A Passion for Shakespeare

Tom Titus

When Wendi de Barros was 6 years old, performing a minor role in her

first play, the kid with the biggest part dropped out. She did a “42nd

Street” fill-in and took over the lead. It would not be the last time

this would happen.

Now, 27 years later, steeped in theatrical experience and training de

Barros is preparing her third assignment as director of the Huntington

Beach Playhouse’s annual Shakespeare in the Park project. Her production

of “Henry IV, Part 1” opens Saturday in the city’s Central Park

amphitheater. For de Barros, it’s her 13th crack at a Shakespearean

play, which gives her a unique perspective on the works of the Bard of

Avon. It also helps that she was “born in a trunk” as the daughter of an

actor/director father and an actress mother, both of whom have

substantial backgrounds in local theater. De Barros father is Phil de

Barros, who’s been a playhouse fixture since 1966 when he starred as

Starbuck in “The Rainmaker” and is now president emeritus of the

playhouse. Her mother, La Donna, is a well-known actress who has stirred

local audiences in such plays as “Suddenly, Last Summer,” “Night of the

Iguana” and “Come Back, Little Sheba.”

The playhouse’s outdoor Shakespeare productions date back to 1992 when

de Barros was playing Cecily in “As You Like It” -- and was thrust into

the leading role of Rosalind when the actress in that part dropped out.

Since then, she’s been involved in seven of the playhouse’s 10 summer

Shakespeare shows in one capacity or another.

“It’s a different experience, doing Shakespeare,” she asserts. “I

start out with the text, working with the actors, and they don’t get on

their feet until they understand what all these things mean.”

The first half of the rehearsal process is spent analyzing scenes, the

second half preparing them, she says.

De Barros transition from actress to director came about in 1997 when

her father was staging “The Taming of the Shrew.” “Dad kept getting calls

for film assignments, and I was his assistant and playing Bianca,” she

recalls. “Finally, I just took over as director.”

After graduating from Fountain Valley High School, de Barros underwent

two years of extensive training at the Professional Actors Conservatory

at Rancho Santiago College, which included fencing and other physical

elements of period theater. This was followed by two summers of

performing at the Grove Shakespeare Festival.

She took a brief shot at a professional career, earning her Screen

Actors Guild card while acting in the TV series “Dr. Quinn, Medicine

Woman.” But these days, earns her living as a program preparation

technician for DirecTV.

Of the numerous Shakespearean characters she’s brought to life, she

most particularly favors the part of Viola in “Twelfth Night,” which she

performed under her father’s direction three years ago. Her Shakespearean

repertoire also includes roles in “King Lear,” “The Merry Wives of

Windsor,” “Much Ado About Nothing” and the aforementioned shows.

“I love that the Huntington Beach Playhouse allows me to do this every

summer,” she beamed. “We try to keep the flavor and spirit of Shakespeare

in an informal, outdoor setting -- the way it originally was done.”

* TOM TITUS reviews local theater for the Independent.

FYI

WHAT: “Henry IV, Part 1”

WHO: Huntington Beach Playhouse

WHERE: Central Park Amphitheater, 7771 Talbert Ave., Huntington Beach

WHEN: Saturdays and Sundays at 2 p.m. through July 28

COST: $7 - $8

PHONE: (714) 375-0696