New blood and family legacy usher in new life for OCP

It has been a long haul since Orange Community Players, Inc. was forced out of its original home on Division Street after TS Harvey flooded the theater for a second time in 2017. They bought the old Brown Twin Cinema building and have worked on it through the years trying to get up and running again. They were almost there, hoping to open this past September, when the HVAC system went out. The AC is fixed and they are down to only needing a counter for the concession stand, rails on the outer steps, and handicapped spots marked in the parking lot. It's so close, they can taste it. They are hoping the Mystery Dinner Theater production of "Next of Kin" scheduled for this weekend at the Orange Train Depot will raise the funds to get them across the line so they can open in the new year.

The husband-and-wife team of Rico and Cydney Vásquez direct the wacky comedy that will include audience participation. It's a party. Rico said if the audience needs to get up and get something else to eat in the middle of it, "do it." Treat is as if it is a regular gathering of friends. A good portion of the show will be improved to provide that intermingling with the guests.

"We can't control what the audience is gonna say especially when they're about three or four glasses in and that's the fun. That's why we like to do the murder mysteries, the dinner theaters," said Rico.

The last dinner theater they did was in 2021 or 2022, after the pandemic.

"It was a 1920s murder mystery, like a mobster murder, and that was all the old OCP," said Cydney. "It was a lot of the board members and a lot of the people who grew up doing it, but you know this is a fresh new take." The Vásquez couple directed the earlier production too. It was held at the Brown Center and sold out.

Auditions for this show were held before Halloween and they have been practicing at First Methodist Church in Orange.

The story it is about Hamilton "Big Daddy" Sugarbaker. He's having a party where he unfortunately meets his demise. Who killed big daddy? Everyone has a reason.

Cast breakdown:

Alaniz Vásquez as Hamilton "Big Daddy" Sugarbaker, a rich man from Atlanta, Georgia who moved here six months ago after the disastrous failure of his second marriage--to a woman many years his junior. His first wife, Babette, died giving birth to Aaron.

Ian Shaw as Aaron Sugarbaker, Big Daddy's youngest son. He's a struggling poet who's embittered by his lack of success, but still believes that he's a true artiste.

Nate Brown as Rhett Sugarbaker, Big Daddy's oldest son. A smarmy, slick, dirty-dealing, unethical businessman. He'll do anything to make money and what better way to make money than stealing from his father's bottle capping company in Atlanta.

Amy Carroll as Bobbie Joe Butler, Big Daddy's nurse confidante, and friend. She would do anything for the man who saved her from certain death five years ago.

Mik C. Koats as Savannah Sugarbaker, Big Daddy's neurotic second wife who's prone to drastic mood swings and irrational, insane, behavior.

Codie Vásquez as Philly Sugarbaker, Big Daddy's drunkard of a sister. Philly's had a sad, miserable life--she even spent some time in prison for robbery, theft, even prostitution.

Ashley Guillory as Scarlett Sugarbaker, Rhett's selfish, social-climbing wife who tries to be classy and fails - miserably. She comes from the wrong side of the tracks and it shows.

Rachele Allen as Melanie Sugarbaker, Aaron's supportive but very eccentric wife. She's an "interpretive dancer." She and Aaron snobbishly cling to a lifestyle neither can truly afford.

Crystal Kelley as Edwina Edwin, Big Daddy's accountant. She's an obsessive compulsive who has devoted her entire working life to Big Daddy. She knows what he's worth and expects that she'll receive a sizable chunk of his money in exchange for her loyalty.

Unless their name is Vásquez, the cast is new to the local audience.

"That's what we've been trying to do this whole time... get fresh people to get more interest because if it's the same 10 people doing it, people get tired of it," said Rico. "Here we are like on the cusp of opening the theater, like a new generation, which is amazing and all of them are just incredibly excited for us to get open so they can start doing shows in the theater."

Once they get the theater open, they plan to also open it up to the community as a rental space for other artistic endeavors. Rico mentioned the local wrestling scene has expressed interest in renting the facility.

"I want our new building, our new organization, to be structured around giving opportunity for artistic expression of all types in Orange County. Live theater is gonna be our bread and butter. That's gonna be what we always go back to because that's what we know. but I started looking at it from a business perspective." Rico elaborated, "It takes us six to eight weeks to put on a show. Six weeks for a nonmusical, eight weeks for a musical. That's start to closing night, so you have two weeks that you're actually putting on the show. So, let's talk about a nonmusical. That means there's four weeks of not making money, there's four weeks of no tickets being redeemed, so that's a month of no revenue. That was our old model. It kept us going, but what do we do with those four weeks? Well, we rent out the space to local painters if they wanna do a painting exhibit or we'll rent out the space to local bands that wanna host a concert. One of the cast members here has a degree in playwriting and drama and she wants to be able to put on the shows she writes. That's perfect for our theater to do in between our big mainstage performances."

The idea has merit. The theater group had to take on debt to finish the building. That debt must be paid back and additional rental is a wonderful way to do that.

"We call ourselves the Center for Performing Arts. Art is a big part of that, right? That's my dream for the future," said Rico.

When they were flooded out of the old facility in 2017, they had a slate of shows ready to go that year and they are playing with the idea of starting with that cancelled slate, but nothing has been determined yet. Rico said it's weird. Like he woke up eight years later.

"I got a kid now. I got more gray hair, but we're ready to go."

They would love to be able to find some corporate sponsors to retire the debt sooner. The couple joked about naming parts of the center such as the ExxonMobil black box, Motiva Lobby, or even First Financial Popcorn Stand.

Alaniz and Codie Vásquez are Rico's parents. Participation in OCP has been a family affair for over 20 years and they are proud of the leadership role Rico and daughter-in-law Cydney have taken in the organization.

"It's all about passing the torch and it's always been about making sure that theater continues on to the next generation and the next and that has been our mission statement for the last 20 years, to keep local community theater alive," said Alaniz. "You can't do that if you don't pass the torch."

"I remember getting involved with our first play at OCP when Rico was10 years old and you know here it is a little over 20 years later watching him take the lead," said Rico's mother, Codie. "It's really great to watch that experience from being involved in Young People's Workshop to being in various plays and his teenage years... and now he has children that we're looking forward to seeing them in the children's play's."

Codie's mother, Judy White is also involved in OCP, so they are four generations deep in the organization.

Next of Kin presents this weekend, 7:37 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 23 and a matinee at 2:37 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 24 at the Orange Train Depot, 1210 W. Green Ave, Orange, 77630. Doors open one hour before the performance. Tickets are $40 and can be purchased online at http://www.OCPlayers.org, in person at Lookin' Good Hair Salon, 3711 N. 16th St., Orange, 77632, or at the door. Advance ticket purchase is appreciated so they have an idea of how much food to prepare.