Musical Theater

P.O. Box 327, Port Angeles, WA 98362 - (360) 457-5630

The History of PALOA

The following is a reprint from an article in the
Seattle PI from Tuesday, July 12, 1983

Port Angeles is singing its way out of the blues.
By Kerry Webster PI Reporter

Port Angeles - The local folks are performing "HMS Pinafore" down at the high school auditorium this summer.

A few people are dropping by to help. Like conductor Elmer Ramsey of Los Angeles, And lyric tenor George Wiley of San Francisco. And Gert Muser, former managing director of the National Opera.

This is local theatre?

It is in Port Angeles, a depressed mill town on the north shore of the Olympic Peninsula, that hopes to sing its way to prosperity.

"We think that light opera could do for Port Angeles what Shakespeare has done for Ashland, Ore." said Mayor Dorothy Duncan.

This summer's "Pinafore" will be the first production of what backers hope will become a yearly festival - and a much-needed source of tourist revenue.

Town has potential

The driving force behind the project is Muser, a German-born lyric baritone of some repute who retired to the area recently, attracted by the scenery and the climate.

"I am convinced we have the potential here for a nationally recognized festival," said Muser last week as he watched volunteers hammer a ship's quarterdeck together.

Muser has sung with nearly every major opera company in Europe, his roles ranging from Figaro in The Barber of Seville to Wolfram in Tannhauser. His wife Evelyn, is a talented mezzo-soprano with a score of roles to her credit.

Muser served from 1957 to 1959 as managing director of the National Opera Company, a touring company of the Metropolitan Opera of New York.

Make it better

The Musers were delighted with Port Angeles but appalled by its depressed economy. The area has been hard hit by the depression in the lumber industry.

"It is our conviction that if you make an area your home, you find out what you can do to make it a better place to live," said Muser.

At first glance, Port Angeles is an unlikely place for an opera company. A drab mill town with smokestacks at either end, it has neither the character of Port Townsend nor the charm of Victoria across the strait.

But Port Angeles has hidden resources.

Notes Duncan, "because of our environment, this area attracts some very talented people -- artists, musicians, writers -- who could be working professionally in a big city somewhere but have chosen to come here for the lifestyle."

As a result, Port Angeles has a surprising cultural life for a town of 17,000 people. There is a well-regarded symphony orchestra, two community theater groups, a small ballet company, a children's theater, a chamber orchestra, a community chorale and a thriving film society.

"We are a little isolated here, so it is part of our tradition that we organize our own entertainment, " said City Councilman Werner Quast.

By happy coincidence, Port Angeles also boasts a high school auditorium that seats 1,200 and has acoustics that have astonished experts.

Muser's offer to organize a music festival was at first greeted with caution. Port Angeles has had its share of get-rich-quick schemes lately, including the ill-fated Northern Tier oil pipeline. But the City Council was impressed by the baritone's credentials and eventually became infected by his optimism.

"He has the ability to communicate his enthusiasm, and that's half the battle." said the mayor.

Charter subscriptions to the Port Angeles Light Opera Company sold quickly, and a drive to put new stage lighting in the auditorium netted $5,000 in a few weeks. A casting call brought out lawyers, teachers, doctors and crafts people "with voices you wouldn't believe," said Muser.

There were so many good voices the Muser double-cast most of the lead roles.

The fledgling company is importing only one professional performer for "Pinafore" - lyric tenor Willey of San Francisco. He'll play the comic lead, the First Lord of the Admiralty.

Prevailed on friend

"Normally I get paid for what I do," said Wiley, who was good-naturedly painting scenery last week. "But I agreed to sing this role for travel expenses because it's such a good one and Gert was very - uh - convincing."

Muser smiled innocently.

"I may have used a little - what is the expression? - 'arm-twisting.'" he confessed. He is Wiley's former voice teacher.

Muser also prevailed on an old friend, conductor Ramsey, to come up from Los Angeles to lead the pit orchestra. Ramsey has a national reputation as a conductor of light opera and theatre music.

Performances will be at 8 p.m. July 28, 29 and 30, and at 2:"30 p.m. July 31. Tickets, at $10, $7 and $4 are available by mail from the Port Angeles Light Opera Association, P.O. Box 327, Port Angeles, Wash. 98362. They will also be sold at Angeles Music and at the auditorium door. Tickets for children under 17 are half-price.

Muser continues to be surprised by the resources he has to draw upon. When he wanted a ship painted on a backdrop, someone suggested a local retiree, Philip Segura, who was handy with a brush. Segura astonished everyone by producing not a backdrop, but a full scale warship model, realistic to the ratlines and rope coiled on deck.

Segura, it turns out, was once a Hollywood set decorator.