"Well, Sir, here we are again."

So begins each of the many meal blessings said by character Martin Vanderhoff in the Moss Hart / George Kaufman comedy You Can't Take it With You, ACT I's first production, which is being revived this season as part of ACT I, TAKE II.  

Little did Marsh Berry know when Dottie Anthony asked him to deliver the blessing at the dinner table one night almost 25 years ago that it would lead to a twenty year involvement with the new community theatre group being formed in early 1980 in Vinton.  But when Marsh had finished, Dottie proclaimed that anyone who deliver Grace like that ought to get involved in the new group, and Marsh took her up on the proposition.  Marsh was cast in the leading role of Paul Sycamore in You Can't Take it With You, and the rest, as they say, is history.  

Marsh Berry, 81, retired in 1988 as Director of Business Affairs at the Iowa Braille and Sight Saving School in Vinton after 25 years at the school, and for 20 years before and during his retirement he made regular contributions of his time and talents to ACT I, beginning with You Can't Take it With You and ending five years ago with his final appearances on our stage in Marvin's Room.  He played major roles in two of the three shows we are reviving for our anniversary celebration.  And so it is with great pleasure and gratitude to him that in this opening edition of Grease Paint for our 25th Anniversary Season that we honor Marsh Berry as our Member of the Month.

Chatting with Marsh in preparation for writing this article was sheer pleasure, talking about everything from ACT I's history (including things I'm willing to print, and things I'm not!) to the idiosyncrasies of our respective dogs.  Marsh is a treasure trove of information about the early years of ACT I, and came armed with stacks of papers, programs, and memorabilia.

Marsh Berry (second from right) along with Keith Mossman, Becky Mossman, Colleen Stufflebeam,
and Ellyn Paulus in Sir Noel Coward's Blithe Spirit in 1981 at the Old Creamery.

Following his role in You Can't Take it With You, Marsh appeared in several more shows in the early years of our organization.  In our second production, The Man Who Came to Dinner, he was cast in the role of Bert Jefferson.  For our third production, Blithe Spirit (1981), another show being revived for our anniversary season, he played the role of Dr. Bradman.  Our fourth show, Deadwood Dick, saw him cast in the role of Blackman Redburn, and in our fifth show, The Curious Savage, he was seen as Titus.  For ACT I's sixth show, The Murder Room (1982), Marsh left the stage and took on a new role, that of Technical Director.  He recalls taking a week off from work to build the set, by himself.  Director Steve Schaffer gave him a sketch and Marsh created his set from that.

When Steve Shaffer directed our 1982 production of The Murder Room, he asked "Can anyone get going on the set?" Marsh Berry volunteered, taking a week off from work to create this complicated realization of Shaffer's sketch, including a staircase, window seat with a secret passage, and disappearing mirror.

ACT I's show number seven, Woody Allen's Don't Drink the Water (1983), found Marsh back onstage again, this time in the role of Father Drobney, a wacky priest whose hobby - magic - is the source of great humor throughout the show.  In our next show, A Thurber Carnival (1983), Marsh was again onstage in a variety of roles, and in our next show, Never Too Late (1984), he played Dr. Kimbrough.

A portrait of President Reagan looks down on Marsh Berry as Father Drobney as he fails to produce a rabbit during a magic trick, only to have the rabbit appear seconds later in the hands of the chef, played by Linda Radcliffe, on its way to an ignominious end.  Our 1983 production of Woody Allen's cold war comedy Don't Drink the Water also featured (pictured from left) Orin Calhoun, the late Sally Ludden and Theresa Juhl as the Hollander family, trapped in an American embassy in Eastern Europe.

At this point Marsh left the stage for an extended time, sticking to set construction for The Mousetrap (1985), My Three Angels (1986), The Cat and the Canary (1987), Take a Number Darling (1988), and Klondike Kalamity, (1988).  Following these shows and his 1988 retirement, Marsh did staff work for one summer in the office of the Old Creamery Theatre.

In 1993, Marsh returned to the stage to play the role of Judge Heath in Night of January 16, a show for which he also served as Master Carpenter, building the courtroom set for that show.  The following year, Marsh appeared in Twigs as Ned.  Finally, in 1999, Marsh appeared one last time for us in the mute role of Marvin in Marvin's Room.  Although this play calls for the title character to always be offstage in an adjoining room, heard occasionally but never seen.  Director Larry Adams-Bowers decided to add a twist to his production by changing this to have the aging Marvin on stage at all times in a hospital bed, giving the show an extra poignancy.

Marsh assured me that his acting days are now over, saying he just can't learn the lines any more.  But it is clear from talking with him that not only were his stage experiences rewarding to him personally, but that his contribution was rewarding to those who worked with him as well!

Marsh fondly  recalls the two directors from the Old Creamery who staged our earliest shows, Howard Blanning and Steve Shaffer.  Marsh described Blanning, who directed both You Can't Take it With You and Blithe Spirit, as someone who worked well with new actors who hadn't done anything since high school.  "I treasure that I worked with Steve Shaffer and his wife (former Creamery actress Mary Woolever)," he went on to say.  Shaffer directed five early ACT I productions, all of which involved Marsh.  "I enjoyed Steve very much, he was strictly a comedian at heart."  He went on to describe the warm welcome he received when visiting the former Creamery actor in Minneapolis when traveling to see one of his performances.  Shaffer is now a featured performer at the Log Cabin Theatre there.

When asked whether he preferred acting or technical work, Marsh was quick to say he preferred being on stage.  He cited his favorite role as that of Ned in Twigs.  I expressed surprise at this, considering that, as the director of Twigs, I had not considered this a successful show.  But in response Marsh was quick to praise Nancy Beckman and Jim Hilliard, however, who shared the scene he was in.  "That scene just clicked," he said.  (And it DID, thanks to these three talented stage veterans!)

Marsh Berry (right) as Ned in Twigs with Jim Hilliard and Nancy Beckman.

Sue Freet, a current ACT I member and presently the Director of Human Resources at the Braille school, did some asking around among her colleagues who knew Marsh from his days at IBSSS for some of their recollections of him.  Some of those comments follow:

"Marsh was a magician with money.  We always had enough!!!  And he controlled all the purse strings but always with devotion to meeting the needs of everyone."

"He was full of funny phrases; things like, “flying over the pond”  meant flying over the Atlantic Ocean!"

"His eyebrows always gave his expressions away; laughter, surprise, irritation – those eye brows could fly up and down!  And he always had a great ‘twinkle’ in his eye."

"He did fool us.  For a very long time he had a fax machine in his area (when they were a new invention).  He assured us the fax was only capable of faxing directly to the Board of Regents office in Des Moines.  We believed him.  He saved money!  It took a long time before we realized we could fax anywhere!"

Marsh Berry and his wife Helen continue to live in Vinton across the street from the IBSSS campus with their poodle Mandy.  The have three children living, including Lori, who lives in Minneapolis, John of Vinton, and Cynthia of Kansas City; another son, Bruce, is deceased.  They have six grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.

Although Marsh is retired from our stage he remains a valuable part of our lives and was a vital player in the early history of our community theatre organization.  The dedication of ACT I members like Marsh Berry are what have made this organization what it is today!

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