Theater

Tom Titus

She doesn’t act and doesn’t want to direct, but for the 20 years of

the Newport Theater Arts Center’s existence, Rae Cohen has been its

backbone.

Cohen got in on the ground floor of the newly reorganized theater

group back in 1980, as a 43-year-old housewife recruited by one of the

theater’s pioneers, Patty-Gene Sampson, because, in Cohen’s words, “it

seemed like so much fun.”

At the time, the Milwaukee-born Cohen was a parent volunteer at the

Newport Beach schools her three children attended, having moved west with

her family in 1964. She also gave piano lessons, heightening her

appreciation of the arts.

Cohen is currently serving one of her several terms as president of

the NTAC board, but her volunteer work covers a multitude of duties --

producing, costuming, working on sets and programs, and even joining the

production crew on just one show, “Sherlock Holmes.”

“I’m basically the board member who mainly deals with the city of

Newport Beach,” she says, noting that the city took over the former

Baptist church back in the late 1970s and earmarked it for a theater.

The current group was the third producing organization to occupy the

building. Members of the then-homeless Irvine Community Theater ripped

out the old choir loft to stage two shows in 1977, a few years before

relocating in their home town. Another company, headed by director Nancy

Ebsen, was in residence before splitting off from the current contingent

and moving to a continuation school near Upper Newport Bay for a few

seasons.

For the 1979-80 season, a producing group called the Friends of the

Newport Theater Arts Center was formed under the city’s auspices and

organized the community theater that celebrates its 20th anniversary in

the upcoming season. Cohen was aboard as recording secretary.

“I had helped paint scenery at Mariners School and when I saw how much

fun it was, I couldn’t resist,” she said. “My only acting experience was

in a fifth-grade play; I can’t remember the title.”

Cohen was a sociology major and an English minor in college, two areas

which she found came in handy in her role as mother hen to a coterie of

actors, directors and musicians of varying talents and temperaments. Her

husband had been a program director for a New Orleans television station,

which also gave her some experience on the fringes of show business.

For a lady with little practical experience, Cohen soon became a vital

cog in the NTAC wheel. When several board members left the group in the

early 1980s, Rae found herself producing four of the five plays one

season.

“We’d come so far, I just couldn’t let it fall,” she explained. “We

had made a commitment with the city to create and maintain a theater

program.”

Cohen is one of the people who reads all the scripts submitted for

board consideration, and is the person who makes certain that season

ticket holders are contacted regarding renewals. And it’s her voice on

the recording you’ll hear when you call (949) 631-0288 to make

reservations for a night at 2501 Cliff Drive.

She’s also the theater’s representative on the Newport Beach Parks,

Beaches and Recreation Commission. You might say that, for her, theater

is a full-time job.

Her personal contact with audiences has paid off for NTAC. Some years

ago, the theater group was remembered in the will of two longtime season

subscribers -- to the tune of $10,000.

Much of that money is being spent at the moment on a major remodeling

project at the theater. Backstage space and a green room area are being

added, and when the 20th season begins next month, the actors will be

able to walk from their downstairs dressing rooms to the backstage area

without getting damp if it happens to be raining.

What is her personal favorite among the many shows mounted at NTAC in

the last two decades? It’s a tough choice, but she narrows it down to two

-- the low-key drama “84 Charing Cross Road” and the pioneer musical

“Quilters.”

When you visit the Newport Theater Arts Center to see the local

premiere of the comedy “Moon Over Buffalo,” which opens a five-week run

Sept. 10, chances are you’ll run into Cohen. That theater is her second

home.

TOM TITUS reviews local theater for the Daily Pilot. His reviews appear

Thursdays and Saturdays.