SEQUIM — When asked why we should see “A Thousand Clowns,” the Readers Theatre Plus play opening tonight (Friday, Jan. 31), costar Jeff Clinton seemed to collect his thoughts.
Then Damon Little, 12, bolted through the door of the Sequim Prairie Grange Hall, where “Clowns” will play.
“He’s why you should go,” Clinton said of Damon, the youngest member of the cast.
“He’s amazing.”
Little plays 12-year-old Nick Burns, who is living with his uncle Murray in a New York City studio apartment. Veteran Sequim actor Ric Munhall is Murray, an unemployed television comedy writer. When his nephew pens an essay for school about the perks of unemployment insurance, the pair must suddenly face Child Welfare Board investigators.
“A Thousand Clowns,” Herb Gardner’s 1962 play presented by Readers Theatre Plus, runs tonight through next weekend at the Sequim Prairie Grange, 290 Macleay Road, with curtain at 7:30 tonight and Saturday night as well as next Friday, Feb. 7.
There’s no show this Sunday, what with the Super Bowl, but matinees are slated at 2 p.m. this Saturday and next Saturday, Feb. 8, and finally at 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 9. Tickets are $12 in advance and $15 at the door.
“The role of Murray Burns has attracted me since I saw the movie back in the ’60s,” said Munhall.
“It’s the kind of role any actor would love to do. Most of the time, I consider myself just a big kid,” he added. “And that’s Murray — a boy who never grew up.”
While “Clowns” is Murray’s saga, it’s also about Nick growing up a bit. Damon is reveling in the role, whose highlights, if you ask him, include a duet of the song “Yes, Sir! That’s My Baby” with Munhall.
Damon discovered acting a few years ago, and thanks to his mother Caryn Little looking out for opportunities, he’s been in a number of shows: “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” at the Port Angeles Community Playhouse last year and the Sequim High School productions of “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,” “The Music Man” and “The Wizard of Oz.” He tried out for the holiday musical “Oliver!” at the 5th Avenue Theatre last year, too.
“I didn’t make it. But it was a great experience,” Damon said. Next, he’s planning to audition for a role as a von Trapp family member in this spring’s Sequim High School operetta, “The Sound of Music.”
As for “Clowns,” the cast is “fantastic,” said Damon. The ensemble, directed by Janice Parks, also includes Jim Dries, Valerie Lape and Clinton as the Child Welfare Board social workers Sandra Markowitz and Albert Amundsen. At first, the two are a romantic couple, but then Murray charms Sandra.
He’s a nonconformist, a man who sees life as a kind of circus act. This is where the title comes in, explained Don White, the Port Townsend actor portraying Arnold Burns, Murray’s older brother.
Murray sees life as a kind of circus act, the kind where a tiny car pulls up and one after another, a thousand clowns climb out.
Arnold was, “at one time, almost as crazy as Murray,” added White.
“But he’s gotten in touch with the real world.”
The relationships in “Clowns,” and the way the characters deal with what’s thrust upon them, make the show funny and poignant, said Munhall. And “Clowns” has a bittersweet ending.
“Like life, the ending looks promising,” he said.
As with every Readers Theatre Plus production, “Clowns” is a fundraiser for a local charity: Captain Joseph House, the haven Betsy Reed Schultz is building for families who have lost loved ones in military service. To find out more, visit www.CaptainJosephHouseFoundation.org.
For advance tickets, visit Odyssey Books, 114 W. Front St., Port Angeles, or Pacific Mist Books, 121 W. Washington St., Sequim, and for details about Readers Theatre Plus’ activities, phone 360-797-3337 or see www.ReadersTheatrePlus.com.
