Theatre couple

“Life should be a musical comedy, where the bad guy gets it in the end, the good guy gets the girl, and you sing songs in-between,” says Neal Lewing, co-owner of the Port Polson Players. “That’s what our life is,” he adds with a grin.

In real life, Neal and Karen Lewing’s romance began on stage during a production of “Oklahoma!” at the Fort Peck Summer Theatre. Neal was the show’s musical director and put in an appearance as Ali Hakim, the Persian peddler, enamored with the flirtatious Ado Annie (played by Karen) – “a girl who cain’t say no.” From stage kiss to marriage took just three months.

The couple landed in Polson where Neal had a summer job with the Port Polson Players, founded by Larry Barsness, who also launched the Virginia City Players. After touring for over two years with the Missoula Children’s Theatre (they were the first married couple to work together as touring actors), they took over the Port Polson Players in 1983. The busy young couple also ran a theatre troupe in Deer Lodge from 1989-2001, which performed in the Old Montana Prison.

Most of the Players’ productions are staged in a 1938 WPA log building on the Polson Golf Course – dubbed the Theatre on the Lake for its proximity to Flathead Lake. The Lewings helped found the nonprofit Mission Valley Friends of the Arts to oversee the historic structure’s renovation and maintenance.

During a typical season, they stage 8-10 shows, including comedies, musicals, dramas, mysteries and children’s theatre. In honor of their contributions to the community and performing arts in Montana, the Lewings shared a Governor’s Arts Award in 2016.

But due to the pandemic, the Mission Valley’s homegrown theatre company has not staged a play since their Christmas production in 2019 and a children’s play in early 2020. It was not the vacation they expected, nor sought.

“We were kind of digging it there for a while, although it’s not like retirement because you can see retirement coming and prepare for it,” says Neal. “But literally, on March 14, one minute you’re working and the next you’re not, and you don’t know when you’re coming back.”

When COVID-19 dimmed lights for theatre companies everywhere last March, the Players were revving up for summer. They spent the next two months wondering whether or not they’d have a season. So they plucked away at house chores, built a deer-proof fence around their garden and waited for the verdict.

In June, with three shows ready to go, the Mission Valley Friends of the Arts, the Players’ nonprofit umbrella, officially pulled the plug. “They unanimously said ‘we can’t do it,’” recalls Karen.

Since most of the theatre’s patrons are over 50 and therefore more vulnerable to the virus, she said it made sense to cancel. “We didn’t want people thinking they caught COVID at our beautiful theatre.”

No Coward’s Epitaph

So the Lewings refocused on the other aspect of their business, playwriting. The pandemic offered an opportunity to transform Neal’s one-man show about Montana’s first territorial governor, Thomas Francis Meagher, into a full-length musical, slated to premiere in Polson this fall.

Titled “No Coward’s Epitaph,” the two-hour play tells the riveting story of the Irish rebel, sentenced to death in England, then sent to a penal colony in Tasmania, Australia. He escaped and made his way to New York City, where he eventually served as general of the famed Irish Brigade – the Fighting 69th – and confidante of President Lincoln during the Civil War. In 1865, President Andrew Johnson sent him to Montana Territory to lay the groundwork for statehood.

NEAL AND KAREN LEWING FOR “THE LAST ROMANCE”

- NEAL LEWING, PORT POLSON PLAYERS

His life ended abruptly two years later in Fort Benton when he fell – or was pushed – from a moored steamboat into the swift current of the Missouri River. His demise still baffles historians, but he left a large enough imprint on Montana history that his statue stands in front of the state capitol.

Neal became fascinated by the tale as part of another adventure, playing Celtic tunes with the Montana ShamRockers. In 2009, the quartet was invited by the Ancient Order of Hibernians to perform for the dedication of a Meagher statue near the spot in Fort Benton where he disappeared.

Neal and his bandmate, John Glueckert, volunteered to write a few original songs about Meagher for the dedication “and for some reason it just resonated with me,” he says. “I couldn’t get enough – I still can’t get enough.”

He went on to write and tour his one-man show, “Meagher of the Sword,” and The ShamRockers were twice invited to perform in Meagher’s birthplace, Waterford, Ireland.

The Lewings remain amazed at what Meagher accomplished in just two decades, from fomenting Irish rebellion at age 23 to his untimely death at 43, and say distilling such a large life into just two hours was daunting.

Much of the play incorporates the dashing orator’s own words, and because his life was so colorful, it has the elements intrinsic to any good story: romance (he was married twice), action and intrigue. The full-size production, which will premiere in Polson this November, is written for a cast of 10 with a five-member orchestra that also takes turns on stage. The Lewings plan to tour Montana with a smaller version of the play in 2022 and perform it in Meagher’s hometown in 2023 – the 200th anniversary of his birth.

