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Najuch, Froomkin realize seven-year dream

New Huntington Theater co-owners Joel Froomkin (left) and Rich Najuch (third from left) explain how they planned and constructed the set for the Different Stages production of “The Sound of Music.”
New Huntington Theater co-owners Joel Froomkin (left) and Rich Najuch (third from left) explain how they planned and constructed the set for the Different Stages production of “The Sound of Music.” Photo by Cindy Klepper.

Rich Najuch and Joel Froomkin have finally arrived.
"This is what we wanted to do when we came here seven years ago," Najuch says as he surveys the work-in-progress that will, by July 8, create a slice of Austria inside The New Huntington Theater.

That's opening day for "The Sound of Music," the first production to occupy the once-vacant theater's main auditorium since Froomkin and Najuch landed in Huntington in 2007.

Even then, they knew the story of the von Trapp family would be their first major show.

It just took a while.

"We have had a wonderful, diverse, strange path on the way here," Najuch says.

First to arrive at The New Huntington Theater was the Huntington Supper Club, a feature the pair had not originally envisioned.

But once they had renovated the lobby area, it provided a space for the intimate dinner shows that kept the project in the public eye and brought in some revenue while Najuch and Froomkin worked toward their main goal - a professional theater company that would become known regionally for classic and original plays and musicals.

The Supper Club won't disappear, Najuch says. It will return with a show at Christmas and possibly at other times.

The new mainstage productions won't include a meal, so the new endeavor needed a different name.

"We played with names for months," Najuch says, and finally came up with Different Stages - a name that, he explains, reflects multiple meanings - starting with the theater itself.

"It's different than I expected," Najuch says of the final product.

In addition, the space is flexible enough to be used in different ways, he adds, offering the option of filling it with theater seating or with tables.

The name also reflects the different stages of progress the project has gone through.

"And we're open to different possibilities," he says.
Even "The Sound of Music" will be different.

"People can expect to see something different than they've seen other places," Najuch says. "We want them to come in and experience a production with some of the New York elements you don't necessarily see in this area."

Najuch wants today's audience to see the show in the same way it was viewed when it was first produced, just a few years after the end of World War II. Then, the appearance of Nazi soldiers would have evoked a stronger reaction than it does now.

"We want to tell the story in a way true to the challenges they had," Najuch says. "We need to make sure people have a connection to those challenges."

While the show won't be dark, he says, he does want to impart a sense of what the von Trapp family was up against.

"They're singing for their lives, not because it's pretty and fun," he says.

"The Sound of Music" features a cast of professional actors, with a handful of local children filling the roles of the von Trapp family children.

The community was invited inside the theater on Friday, June 27, for a preview of the set built for "The Sound of Music."

Designed by Froomkin and built by a crew headed by Najuch, the set is built on a raised plywood floor equipped with tracks to move pieces of the backdrop in and out according to the scene.

Somehow, materials as mundane as foam pool noodles have been transformed into carved stone columns; separate pieces come together to form a mountain 14 feet long and more than five feet tall.

The set won't be completed until just prior to opening night, Froomkin explained. Ladders, unpainted pieces, stage lights and platforms surrounded the 200-some people who turned out for the open house. The folding chairs they were seated on will be replaced by theater seating before opening night, he added.

Putting a set together is like building with blocks, Najuch explains. Once "The Sound of Music" ends July 27, the set will be dismantled.

"We'll store the pieces we can store, and the rest of it has to be thrown away," he says. Some of the building blocks may be used in sets for future productions. Eventually, the theater will build up a stock of interchangeable parts.

Different Stages' inaugural season continues with "Moonlight and Magnolias" Aug. 14 to 23, and "The Full Monty" Nov. 11 to 22. More information is available online at www.different-stages.com.

Complete caption: New Huntington Theater co-owners Joel Froomkin (left) and Rich Najuch (third from left) explain how they planned and constructed the set for the Different Stages production of “The Sound of Music.” With them are Lauren Lukacek (second from left), who plays Maria in the show, and Mike Perkins (right) who served as moderator for the open house at the theater Friday evening, June 28.