The Vero Beach Theatre Guild’s production of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “The King and I” is enjoying a huge success, with the theater reporting sell-out performances.
“It’s one of those plays that has meat to it,” said veteran director Clara McCarthy. “It has pathos, humor, sadness, diversity, traditions and forbidden love – all of the elements that make for a fantastic musical.”
It’s clear McCarthy has poured herself into directing the show. Not that that’s unusual. She has directed over 100 productions in her 25-year career, and into all of them, she says, “I put my whole heart and soul.”
It all started when she auditioned for a part in a community theater production of “Gypsy” in Coral Springs.
“The director at the time had walked out,” she recalls. “I knew all of the songs so they asked me to direct. I was bitten by the bug and have been directing ever since.”
The Dutch-born McCarthy immigrated to the United States in 1956. She grew up in Amsterdam and, after World War II, she and her family moved to England for 11 years.
When she was 20, she and her family moved to Miami, where friends had already immigrated.
“Europe was ravaged by the war so when the opportunity came up to move to America, we took it,” she says.
There, she met her first husband. They started a family that today numbers three children, 11 grandchildren and four great grandchildren.
Divorced after 25 years of marriage, McCarthy moved to Ft. Pierce where her mother was then living.
“The theater and my wonderful friends that I made through the years helped me heal in a difficult time. It really becomes a family and I am so thankful for that,” she says. “My home away from home is theater and I will not live anywhere unless there is a theater close by.”
McCarthy’s passion for directing and acting also led her to her second husband; they’ve been together 33 years.
McCarthy has directed at the Lyric Theatre in Stuart, the Sunrise Theatre and the Pineapple Play House in Ft. Pierce, as well as Riverside Theatre in Vero. Before it turned professional, Riverside was home to the Theatre Guild, a nonprofit that uses all volunteers, what McCarthy calls “true passion and dedication.”
McCarthy directs one play a year for the Theatre Guild – 20 so far.
This is her third musical. Before “The King and I,” she directed “Fiddler on the Roof” and “Guys and Dolls.”
She has also directed farces – if reluctantly.
“It’s not my favorite to do and it’s one of the most difficult venues to direct in.”
McCarthy is just as diligent about her day job. A full-time hairdresser for 60 years, she currently works at Trendsetters, “the best shop I’ve ever worked in,” she says.
“It’s hard work, just like directing, but it is so rewarding as well, especially when someone loves what you’ve done,” she says.
Intending first to become a nurse, she found she wasn’t happy working around sick people.
“I knew that I wanted to be around people and work with my hands, so I chose hairdressing as a career.”
That skill has come in handy at the theater, where she’s styled hair for productions as well as designed wigs. “It’s lots of fun for me, so I keep my hand in it,” she says.
In terms of directing, McCarthy says she got the cream of the crop with “The King and I” cast of 30, saying they are both talented and dedicated, particularly in the two leading roles.
“My king, played by Derrick Paul, and my Anna, played by Sara Gordon, absolutely stole the show and worked tirelessly,” says McCarthy. “These two went above and beyond, working into the wee hours until they made it magical.”
The cast also includes a crop of children, and they too have been great to work with, she says.
“The children are wonderful. They are like sponges. You tell them one time what to do and they just get it,” says McCarthy.
Concerns that the now-classic, half-century old play could be dated have been put to rest, she says, by the efforts of the cast and crew.
“They brought it all together,” McCarthy says. “When people are saying ‘I can’t believe it was three hours long,’ that right there is kudos to my cast and to me.”
As for her next project? She’ll be directing “Pajama Game” next season at the Guild.
“The King and I” runs through March 20.
