Since joining the cast of Children’s Drama Service three years ago, 70-year-old Donald Woolfe has taken on a new role in life — he calls himself a “kosher ham.”
After a career as an architect and urban planner, Woolfe, of Belmont, is spending his golden retirement years on stage, singing and acting his heart out in order to bring live theater to Bay Area children.
“For many of these kids, this is the only live theater they have ever seen or might ever see in their lives,” says Woolfe, one of a few men in the local Council of Jewish Women program.
Due to financial concerns, physical constraints, the ubiquity of television and a waning culture of going to the theater, many children have never seen a live performance until the drama group comes their way.
The Children’s Drama Service, initiated 50 years ago by Peninsula resident Ruth Gilbert, was intended to bring live theater to children in special-education classes. Since then, it has evolved to serve a general audience of kindergarteners to third-graders at more than 40 schools around the Bay Area, including many sites serving predominantly low- income populations, Head Start programs and special-needs schools. They also perform at the Peninsula Jewish Community Center in Foster City, the Jean Weingarten Peninsula Oral School for the Deaf in Redwood City, and the Jewish Home in San Francisco
The only criterion for schools is that the audience include at least one special-
education class.
Still sponsored by the National Council of Jewish Women, today’s Children’s Drama Service involves the efforts of 22 mostly retired volunteers, ranging in age from 50 to 80. The group performs every Thursday at two schools, from January through June. They travel to locations throughout the Bay Area — with many in San Francisco, a few in Marin County, several on the Peninsula, and some as far east as Concord.
Most of the cast members are Jewish, and the group rehearses from September through December at Peninsula Temple Sholom in Burlingame.
The script, songs, costumes and sets are all original and created by the group’s director, Helen Miller of Hillsborough. Miller has been involved with Children’s Drama Service for 23 years, starting out as a costume designer and becoming the director five years ago.
After a career as a homemaker and raising four children, the 78-year-old is indulging her love of acting and singing and enjoying her time in the spotlight. She says her involvement has given her a community of friends who share like interests and has kept her young and vital.
But the most rewarding thing about the experience, according to Miller, is the look of awe and rapt attention on the children’s faces when the group performs.
“It’s hard to keep children that age quiet, but they watch the show in silence. And when it comes time to sing along, they love it,” she says. After the show, the cast goes out into the audience to hug and interact with the children.
Children’s Drama Service was comprised of only women until two male cast members joined several years ago.
Clarence Press, a 72-year-old retired route manager, began volunteering with the theater company as a van driver, but was quickly drawn onstage by the encouragement of cast members.
“For a guy who can’t sing it took a lot of guts,” he admits. “Also, at first it felt funny performing in a cast of all women. It wasn’t meant to be all women, that’s just how it turned out.”
Once Press grew comfortable with the cast and performing, he told his wife he had “fallen in love with 20 women.”
Press further changed the cast demographics by recruiting his friend Woolfe. A life-long amateur performer, Woolfe says he really appreciates the lack of egos and sense of camaraderie unique to this theater group. In fact, during the summer months when they are not performing or rehearsing, the cast members continue to meet for lunch every Thursday.
No audition is required to join the group, and not every member feels comfortable on stage — at first. But members say the supportive environment and audience feedback quickly bring people out of their shells.
Each cast member learns several parts to cover for those who may get sick or go on vacation.
Sometimes the actors hear about the group through word of mouth and want to join. The only criteria Miller uses in discerning whether someone would be a good fit is enthusiasm and the ability to commit to rehearsing and performing every Thursday.
This year’s original play (Miller calls them “mini-musicals”) revolves around Thomas the Tank Engine, the popular character from a British children’s TV show. In “Thomas and the Bookstore,” Thomas opens a new bookstore and characters from popular children’s books, like Winnie the Pooh and Willie Wonka come to visit.
For many of the schools, Children’s Drama Service has been a blessing. The group performs at no charge and requires only an auditorium and a piano.
Teacher Sue Mendiara has been watching the group perform for 15 years and says the experience is magical for the kids and for her.
“They are a wonderful, giving, talented group of people,” says Mendiara, a special-education teacher who travels to schools throughout the South Bay. “They sing and dance very well, but the secret is that they love what they are doing and it is contagious.”
And then there’s the grandparent factor, another plus. In a thank-you note to the troupe, teacher Leslie Anido of Blackford School in San Jose writes: “Thank you so much … With all the high-tech stuff these kids have available, they responded so positively to the grandparent love.”