With a cast of 15 and a crew of nine, Linford-Foreman brought the production together very quickly in a little over a month.

According to Torrey, "The Tavern" is one of Cohan's best-ever plays, and the company produced the play specifically to take on the road.

To add a little hometown flavor to the Sisters production, Willitts joined the cast in a walk-on role as a sheriff.

CTC is thinking about bringing two plays to FivePine next winter.

"This is sort of an experimental run to see how well it goes over," said Torrey.

If the community is supportive, CTC will be back.

For ticket information and performance schedules go to http://www.cascadestheatrical.org.