Jennifer Obeney

Shance Ryan Brentham

Molly Franco as Anne Frank. Photo by Shance Ryan Brentham.

Andy Baldwin

  

The Diary of Anne Frank

by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett

Presented by Forum Theatre Company

November 12 - 14

at Will Rogers Auditorium
3401 W. Lancaster Ave.
Fort Worth, TX 76107
817-707-7196

$10-$20

7:30pm Thursday & Friday; 2pm Saturday

Most new theater companies launch modestly—a small show with minimal sets and staged in a space that barely holds the cast and crew's friends and family members.

But Fort Worth's new Forum Theatre Company didn't even consider that option.

"In order for us to follow through on our mission, we have to spend the money, we have to make a statement," says Andy Baldwin, the organization's co-founder and Artistic/Executive Director.

So Forum launches this week with a $40,000 youth production of The Diary of Anne Frank, presented in the 2,800-seat Will Rogers Auditorium in the middle of Fort Worth's Cultural District. There will be three public performances and two school performances. The school shows have been selling impressively, for a first outing.

Baldwin says that the 40 grand includes in-kind donations and rental of the venue, which is significantly cheaper than other large venues in Cowtown. Although the actors range from ages 15 to 18, the production design uses some of the top professionals available, including set designer Bob Lavallee and Broadway hair designer Robbie Tollis, who is a friend of a friend. The costumes come from Texas Christian University and Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma.

"I feel like the set that you put the actors on and the lights you put them under elevates them to the experience," he says.

Baldwin's co-founders are Business Manager Jennifer Obeney and Associate Artistic Director Shance Ryan Brentham. Baldwin, an actor who had worked in the ensemble at Casa Mañana Children's Playhouse (which has since dropped its resident company and changed names to Casa Mañana Children's Theatre), knew he wanted to start his own youth theater after leaving Casa in the spring of 2009.

He didn't want a children's theater, nor a theater for young audiences, like Casa or Dallas Children's Theater, which use adult professionals in their productions. "I think we all realized the need for this in Fort Worth," he says.

The plan is develop as a youth theater for five years, and then launch a professional repertory company. Baldwin cites Irving's Lyric Stage, which has "solid productions and affordable tickets," as a model.

The test the waters, Forum held a "Camp College" over the summer at Stage West, which 33 students attended. The goal was to prepare students interested in pursuing drama for auditioning for college scholarships, with the hope that after they graduate, they'll return to the company that helped them start their career.

The group's name comes from the fact that one of the first shows that each of the founders did in high school was the Sondheim musical A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, and also from the meaning of that word as a place to come together for social and political discourse. "We want to do shows that are socially relevant," Baldwin says.

Plans for 2010 include a female version of The Lord of the Flies, a studio production of a contemporary title, and a large staging in the fall of To Kill a Mockingbird. And possibly, they will launch a youth playwriting contest.

For Anne Frank, Forum has partnered with the Dallas Holocaust Museum, which will have exhibits in the theater's concourse.

"We've found that a large part of getting this started is having contacts. I honestly feel that if you can raise $100,000, then you can raise $500,000," Baldwin says. "People keep asking me 'why?' and I always respond 'why not?' "

"There's nothing wrong with jumping in with both feet."