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November 19, 2004/Kislev 6 5765, Vol. 57, No. 12
Teacher puts heart, soul into musical theater class
LENI REISS
Contributing Editor
The halls are alive with the sound of music at Scottsdale Community College when Marcia Wein-berg's musical theater class meets, and 40-plus aficionados pay homage to the likes of Sondheim, Rogers, Hart and Hammerstein under the knowledgeable tutelage of this native New Yorker.
On Dec. 10 and 11, her class of amateur stage stars will perform in "Encore!: A Celebration," a unique sing-a-long Broadway revue at SCC.
"You could say I was brought up on Broadway," Weinberg says.
When she was a child, her favorite uncle sold buttons to Broadway costume designers and had access to tickets.
Her favorite show was "Guys and Dolls," she says, "until I saw 'Follies.' I loved the old school big, flashy musicals, but 'Follies' was revelatory - sheer brilliance without a happy ending. It was the reality that life isn't always 'happily ever after.'"
Weinberg originally hoped for an onstage career: "There never was a doubt in my mind that I would be a star," Weinberg says with a smile. But parental influence got in the way, and she followed the route of many "good Jewish girls" of the day and went on to earn teaching credentials from New York's prestigious Barnard College.
It was during that time that she met her husband, Arnold, who lived in the neighborhood and was attending Columbia Law School.
Meanwhile, Weinberg embarked - without enthusiasm - upon a teaching career. She acknowledges, though, that the profession "allowed me to at least put to use some of my creativity and love for drama and the arts."
After teaching stints in Indianapolis and France (her husband was in the Army), Weinberg found herself back in New York. The couple moved to the suburbs of Great Neck, Long Island, and after the birth of her two children and a two-year struggle with back problems, Weinberg was hired as a high school teacher.
"Within two days, I knew I was home," she says. One reason: an annual top-notch student faculty musical production.
"I loved the teaching," she says, "but being in the show was the highlight of my three years there. The best was 1986 when I played the lead in 'Mame.' It was the best year, the best class, the best show."
Her teaching career came to a crashing halt - literally - in 1991 when she was hit by a car, suffered a broken leg and underwent intensive therapy.
"When I finally was able to get up and around Arnold and I took off on a trip to Arizona," she recalls. "We had been here before and loved it, and had an idea of purchasing a vacation place. But we found a house with a pool - a fantasy for us - and since Arnold was ready to retire we decided to make the move."
Once ensconced in North Scottsdale, Weinberg was able to pursue her dream of taking group and solo singing classes. She also connected with Pam Fields, ("My mentor," says Weinberg) who at the time headed SCC's theater department and was instrumental in bringing Weinberg into the college's theater programming. "Pam directed me to a class in musical theater. I took it, loved it, and volunteered to help put together the performance that would conclude the semester."
Fields encouraged Weinberg to create and teach her own course in the adult education department, which has burgeoned in the past four years from a class of six to this year's 44 students. The class currently has a waiting list, and "enrollment is limited only by the size of our performance space," she explains.
Evening sessions typically begin with a light-hearted but thoroughly prepared lecture by Weinberg on one of musical theater's big names, and then there's a sing-a-long with musical accompaniment.
After a break it's curtain time, as students, who more than compensate for their lack of experience with their enthusiasm, rev up to rehearse "Encore!" Weinberg scripts the revue, and laughingly admits that she always manages to assign herself at least one solo number.
"I choose a theme and write narration to tie the songs and segments together," she says. In the past, shows have highlighted the music of Irving Berlin, Stephen Sondheim and the movies.
"This year it's a tribute to what we think are the 10 best musicals ever," she reports, adding with another laugh, "Next year, we'll probably do the other 10 best."
So many students are repeaters from year to year that is a challenge for Weinberg to plan and repackage her lectures, but she says, "I love it. It's really my life. I'm thinking constantly of new approaches, new concepts. Every strand of my life finally has come together."
Maybe "happily ever after" is possible after all.
Details
- What: "Encore! A Celebration"
- When: 7:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 10, and Saturday, Dec. 11
- Where: Scottsdale Community College Performing Arts Center, 9001 E. Chaparral Road, Scottsdale
- Cost: Free; donations are accepted.
- Call: 480-423-1605.
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