Playhouse faithful bid farewell to Pati Tambellini

Tom Titus

One more time, the sounds of theater people wafted through the

World War II-vintage auditorium on the Orange County Fairgrounds, but

this time it was on a somber note. They’d come to bid farewell to the

lady who founded the Costa Mesa Civic Playhouse on that spot nearly

four decades ago.

It was here, in 1965, that the playhouse -- located at 611

Hamilton St. since the early 1980s -- was born, and some of the

people who were part of the “Pinchpenny Playhouse” family gathered to

pay tribute to Pati Tambellini, whose death last month ended an era

in Costa Mesa.

Tambellini, as those who shared their memories of her would agree,

was unique, a one-of-a-kind lady with an enormous talent and a

penchant for bringing young people into the strange and wonderful

world of community theater.

Her son, Mike Witte, conducted the event, along with brother Pat

and sister Kris, who had watched in bemusement over the years at the

collection of actors who turned up at their home and the playhouse to

-- as Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland once said -- put on a show. They

came back from as far away as Wyoming (Diana Spencer) to share their

memories of this special lady.

Pati Tambellini was well-established as a local actress and

director by the time the city of Costa Mesa elected to create a

community theater, having built a colorful career with the old

Newport Harbor Players. Most people at the memorial service were

brought into the theater by Tambellini, your correspondent included.

Two of the “old timers” who were closest to Tambellini -- drama

teacher Stan Wlasick and retired drama teacher Barbara Van Holt --

delivered perhaps the most moving tributes, describing their mentor

as a “pied piper” who would charm, cajole or arm-twist her subjects

into filling a role or lending a hand backstage.

“She was my Auntie Mame,” Wlasick declared, recalling when, as a

lad of 17, Tambellini introduced him to the technical side of

theater. Wlasick later became an actor and director and followed Van

Holt’s muse into high school theater direction.

Speaking of that character, Betsy Hewett harkened back to when she

moved here from the East Coast and listed Auntie Mame on her resume

-- a character Tambellini herself had portrayed. “I’ll bet you were

better,” Hewett recalls Tambellini saying.

There was no room for rampant egos around the playhouse,

Tambellini’s included. Community theater was teamwork, and Tambellini

was the hard-working coach who rarely accepted the credit she was

due. There are a lot of adjectives to describe her -- “brilliant,”

“innovative” and “persuasive” come to mind. But “sentimental” was not

among them, at least on the surface.

Her gruff nature masked a huge heart that often manifested itself

in memorable performances, hers and others’.

Tambellini directed dozens of shows at the fairgrounds auditorium

and, later, at the Rea facility. Her acting skills were allowed to

blossom only sporadically, in signature roles like Evy in “The

Gingerbread Lady,” Big Mama in “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” (with Wlasick

playing Brick) or Aunt Martha in “Arsenic and Old Lace” (with Van

Holt and yours truly among the cast).

When Pati Tambellini started the Costa Mesa Civic Playhouse, she

also started my avocational career as an actor and, later, director.

She was the drill sergeant for my basic training in theater and could

be a tough taskmistress. But she instilled a love of the art in me

and dozens of others who returned to the old fairgrounds auditorium

for her big cast party.

Somehow, it was fitting that the final chapter in Pati

Tambellini’s remarkable life be written on the spot where it all

began, at least for many of us, 37 years ago.

She was, indeed, one of a kind, and her guiding spirit won’t soon

be forgotten by those privileged to work -- and play -- with her.

* TOM TITUS writes about and reviews local theater for the Daily

Pilot. His stories appear Thursdays and Saturdays.