The Dart family’s adventure into theater begins with Carol helping Mary Haeberle, our neighbor at the time, stuff envelopes advertising Kearney Community Theater’s upcoming productions. Some 50+ years later, the whole Dart family has been on stage or behind the scenes of KCT.
Lucas – at age 10 – was coerced into doing a part as Annie’s little brother in “Annie Get Your Gun” on the Miriam Drake stage at KSC. That was the beginning and end of his brief theater career. Jessica’s stage adventures express her love of the theater more from back stage than on-stage though Pippin was the exception. She was one of the local group who helped found Crane River Theater, studied theater in college, and has continued her life in theater the rest of her life.
Carol’s KCT experience is lengthy beginning in 1976 when we moved across the street from John and Mary Haeberle. The Haeberle’s were active in community theatre and recruited Carol to help stuff envelopes with announcements about upcoming shows. That activity led to attending shows and participating in her first performance as a member of the chorus in the 1983 production of Amahl and the Night Visitors. Carol was comfortable with singing in a group of people who were also members of the First United Methodist Church chancel choir.
On-stage roles included the chance to perform with husband, Stan, in The King and I and the second staging of On Borrowed Time. Playing grandparents in On Borrowed Time is particularly memorable because they became actual grandparents during the run of that show when Nolan Dart was born. Other memorable roles for Carol include Taming of the Schrew, The Women, and Octette Bridge Club.
Other fun, sometimes demanding, roles were those of assistant director-stage manager and props. Carol was rescued by daughter Jessica when trying to stage-manage the technical aspects of Inspecting Carol. Director Rick Marlatt was truly grateful that Jessica came home from college to help the show to be successful.
Many of the relationships between actors and back-stage workers developed at KCT became and have remained life-long friendships. This certainly realizes the community aspect in Kearney Community Theatre.
Other opportunities aside from on-stage and back-stage were those unique friendships grown between board members. No other way would Carol have been exposed to the unique personalities of Rick Marlatt, Terry Ryan, Katie Nickel, Jim Williamson, Margaret Clark, Gail Lowenberg, Gayle and Mary Ann Lawson, the Butters family-Velda, Darrin, Kevin, Chuck and Nancy Peek and Harry Pagels. What a cast!
Editor’s Note; see the Kearney Creates entry on the Butters Family
After several years on the board, Carol took to helping in the box office, acting as producer for shows performed at Kearney State College and eventually acting as liaison between KCT and those who contracted to host weddings and other celebrations held in the new building. The latter was challenging but helped to build her skills as a mediator when she took a job with Central Mediation Center in 1993.
Stan’s first KCT experience was grounds-keeper for the theater operating in the old church on Avenue A which blended into bartender, stage building and, finally his first on-stage ventures in The Music Man (1984) followed by The Pleasure of His Company (1985). Over the next 40-plus years Stan appeared in over 30 productions including two each of Mister Roberts, On Borrowed Time, It’s a Wonderful Life and The Sunshine Boys (both the first and second production with Chuck Peek).
Off stage, Stan’s KCT roles extended to bar manager, fund-raising chairman, building-construction supervisor, and Chair of the Board of Directors from 1988 to 2012.
Anecdotally – KCT annually awards the Golden Rat to a KCT volunteer who reaches beyond expectations. The rat is a memento of KCT’s history. When the old church on Avenue A was being changed into a theater, John Haeberle and Stan Dart were clearing out a large air flow grate in the main room floor. Over the years, trash of all sorts had accumulated in the bottom of the shaft. When Stan picked up several newspapers that were dated in the 1930’s, the air-dried remains of a rat fell from the stack. We cleaned it off a bit and left it on a counter to show people. A week later, Haeberle and Dart took it home. The next day, the rat was brushed clean of dust and residue, mounted by Haeberle on a rectangular piece of finished wood surrounded by a glass cover, and labeled The Golden Rat. Since then, annually, the Golden Rat is given to a KCT volunteer in recognition of their dedication to KCT.
From the early 1990’s through 2007, Sandy Janssen was a frequent artistic director for shows. Her partner was always MaryAnn Lawson as Assistant Director, and she was the best Stage Manager ever. MaryAnn passed away after a short battle with cancer. After a redecoration of the Green Room, the Board of Directors dedicated it as The Mary Ann Lawson Green Room at the Annual Meeting following Mary Ann’s passing.
Stan Dart
Here are the productions in which Stan appeared:
The Music Man 1984, in which he played Charlie Cowell -Anvil Salesman
The Pleasure of His Company 1985, playing the Husband
Mr. Roberts 1986 and the 2002 reprise, playing The Captain
Stan played the King in King and I 1987
Absurd Person Singular 1988, he played Ronald
The Foreigner 1988, playing the Australian Soldier
Stan played The Doctor in the 1989 On Borrowed Time and in the 2004 production he was Julian Nortrup – Grandpa
In Hello Dolly 1991, he played Horace Vandergeldar
Lend Me A Tenor 1993, playing Henry Saunders
In the 1993 production of 1776, he played Dickenson
Inherit the Wind 1996, he was Drummond
Two By Two 1998, playing Noah
It’s A Wonderful Life, both 1998 and 2009, Stan appeared as Mr. Potter
Pippin 2000, playing Charlemagne
Both Sunshine Boys productions, 2001 and 2015, featured Stan as Al Lewis
Stan appeared in the 2005 Melodrama, Foiled Again, and in the 2006 Gala-Variety Is the Spice of Life, continuing to play in every Gala 2007-2012
The Philadelphia Story 2010, appearing as Uncle Willie
9 to 5 – The Musical 2014, playing Russell Tinsworthy
He also appeared in the Crane River Theater production of Annie as Harold Ickes
And he built sets for
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, with Gayle Lawson
Little Shop of Horrors
Quilters
Man of La Mancha
To Kill a Mocking Bird
Guys and Dolls
The Diary of Ann Frank
A Christmas Carol More or Less
Spitfire Grill-again with Lawson
Photo Gallery
The founders of Crane River, most all of whom got their theater start at KCT
Stan and Carol Dart
Please see the following related Articles:
Kearney Community Theatre
Kearney Community Theatre 1 of 3
Kearney Community Theatre 3 of 3