| Deb Shaffer as Mame (Photo courtesy of Findlay Light Opera) |
Some roles are like early Christmas gifts for actors.
And Deb Shaffer, who has demonstrated a her comic skills and ebullience on local stages, just seemed
destined to play Mame, the free-spirited woman of the world.
What actress wouldn’t want to play a role in which her character’s name is proclaimed by the brass in the
opening bars of the overture? What actress wouldn’t want to play a character who makes her entrance down
a long staircase wearing an iridescent purple gown – the first of 14 costumes – playing a bugle?
When she heard the Findlay Light Opera Company was doing "Mame," "the light bulbs went
off, I really wanted to do it."
The shows will be presented Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. at Van Buren High School
Auditorium.
"This is like a gift," Shaffer said. "To have an opportunity like this role."
Now she’s engrossed in the demanding part. She’s in virtually every scene of the musical. She had many
lines to memorize – "I talk to myself a lot in the car." She sings. She dances. She curses.
Friends and family may be taken aback by that. "I’ve cursed more in a rehearsal than I ever have in
my life," she said in a recent interview. Mame, Shaffer said, "is not me."
Still she appreciates the character’s spirit, proclaimed as she descends the stairs: "The moon’s
full. The gin is in the bathtub and all my dearest friends are here, even the ones I haven’t met
yet." Shaffer also finds "a vulnerable side" beneath all her character’s bluster.
Shaffer, a 1975 graduate in vocal performance from Bowling Green State University, she married before
graduating, and raised five sons, home schooling for many years.
That forced her to put performance on hold. She did "Hello Dolly" when it was staged at BGSU
during the summer about 23 years ago. That showed at the time it was "more than the family could
handle."
Still her desire to perform bubbled up a few years later when she and other ladies at the Covenant Church
in Bowling Green decided to stage a variety show. In one of the acts she teamed up with Carol Bailey,
and the Hoffenheimer Sisters were born, fully grown with very developed funny bones.
The musical comedy act proved just the right outlet. "That’s what kept me going," said Shaffer,
who now sells real estate for Welles Bowen Realtors.
The act also helped develop her skills. "You have to get comfortable performing in all kinds of
situations," she said.
"You walk into so many weird situations."
The Sisters could play for a few people in a church basement, or a couple hundred at a banquet, and they
had to react and gear their act to whatever situation they found themselves in.
Still, Shaffer longed to get on stage. And when middle son Luke (now a performer himself as Luke James
with "American Idol" on his resume) was in junior high, she decided to test the waters.
Her first show was "Inspector Calls" with the Black Swamp Players in fall, 2000. Since then
she’s appeared in numerous roles with the Players, most recently as the mother with something to hide in
the comic mystery "Ravenscroft."
"Mame" offers something unusual for Shaffer. "It’s fun not to be the villain."
So many roles, she explained, cast the middle-age woman as the antagonist. "It’s not fair."
So she’s reveling in her role as Mame. She likes Mame’s philosophy of seizing the moment, even if she
might make other decisions.
"If you see an opportunity to do what you haven’t done before then it’s cool to try it," she
said. Even when it’s as challenging as Mame. "It’s a stretch because she has to be big,"
Shaffer said. "You hope you don’t fall on your face." At a Wednesday rehearsal Shaffer showed
no hint of failing.
Shaffer said the biggest challenge comes with the dancing. "God knows how to keep us humble."
Still the only way to do the role is to throw yourself into it. "If I screw up, I screw up."
"My desire is to see what can I pull put of the audience," she said. "Can I make them
laugh? Can I make them cry?"
While Deb Shaffer gets the most spotlight, the cast of the Findlay Light
Opera Company’s production of "Mame" has several Wood County residents
in the cast.
That includes Kimberly Bright playing the prominent role
of the maid Agnes Gootch. Lane Hakel plays the father of Patrick’s
snotty girlfriend.
Also in the cast are Cassandra Cardenas, Ashley Gibel and Addy Mathias.
Karen Landrus is the stage manager for the production.