“So that was the focal point of COVID – we had time to do it without rushing to rehearsals,” says Karen. Neal wrote the script and she edited. The result, jokes Neal, is “a cross between ‘Hamilton’ and ‘The Sound of Music.’”

He’s also been invited to perform his one-man show, “Meagher of the Sword,” in Tasmania this January, and in San Francisco on the way to Australia. Both locales were part of the Irishman’s tale.

Retirement? Not so fast

Even though both actors turn 70 this year, retirement doesn’t appear to be looming. Certainly, they plan to see the company through its 50th anniversary in four years.

Live theatre still plays an important role in the life of the community, and for the Lewings, it’s also been a livelihood. “We rolled into Polson without a job, without anything,” says Karen. Now, she’s seeing “kids of kids of kids” perform in their shows.

If anything, the pandemic illustrated just how much Polson values their hard work, with an outpouring of letters, emails, phone calls and donations.

In divisive times, theatre is also “the great equalizer,” says Neal. “We don’t care if you’re a Democrat or a Republican, a plumber or a politician, when you come into the theater you work together. Everyone seems pretty cool with that.”

And COVID? It’s nothing new to the world of stagecraft. “During Shakespeare’s time there was a terrible pandemic,” says Neal. “When it subsided they all came to the theater – they couldn’t wait.”

Of course, it helped that the bard also put his downtime to good use, writing a new play.

Story by Kristi Niemeyer for the Valley Journal, photo by Dennis Bennett

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The Port Polson Players, in association with Mission Valley Friends of the Arts, return to the stage with three summer shows, in the historic Theatre by the Lake. The Players usher in their 46th season June 1127 with “Dirty Work at the Crossroads,” a comedic melodrama originally written in 1896. Show times are 7 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays.

The community theatre production was slated to open last summer until the pandemic put an end to live theatre for most companies across the state, including for the Port Polson Players. Fortunately, the elaborate drop-and-wing set – painted by Carmine Mowbray – is ready to go, and most of the cast from last year’s show was able to return.

“The timing ends up being just right,” says director Karen Lewing. “We need laughter for the spirit of the Mission Valley – for people to just cheer on some of their own and forget COVID for awhile.”

Her husband, music director Neal Lewing, notes that four accomplished musicians join the cast of community members to bring the show to life. The Players also added a third weekend, in response to audiences who have been clamoring for their return to live theatre.

“Letters, emails, phone calls, people stopping us on the street – the support has been tremendous throughout the pandemic,” he adds.

The summer season continues with the premiere of “The Pin-up Girls,” July 8-25; the musical love letter honoring veterans was written by James Hindman and Jeffrey Lodin, and produced by the Lewings’ daughter, Anna Loehrke.

“She had it all ready to go when COVID hit,” says Karen. “She’ll have it ready to go again in July.”

The musical centers on a trio of hometown gals (and a brother who fills in at the last minute), who deliver tunes ranging from the Andrew Sisters to hip-hop. The foursome sings a cavalcade of hits inspired by letters home from U.S. troops, serving in conflicts from World War I through Afghanistan.

Next up is Montana Music Week, a four-day concert series July 29-Aug. 1. The Montana ShamRockers perform Celtic music Thursday; HellCat Maggie performs everything from early rock to alternative on Friday; the Red Butte Ranglers offer a country-hued show on Saturday; and Neal Lewing delivers his one-man tribute to Gary Cooper in

“First, Last and Always,”

Sunday. Admission is free, and seating is available on a firstcome, first-served basis.

“The Last Romance” by Joe DiPietro finishes out the summer season Aug. 5-22. Starring Neal and Karen Lewing, this heartwarming comedy centers on a relationship between a man and a woman in their golden years. It also illustrates how a family tie can often tether our hearts harder and faster than any love affair.

Curtains rise on the last two shows and concert series at 8 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays.

Tickets to the first production are $15 for children, students and seniors and $16 for adults; prices go up $1 for the last two shows. Reservations are strongly suggested and available at PortPolsonPlayers.com or by calling 406-883-9212.

Social distancing and sanitary protocol will be in place at the historic theater, with wrapped concessions available outside on the Old Nine of the Polson Golf Course. Walk-ins will be seated in keeping with capacity recommendations posted by the Centers for Disease Control.

DIRTY WORK AT THE CROSSROADS

Story by Kristi Niemeyer for the Valley Journal